Oz GP report: Schuey's perfect start

The German won a race of attrition in Melbourne after disposing of Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya and benefitting from gearbox selection problems which accounted for McLaren rival David Coulthard. Schumacher was left high and dry out front, while the Minardi of F1 debutante Mark Webber made it to the points in fifth after all sorts of problems (For more details, click here).

The 58-lap race around the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne was action from the word go with third on-the-grid Ralf Schumacher beating his brother off the line only to spectacularly launch his Williams over the back of pole-sitter Rubens Barrichello's Ferrari on the run to the first corner (For more details, click here).

Schumacher Jr's FW24 stayed on its wheels and skidded harmlessly into the gravel, but carnage ensued behind with a total of eight cars exiting the race on the spot, including both Saubers, Jenson Button, Giancarlo Fisichella, Olivier Panis and Allan McNish (For more McNish details, click here). Blame seemed to fall at Schumacher Jr's feet.

"I think if I hadn't been there, he wouldn't have made the corner," said Barrichello. "If he had wanted to overtake me on the outside, he should have gone further over. It was just silly." (For more quotes from Barrichello, click here).

The Safety Car was deployed while the mess was cleared up, leaving Coulthard to thread his way into the lead, followed by the Renault of Jarno Trulli, Montoya and then Schumacher. The Scotsman's glory period, however, was short-lived.

DC built up a five-second lead after the race was re-started on lap five, but Trulli succumbed to the pressure of having his mirrors full of the world champion's Ferrari and put his Renault into the wall on lap nine, bringing out the safety car for the second time. A gearbox problem on Coulthard's McLaren then reared its head at the final corner before the second restart on lap 12, sending him onto the grass and out of the lead for good. The problem worsened, forcing Coulthard to drop down the order after several more trips across the grass, and he finally ground to a halt on lap 36.

"It was a gearbox selection problem," said Coulthard. "A few laps in it threw me into neutral and then later on I was stuck in sixth. I was shocked when Ralf went over the back of Rubens and my first thought was with him. But after everything was alright, things were looking good for us."

The second restart, meanwhile, saw Montoya show his mettle by diving past Schumacher for the lead on the outside of the first corner in the move of the race. The Colombian used all his talent to keep his Ferrari rival behind, but after five laps of vintage wheel-to-wheel tension, Schumacher went around the outside of Turn 2 to take the lead, and never looked back (For more details, click here).

The first corner incident played most into the hands of the flailing Jaguar team. Eddie Irvine and Pedro de la Rosa started 19th and 20th on the grid, but found themselves fifth and sixth after the first lap. Irvine held on for fourth place come the chequered flag (For more details, click here).

Arrows, on the other hand, managed to scupper their chances before the race had even started with Enrique Bernoldi and Heinz-Harald Frentzen failing to get away for the formation lap. The pair of A23s were pushed to the end of the pitlane and re-started, but both drivers were later black-flagged (For more details, click here).

Despite a jammed fuel hose cover during his pit stop, Webber managed to hold onto fifth place. It looked to be in jeopardy, however, as the Toyota of Mika Salo bore down on the Australian rookie in the closing stages. But a year of testing for the Finn looked to have done nothing for his race craft and he spun while attempting to get round Webber on the penultimate lap (For more details, click here).

Salo was left to take Toyota's first world championship point, while Webber went on to fifth place, two points and a full hero's reception from the Melbourne crowd as he climbed from his PS02 in parc ferme (for more details, click here).

Schumacher may have been using last year's Ferrari in Oz, but he finished almost 20 seconds clear of Montoya's 2002-spec Williams-BMW. The Scuderia have yet to decide whether the F2001 will make another appearance in Malaysia in two weeks' time, but if it isn't broke...


For full race results, click here.

For full championship standings, click here.