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

The Grand Prix of Australia was run under dry conditions despite some rain earlier in the day and prior to the girding of the cars. Ferrari chooses intermediate tires along with a few others while Montoya and R Schumacher chose the dry option.

At the start both Ferraris roared off to an early and widening lead. Despite the circuit’s reputation for 1st lap incidents the start was clean and uneventful. Both Jos Verstappen in the Minardi and Kimi Raikkonen in the McLaren were in pit lane at the beginning of the race. A great piece of strategy, considering his dismal grid position gave Raikkonen an opportunity to have full tanks from lap 1.

As the track only had minimal amounts of water on it the advantage of the intermediate tires proved not to be the best option. Barrichello had an off in what is thought to have been oil dropped from an earlier support race. At the time he and M Schumacher held a respectable 7 second lead over Montoya. The Brazilian’s day came to an end when the car swapped ends and was damaged enough to not allow it to continue. Ironically Rubens had just posted the fastest lap of the race before the shunt and was to serve a stop and go penalty for jumping the start.

As the track continued to dry Montoya is gaining an average of 3 seconds per lap on the German. It was obvious that he would require the full dry tires to have a chance of remaining competitive. Rookie Mark Firman also goes off at the same spot where Barrichello’s race ended. Michael pits for tires and fuel as does Villeneuve. Problems at the left rear of Schumacher’s Ferrari result in a 14+ second stop.

C.A.R.T. series champion Christian DA Matta in the Toyota also ends up an early retiree when he finds the gravel and is unable to drive out. Mark Webber in the Jaguar is putting on a good show for his local fans running a strong 5th. The field is now slowed with the appearance of the safety car to allow for clean up after the 2 shunts. This reduced the huge lead that Montoya developed as the cars run nose to tail waiting for the green light to allow resumption of the race.

With the pit stops Jarno Trulli inherits the lead and is putting on a strong showing in the Renault. Ralf runs 2nd with Webber 3rd followed by Raikkonen 4th and M Schumacher 5th. At the restart both Raikkonen and M Schumacher pass Webber and try to chase down Trulli. Webber’s day ends on lap 16 with a rear suspension failure. With track temperatures rising Michael Schumacher is trying to catch Raikkonen.

Coulthard is now 3rd and closing on the front 2 cars as the BARs run 4th and 5th. Their rivalry is showing as they battle each other fiercely. There is apparently a miss queue as both BARs pit at the same time requiring Button to wait for service. This badly hurts his chances of bettering his teammate finishing position. On lap 27 Michael sets the fastest lap. The next lap sees him in for a pit stop and a penalty is levied against Panis for crossing the blend line on pit out. Coulthard leads with Kimi 2nd turning impressive laps holding off Frentzen in the Sauber and the 5 time World Champion Schumacher in the remaining Ferrari.

Frentzen gets passed by Michael and soon he is ready to press Raikkonen for 2nd place. With a bold passing attempt by Schumacher the Finnish driver gives no ground resulting in the Ferrari putting its left side tires off briefly. This breaks Schumacher’s momentum and sees him drop back by about .6 seconds. This off course excursion is probably responsible for the barge board damage to the Ferrari.

Bad news for Raikkonen as the marshals issue a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Montoya is leading with the Ferrari running faster laps despite its damage. It appears that Montoya will require another stop to make it to the finish.

Montoya pits from the lead handing it over to Coulthard in the McLaren. The right side barge board falls off of the Ferrari but Schumacher continues at a fast pace. On lap 44 the marshals decide to black flag the Ferrari which also takes on fuel and tires in a last ditch attempt at scoring maximum points.

The order is Montoya, Coulthard, M Schumacher and Raikkonen with 13 cars still running. Montoya spins and relinquishes his lead to Coulthard! He is lucky enough not to stall and resumes in 2nd place.

Antonio Pizzonia retires the remaining Jaguar as a slowing Fisichella finally pits the Jordan and retires. Coulthard holds on and wins his 13th GP in the McLaren with Montoya 2nd, Raikkonen 3rd, Michael Schumacher 4th, Trulli 5th, Frentzen 6th, Alonso 7th and Ralf Schumacher 8th taking the final point.

Overall it was both an exciting and safe race. The finishing order was surprising and the competition fierce. The season looks promising as we look forward to the top 2 teams arriving with their new cars in Europe.

Article by: Tony Moffett