Length: 5.303 km
Number of Laps: 58 (307.574 Km)
Best Lap: M. Schumacher - 1'28''214 (2001, Ferrari)
Record Pole: R. Barrichello - 1'25''843 (2002, Ferrari)
2002 Pole: R. Barrichello - 1'25''843 (Ferrari)
2002 Podium: M. Schumacher - J. Montoya - K. Raikkonen

Yesterday saw the introduction of single car qualifying in Formula One™ at the Grand Prix of Australia. In a one hour session which in my opinion could be considered pre qualifying, the drivers took to the Melbourne circuit for one timed lap in the order they finished with regard to the points from last year. The result of times set in this session only set the order for grid position qualifying on Saturday.

The 5 time and defending World Champion Michael Schumacher was the 1st to appear followed by Rubens Barrichello in the Constructors’ Championship winning Ferraris. From a spectator’s point of view I believe that this new format is very good with the use of in car cameras and the director’s attention squarely on one car at a time.

Ironically the drivers face new challenges in the form of fuel loads and tire wear. In the past a light fuel load usually resulted in a quick lap, it now can put drivers into an undesirable position regarding when they qualify. To be more precise the results of Friday’s time are inverted for Saturday. The driver who sets the quickest lap on Friday starts his official qualifying lap last!

The new rules require the cars to use the same tires that they qualified on and are filled with exactly the same amount of fuel to start the race with. For obvious reasons this is less than ideal compared to the past, and the teams are required to state the amount of fuel they have onboard. Strategy will certainly be even more crucial than it has been before. Compromising the fuel to allow a car to make it into the pit stop windows would seem to the objective. The lower budget teams might opt for an attention getting grid position while the championship contenders might look for a longer run. The results as usual will speak for themselves.

5 new drivers will also make thing interesting and practice times indicate that over the winter substantial improvements have been made. Renault Jaguar McLaren Toyota and of course Ferrari all showed well in practice. The 2 Saubers ran together down the time sheet a bit, while BAR-Honda suffered 2 engine failures within minutes of each other in free practice 1.1. However they rebounded and set great times in the qualifying session.

The results of qualifying 1 are as follows: 1 Barrichello/Ferrari, 2 Raikkonen/McLaren, 3 Villeneuve/BAR, 4 M Schumacher/Ferrari, 5 Button/BAR, 6 Coulthard/McLaren, 7 Alonso/Renault, 8 Panis/Toyota, 9 Trulli/Renault, 10 Montoya/Williams, 11 Da Matta/Toyota, 12 Heidfeld/Sauber,13 Frentzen/Sauber, 14 Fisichella/Jordan, 15 Webber/Jaguar, 16 R Schumacher/Williams, 17 Firman/Jordan, 18 Verstappen/Minardi, 19 Pizzonia/Jaguar 20 Wilson/Minardi. Barrichello’s time was a 1m26.372s compared to his pole time from last year at 1m25.843s.

Article by: Tony Moffett