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Melbourne has been Formula 1's season opener since 1996 and the circuit puts on a great show. The track at Albert Park, a fantastic venue just south of the main city, runs clockwise around a large lake. It presents a range of different challenges for the drivers. It is flat and in places, very fast, although the majority of corners are medium-speed. On the pit straight and again on the back stretch between the Waite and Ascari corners, drivers reach 180 mph. There are good opportunities for overtaking and there is a premium on aerodynamic performance at high speed. At the same time, however, drivers must also brake very hard for the ensuing corners, and this places great strain on the brakes. As the circuit utilises city streets and is used solely for the Grand Prix each year, the track is often very dirty at the beginning of the race weekend. The dust and dirt soon clear though, to reveal a generally smooth track with a few bumps, that is kind to tyres, although the Australian race is famous for its high rate of attrition.
The inaugural Friday morning test session produced good results for Jordan Ford with the team running all three cars and making good headway in terms of overall set up and balance work in readiness for first practice. Ralph Firman’s track debut saw him switching between the race and spare car after suffering water and hydraulic leaks, but the spare was already prepared for him and he did not lose a significant amount of track time.
McLaren set the pace in first practice in Albert Park, Melbourne, with Kimi Raikkonen heading team mate David Coulthard. Jarno Trulli was third fastest for Renault with the Ferrari of Rubens Barrichella fourth ahead of Mark Webber's Jaguar and the second Ferrari of reigning World Champion Michael Schumacher.
The first new-format Friday qualifying session saw the Jordan Fords of Giancarlo Fisichella and Ralph Firman finish 14th and 17th respectively after encountering balance problems during the course of their one-lap qualifying run. Both drivers reported difficulties with understeer worsening towards the end of their laps. Firman ran wide and onto the grass at the end of his lap but managed to control the car and regain the track after a few metres.
Rubens Barrichello headed the time sheets after the first of the new one-lap Friday qualifying sessions, the Brazilian putting his Ferrari at the head of a very different looking line-up which will decide the running order for tomorrow's all important 2nd qualifying session.
The dramatic new-style one lap qualifying procedure got underway in Melbourne today only for Ferrari to demonstrate that, whatever the system, they have the ability to dominate. Michael Schumacher scythed round the track to claim pole position by three tenths of a second from team mate Rubens Barrichello, although behind them the line-up for tomorrow's race is very different indeed.
Giancarlo Fisichella and Ralph Firman will start tomorrow’s 2003 Australian Grand Prix from 13th and 17th places on the grid, their Jordan Fords completing the new format of one-lap final qualifying without drama.
The Renaults of Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonson were 1st and 3rd quickest in this morning's practice sessions, sandwiching Jensen Button's BAR Honda which headed the time sheets early on. The two 45 minute sessions witnessed several incidents with Michael Schumacher taking a wheel off his Ferrari before driving back to the pits in his red three-wheeler, while Kimi Raikkonen crashed headily in his McLaren, fortunately escaping unhurt.
David Coulthard recovered from a disastrous qualifying to win today's Australian Grand Prix, benefitting from a spin by race leader Juan Pablo Montoya and also an unusual 3-stop strategy which saw World Champion Michael Schumacher drop to a lowly 4th place at race's end. Starting from 11th place on the grid the Scot did little wrong in a race which was marked by incident and high drama, McLaren's day being made almost complete by Kimi Raikkonen's strong drive into third place behind Montoya.
The Jordan Ford team produced a strong performance in today's Australian Grand Prix which bodes well for the team's hopes this season. Although both drivers ultimately retired from the race, Giancarlo Fisichella with mechanical problems and Ralph Firman following an accident, the pace of the Jordan Ford EJ13 during the race showed the potential of the Ford Cosworth RS-powered chassis. |
