F1 the Winner in Australia, Says Stoddart

Formula One was the real winner of the Australian Grand Prix, Minardi boss Paul Stoddart said today after the first race under the sport's new regulations.

McLaren's David Coulthard won the first Grand Prix of the season as the sport put months of argument and division behind it and served up a race to remember on a day of changeable weather and incidents.

For the first time since 1999, there was no Ferrari on the podium as World Champion Michael Schumacher nursed a damaged car home in fourth place and Brazilian teammate Rubens Barrichello crashed out.

"The winner of today's 2003 Melbourne Grand Prix is Formula One. And I genuinely believe that. Who could say this was anything other than the most exciting race we have had for a long time?," Australian-born Stoddart told Reuters.

"Okay, the weather helped. But at the end of the day we had people watching Friday, we had them watching Saturday, we had them talking in pubs about strategies and this that and everything else.

"The winner is Formula One and I reckon the rule changes should be applauded."

Major Changes

After a season of Ferrari domination, with the Italian team winning 15 of last year's 17 races and television audiences on the wane, the glamour sport's rulers have introduced major changes to liven up the show and cut costs.

BAR team principal David Richards, like Stoddart a strong advocate of the changes, said that the early signs were encouraging.

"The objective was not to wipe out Ferraris," he said. "The objective was to make it better racing and I think the weather played into our hands to a certain extent here but overall it was a good race and very encouraging."

Ferrari sporting director Jean Todt reserved judgement, however.

"It was a very strange race and not really because of the new rules," he said.

Coulthard, whose team boss Ron Dennis has been a strong critic of FIA president Max Mosley and the changes, also preferred to hold fire.

"I think we will only be able to judge that (whether the rules contributed to the excitement) on reflection of the season," he said. "But I would have thought today was more about the changing conditions which, we've seen in previous races, throws up some unusual results."