Feature: da Matta Leads F1's New Crop of Rookies

From first to last, rookie drivers produced two of the most satisfying and emotionally-charged moments of the 2002 Formula One World Championship.

Mark Webber's stirring drive to fifth place for Minardi on his debut in front of his home crowd in Melbourne, and the sight of the champagne coursing down the Australian's face, was a highlight of the season.

The fifth place obtained by Japan's Takuma Sato for Jordan in his home race at Suzuka at the end of the year was another, with thousands of fans staying until long after nightfall to acclaim their hero.

This year's crop of recruits, some rawer than others, will try to weave their own magic when the season starts in Australia on March 9th.

Antonio Pizzonia and Cristiano da Matta, at Jaguar and Toyota respectively, could become the first Brazilians in a decade to score points in their home race at Interlagos in April, given the new scoring system that awards points to the top eight rather than just the first six.

Britons Justin Wilson and Ralph Firman, for Minardi and Jordan, might even dream of a sensational result at Silverstone.

All will be heading to Australia determined to prove that they belong at the highest level of world motorsport after winning titles elsewhere.

CART Champion

Da Matta is the most senior, arriving on the Grand Prix grid at the comparatively old age of 29, after winning the CART championship in America, and has the hardest task.

In his case, the comparisons will inevitably be with Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya and Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, now with Williams and BAR, who also arrived in Formula One as CART champions.

There will also be those watching for similarities with Italian Alex Zanardi, the likeable double CART champion who struggled at Williams in 1999.

"Da Matta is an unknown quantity as far as I'm concerned," Britain's former CART and Formula One Champion Nigel Mansell said in F1 Racing magazine. "I'm going to be very interested to see how he shapes up. I'm told Montoya rates him. Let's hope he's a little bit like Juan Pablo, because if he is, it'll be exciting."

Da Matta also has a fast and experienced teammate in Frenchman Olivier Panis and must come to terms immediately with the new one-lap qualifying on an unfamiliar circuit.

First impressions are crucial and the importance of the first race cannot be underestimated. There are very few greats who have not shone early on, even if like Michael Schumacher they did not score points on day one.

But nobody forgets those who do finish in the points straight away, an important consideration when driver contracts are negotiated half way through the season.

Webber was the 51st driver to score on his debut, following Finland's Kimi Raikkonen the previous year, and the statistic will remain long after people forget that he was helped by half the grid disappearing in a first lap pile-up.

Villeneuve came second on his debut with Williams in 1996, admittedly in the dominant car of the time, and no driver has won on his debut since Italian Giancarlo Baghetti in 1961.

Smaller Grid

Webber, now with Jaguar, is the only one of last year's newcomers remaining. Sato is now a BAR test driver while Brazilian Felipe Massa and Briton Allan McNish are performing the same roles at Ferrari and Renault.

Eight of last year's 22 drivers have left, replaced by four newcomers and the returning Spaniard Fernando Alonso at Renault and Dutchman Jos Verstappen at Minardi. The failure of Arrows has taken away the remaining two seats.

None of this year's crop can count on a top notch car but da Matta's Toyota could cause a few surprises.

Firman, the reigning Formula Nippon champion, should go well at Suzuka in October but he will have his work cut out in keeping up with Italian Giancarlo Fisichella. That could work in his favour, since people will notice if he goes faster than his teammate.

The 27-year-old is also fortunate in following on from Sato, whose first season was marked by embarrassing crashes before he came good in Japan, and he has raced against several of his F1 rivals in junior categories.

Indeed, asked whether he had any concerns about lining up alongside the likes of Montoya, he replied: "Why should I? I beat him before."

"I honestly can't see any reason why he won't be rookie of the year and the biggest surprise of the year," says team boss Eddie Jordan.

Pizzonia, a former British Formula Three champion, is undoubtedly quick and can benefit from having Webber as his benchmark while Wilson, the 2001 F3000 champion, must try to live up to the Australian's example.

Unlike Webber, who found it easy to shine with Malaysian Alex Yoong as his teammate, Wilson has experienced Dutch driver Jos Verstappen to contend with.

The tallest driver on the grid has done less testing than any of the others, trying out the Minardi for the first time only this month.

Minardi boss Paul Stoddart accepts that lightning is unlikely to strike twice and Melbourne will not be as uplifting for him this time around, but he is also confident of Wilson.

"He is going to, I believe, be certainly in contention for rookie of the year and I think he will do a fantastic job for us," said the Australian businessman.