Formula 1: Melbourne

[Joel]

Ferrari best ever: Head
From correspondents in London
March 2, 2004

http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,8844151-31905,00.html

[Joel]

It's suprising that no one is talking about this in the week of the F1 being in Melbourne.

[Kristin5]

I'm going!!! My boyfriend Glenn won tickets through Triple M, so we have 2 general admission tickets for Sunday.

I'm not into car racing, but Glenn went last year and said that to actually be there is awesome, so I'm looking forward to it.

Go Jensen Button (cos he's cute!!! )

[sam.]

I love F1.
It stated today... I was there. I have my four-day pass in the Moss Stand

Didak and McKee were there today... There's always Collingwood players at the Gillette stand every year... On Sunday, Woewodin, Licura and Brodie are supposed to be there.

[Geoffy Pie]

This year will mark my 9th Grand Prix, i've been to them all since it started in melbourne in 96. i'm going friday, sat, sun should be great
My tip is the iceman and webber to finish strongly on the back of some good preseason testing and of course greg murphy to win all 3 races in the V8's, he's already won the top ten shootout

[Joel]

Not that I like the bloke, but:

Schumacher lap record
March 5, 2004

http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,8875124-23209,00.html

[Geoffy Pie]

it was pure arse hopefully the gap will close tomorrow and the other teams will catch up. Renault were very impressive today in the end were 3rd and 4th quickest i think. Disappointing day for McLaren and Williams, but it was just a practice session the real test will come tomorrow

In good news, Greg Murphy won the first race in the V8 supercars, was a great and exciting race, with murphy givng skaife a helping hand off the track early in the race

[Joel]

Apparently, he beat it again (the record he set today), is that correct?

[Joe]

Geoff please show more respect for the cars made by the hands of God.
Ferrari will win unless something untoward happens.
I will see ya there on Sunday Geoffy.
Go Ferrari The Italian Power On Wheels.

[sam.]

McLaren

[Donny]

Williams gatecrash Ferrari party

Fox

WILLIAMS gatecrashed the Ferrari Formula One benefit at Albert Park today.

Spirited Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya and dour German Ralf Schumacher managed to split the red prancing horse duopoly ahead of tomorrow's Austalian Grand Prix. Neither could dislodge six-times world champion Michael Schumacher from top spot but at least signalled a glimpse of hope Ferrari would be challenged.

Schumacher ambled around the Melbourne street track a second slower than his blistering early pace of yesterday but still nailed down the fastest lap.

But, for the first time this meeting, his teammate Rubens Barrichello was bumped from his familiar place hot on his boss' heels.

Schumacher stopped the clock at 1m25.093s - just 0.162s ahead of Montoya, in his last season with Williams before he defects to McLaren next year.

Ralf Schumacher edged the second Williams into third spot ahead of Barrichello who was half a second slower than Michael.

The Renaults again performed well with Fernando Alonso and Jarno Trulli split by the BAR of Olivier Panis.

Mark Webber gave Jaguar further encouragement when he grabbed eighth place - 0.973s off the pace.

Webber thrilled the local patrons as he relegated the two McLarens of Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard to ninth and 10th places respectively.

The Australian's young Austrian teammate, Christian Klien, improved markedly over yesterday's circuit-learning runs and was in a respectable 13th position.

Eddie Jordan's privateer cars again indicated it will be a tough season for the veteran team owner when they could manage no better than 17th and 18th, which put them ahead only of the Minardis of Australian Paul Stoddart.

[commonwombat]

Qualifying.

All Ferrari front row with Schumi on pole and Barichello alongside. 2nd row is Montoya's Williams and a surprise packet of Button's BAT (both on same time). 3rd row of Alonso (Renault) and Webber (Jaguar). Very smooth and impressive performance by Webber who last year made a reasonable midfield car look better than it was.

Fourth row is Ralf Schumacher in the other Williams and Sato in a Toyota . The McLarens were scrappy and are well down the grid. Coulthard made a mess of the last corner and went a bit offline and Raikonnen lost time on the later sectors.

Pointers for the race ??? First race of the year so the aim is to get as much racemiles in, ergo finish the race. Ferrari do look strong and the new look Williams looks as if they will be a factor. The McLaren looks v twitchy but Renault looks promising and will be looking to build on their momentum of last season.

BAR and Toyota will be looking to progress to running further up the field consistency. Webber ??? If he finishes the race, he should be well in the points. If this car does have legitimate pace then he may progress from regular points finishes to potentially podium finishes. Continuation of last seasons progress and a respectable car may well see him in a front-running car next season.

[Donny]

Australian Grand Prix grid

Fox

GRID for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne today after yesterday's qualifying sessions in Melbourne.

1st row: 1. Michael Schumacher (GER) Ferrari 1min 24.408, 2. Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Ferrari 1:24.482

2nd row: 3. Juan Pablo Montoya (COL) Williams-BMW 1:24.998, 4. Jenson Button (GBR) BAR-Honda 1:24.998

3rd row: 5. Fernando Alonso (SPA) Renault 1:25.699, 6. Mark Webber (AUS) Jaguar Racing 1:25.805

4th row: 7. Takuma Sato (JPN) Bar-Honda 1:25.851, 8. Ralf Schumacher (GER) Williams-BMW 1:25.925

5th row: 9. Jarno Trulli (ITA) Renault 1:26.290, 10. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.297

6th row: 11. Felipe Massa (BRA) Sauber Petronas 1:27.065, 12. David Coulthard (GBR) McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.294

7th row: 13. Cristiano Da Matta (BRA) Toyota 1:27.823, 14. Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Sauber-Petronas 1:27.845

8th row: 15. Nick Heidfeld (GER) Sauber-Petronas 1:28.178, 16. Giorgio Pantano (ITA) Jordan Ford 1:30.140

9th row: 17. Zsolt Baumgartner (HUN) Minardi Cosworth 1:30.681, 18. Olivier Panis (FRA) Toyota no time

19. Christian Klein (AUT) Jaguar Racing no time, 20. Gianmaria Bruni (ITA) Minardi Cosworth no time.

[Donny]

Sixth on grid unexpected: Webber

By Australia's Formula One driver Mark Webber

A LOT of people must be wondering whether I can win the race today.

To be totally honest, I'm not even thinking about my prospects for the race. Even though we are sixth on the grid.

We won't have any idea on our final position until the first round of pit stops this afternoon, which will come between laps 10 and 20. That's when we'll see where the others really are on race pace and strategy.

I have to say we have some pretty decent packages behind us for the race. McLaren and Williams aren't too dusty.

We are all over the moon with what we achieved with Jaguar yesterday. Absolutely rapt.

We didn't expect to be sixth in qualifying, but we have some good people behind us and we're happy about that. Now we have to do our best to keep them there during the Grand Prix.

Honestly, that might be tough over 58 laps, but we all intend to do our best.

The Ferrari pace really surprised me. They were so, so quick.

But, again, it's a new day now and the cars won't necessarily be as quick in the race. The pace we saw in qualifying runs might not be relevant over the full race distance. That's not just for the other teams, but for me as well.

Qualifying is just a small part of the whole race weekend, and achieving a good result. It's an important part, to be sure, but just a small part of the whole program.

Looking at the start, I just want to get away well. It's the first time we have all done the manual starts as well, without electronic launch controls, so I want to get away well and keep my grid position if I can for the first lap or two.

The tactics still aren't clear, although most people will probably make two pit stops for fuel and tyres. I won't be surprised if there are some two-stoppers during the race.

We could do two as well, depending on how the race unfolds. We can do that from where we are after qualifying.

We did a fair bit of work yesterday, in the two practice sessions before qualifying, although I haven't touched a rollbar or spring since we came to Melbourne. That shows the pre-season testing on the R5, and the work put in by the whole team, has been worthwhile.

We ran with slightly different fuel levels during the early sessions, but the final call was good for qualifying. We didn't change the car at all between two one-lap runs.

That's why you might have seen me on TV at one point, looking pretty relaxed. I was confident I could go out and do a reasonable job when it counted. I think some teams under-performed and that's made us look a bit better.

It was another very busy day, but I had a few minutes with one very important man, Richard Parry-Jones. He's the executive vice-president and product chief of the Ford Motor Company, and a very clever boy.

I haven't seen Richard for quite a long time, so it was good to talk to him about the future of the team, the strengths and weaknesses, and what we have to work on.

Looking ahead to the race, we're looking for a good result. The main thing for us is to show we have good pace.

That could mean we finish eighth, or it could be third.

It's the first race of the 2004 season, so there is definitely going to be some attrition today, but I just hope I'm not part of it. Still, I might not finish.

But I want to finish and finish well.

If we do, then the end result will come for us as it did in qualifying.

That was our best shot and the race is the same. If other guys slip up and make mistakes like they did in qualifying, then that's fine, but the main thing for us is not to slip up and to get a result.

[Geoffy Pie]

quite a boring race, however it was kept lively by having the columbians sitting all around us at turn 9. I don't have much to say about the race other than well done to fernando alonso and sympathies to kimi and webber

bring on malaysia