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2002 Gran Premio de Australia
Carrera 1 de 17 en el Campeonato Mundial de Fórmula Uno de 2002
←  Carrera anteriorPróxima carrera  →
Albert Lake Park Street Circuit in Melbourne, Australia.svg
Detalles de la carrera [1] [2]
Fecha3 de marzo de 2002
Nombre oficialLXVII Gran Premio de Australia de Foster
LocalizaciónCircuito del Gran Premio de Melbourne , Albert Park , Melbourne , Australia
CursoCircuito urbano temporal
Duración del curso5.303 km (3.295 millas)
Distancia58 vueltas, 307,574 km (191,118 mi)
TiempoNublado al principio, aclarando a cielos soleados.
Asistencia127.000
Pole position
Conductor
Ferrari
Hora1: 25,843
Vuelta más rápida
ConductorFinland Kimi RaikkonenMcLaren - Mercedes
Hora1: 28.541 en la vuelta 37
Podio
Primero
Ferrari
Segundo
Williams - BMW
Tercero
McLaren - Mercedes
Líderes de vuelta

El Gran Premio de Australia de 2002 (formalmente el Gran Premio de Australia de LXVII Foster ) fue una carrera de Fórmula Uno celebrada el 3 de marzo de 2002 en el Circuito del Gran Premio de Melbourne . Con 127.000 asistentes, la carrera fue la primera del Campeonato Mundial de Fórmula Uno de 2002 y la 18ª edición de la carrera de Fórmula Uno. El piloto de Ferrari Michael Schumacher ganó la carrera de 58 vueltas comenzando desde la segunda posición. Juan Pablo Montoya de Williams terminó segundo y Kimi Räikkönen fue tercero para el equipo McLaren .

Rubens Barrichello de Ferrari se clasificó en la pole position al registrar la vuelta más rápida en la calificación. Se retiró al comienzo de la carrera, cuando frenó temprano en la primera curva, alcanzando al piloto de Williams Ralf Schumacher , quien golpeó la parte trasera del auto de Barrichello. Seis conductores estuvieron involucrados en un incidente separado. El coche de seguridad se desplegó durante cuatro vueltas para despejar la pista. David Coulthard de McLarenLideró las primeras diez vueltas hasta que un error en la undécima vuelta permitió a Michael Schumacher pasarlo. Montoya luego pasó a Schumacher por el primer lugar al comienzo de la vuelta doce. Mantuvo el liderato hasta que se abrió de par en par y Michael Schumacher lo adelantó para recuperarlo. Lideró el resto de la carrera para conseguir su tercera victoria en Australia y la 54 de su carrera .

Tras esta, la primera ronda de la temporada, Michael Schumacher dejó Australia liderando el Campeonato Mundial de Pilotos con diez puntos . Montoya estaba cuatro puntos por detrás en segundo lugar con Räikkönen tercero. En el Campeonato de Constructores , Ferrari lideró con diez puntos, seguido por Williams y McLaren con dieciséis carreras restantes en la temporada.

Antecedentes [ editar ]

El circuito del Gran Premio de Melbourne (en la foto de 2014) , donde se llevó a cabo la carrera.

Los preparativos para el evento comenzaron en enero de 2002. En ese momento, solo estaba en el calendario provisional del Campeonato del Mundo de Fórmula Uno de 2002 debido a la muerte del mariscal Graham Beveridge en un accidente en la carrera de 2001 . [3] El organismo rector de la Fórmula Uno, la Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), confirmó más tarde que procedería según lo programado tras la publicación de un informe forense que dictaminaba que la muerte de Beveridge era "evitable". [4] Fue la primera de 17 carreras de 2002 y la décimo octava carrera australiana del Campeonato Mundial de Fórmula Uno. Ocurrió en el Circuito del Gran Premio de Melbourne de 5.303 km (3.295 millas) en el suburbio de Melbourne deAlbert Park el 3 de marzo. [1] Para mejorar la seguridad, la altura de las cercas de seguridad se elevó a 3,8 m (12 pies), se instalaron jaulas para proteger a los oficiales de carrera y se redujo el tamaño de las aberturas de acceso. [5]

De cara a la nueva temporada , varios equipos mantuvieron la misma alineación que tenían en 2001 , sin embargo algunos equipos cambiaron de piloto para 2002. El equipo de Benetton pasó a llamarse Renault , poniendo fin a sus 16 años de participación en la Fórmula Uno , [6] y los japoneses El fabricante de automóviles Toyota debutó con los conductores Allan McNish y Mika Salo después de que pasó el 2001 desarrollando el TF102 . [7] El equipo de Prost fue liquidado en enero de 2002 después de que no pudo encontrar dinero de patrocinadores o un comprador para seguir siendo solvente. [8] El bicampeón del mundoMika Häkkinen se tomó un año sabático y su compatriota finlandés Kimi Räikkönen lo reemplazó en McLaren , [9] cuyo automóvil Sauber fue conducido por Felipe Massa , el campeón de la Euro Fórmula 3000 de 2001 . [10] En el Jordan equipo, el 2001 de Fórmula Tres Británica campeón Takuma Sato emparejado con Giancarlo Fisichella , [11] quien Jarno Trulli reemplazado en Renault. [12] El ex piloto de Prost, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, condujo las flechas de Jos Verstappencoche, [13] y Fernando Alonso dejó Minardi para convertirse en piloto de pruebas de Renault ; fue reemplazado por el competidor internacional de Fórmula 3000 Mark Webber . [14]

En la parte delantera del campo, la prensa y los corredores de apuestas consideraron a Michael Schumacher de Ferrari como el favorito para llevarse su quinto Campeonato Mundial de Pilotos , con el piloto de Williams , Juan Pablo Montoya, pronosticado como su principal rival. [15] [16] [17] Schumacher dijo que su objetivo para la temporada era ganar el campeonato e igualar el récord histórico de cinco títulos de Juan Manuel Fangio . Lo mismo. Queremos volver a ganar los dos campeonatos del mundo y no hay nada mejor que ganar con Ferrari ". [18]Montoya declaró que estaba más relajado que en 2001 porque conocía mejor a su equipo, "Creo que les mostré a todos que soy competitivo y eso es lo importante. Fue mucho más difícil ganar en la Fórmula Uno que en CART". porque me tomó más tiempo entender el auto, pero ahora que está hecho, quiero hacerlo mejor en 2002 ". [19] El ex piloto Derek Warwick creía que Michael Schumacher era el mejor piloto del deporte y sospechaba que Montoya no era emocionalmente maduro. [20]

Ferrari trajo el F2001 en lugar del F2002 a Australia debido a problemas de rendimiento y confiabilidad. Según el director del equipo Ferrari, Jean Todt , el F2002 fue rápido en las pruebas de pretemporada, pero el equipo no tenía el tiempo disponible para estar seguro de que sería confiable en Australia. el campeonato. La semana que viene, continuaremos con nuestro desarrollo en pista del F2002, así como con el ajuste fino del F2001 para la primera carrera ". [21] Durante las dos primeras sesiones de práctica, el F2001 se equipó con un alerón trasero utilizado en el F2002 en las pruebas; tanto Michael Schumacher como su compañero de equipo Rubens Barrichello optaron por uno visto en elGran Premio de Japón de 2001 . El automóvil McLaren MP4-17 presentaba un accesorio en su marco de suspensión delantera inferior dividido para promover el flujo de aire debajo del alerón delantero, y se equiparon alerones revisados ​​en la parte delantera y trasera del automóvil. Los equipos de Jordan, Arrows y Sauber copiaron el diseño. [22]

Practica [ editar ]

Antes de la carrera del domingo se realizaron cuatro entrenamientos, dos el viernes y el sábado. Las sesiones del viernes por la mañana y por la tarde duraron una hora cada una; la tercera y cuarta sesiones, el sábado por la mañana, duraron 45 minutos cada una. [23] En la primera sesión, que se llevó a cabo en condiciones climáticas variables que condujeron a los tiempos más rápidos al final, [24] Michael Schumacher dio la vuelta más rápido con un tiempo de 1 minuto, 28.804 segundos, 0.363 segundos más rápido que su compañero de equipo Barrichello en el segundo. Fisichella, Ralf Schumacher , Massa, el dúo Jaguar de Pedro de la Rosa y Eddie Irvine , Frentzen, Salo y Jenson Button de Renault completaron los diez mejores pilotos de la sesión. [25]

Takuma Sato (en la foto de 2005) se estrelló en la tercera sesión de práctica y condujo el auto Jordan EJ12 de repuesto para la calificación.

Michael Schumacher marcó la vuelta más rápida del día, 1 minuto, 27,276 segundos, en la segunda sesión. Su compañero Barrichello fue 0.523 segundos más lento en el segundo lugar. Los dos coches Williams de Ralf Schumacher y Montoya, Nick Heidfeld del equipo Sauber, Salo, Räikkönen, Massa, Fisichella y Trulli estaban en las posiciones tres a diez. [26] Durante la sesión, Enrique Bernoldi detuvo su automóvil Arrows A23 con una caja de cambios rota . [27] Barrichello giró 360 grados sobre la hierba y volvió a emerger al circuito poco después. [28] Montoya frenó demasiado tarde y regresó a la pista por una vía de escape.y una trampa de grava. Una pequeña lluvia ligera hizo que el circuito estuviera resbaladizo y atrapó a Alex Yoong ; encaló su automóvil Minardi en la trampa de grava de la curva uno. Una falla en el motor terminó temprano la sesión de Fisichella y su compañero de equipo Sato corrió a través de una trampa de grava. [28]

El tiempo para la tercera sesión fue fresco, húmedo y nublado. [29] [30] Ferrari siguió siendo el más rápido con un récord de vuelta no oficial revisado de 1 minuto, 26,177 segundos de Michael Schumacher. Barrichello fue 0.321 segundos más lento en el segundo. [29] Coulthard y Räikkönen de McLaren, Ralf Schumacher y Montoya de Williams, el piloto de British American Racing (BAR) Olivier Panis , los compañeros de equipo de Sauber Heidfeld y Massa junto con Trulli siguieron entre los diez primeros. [30] Con 13 minutos y 34 segundos para el final, Sato perdió el control de la parte trasera de su auto Jordan EJ12 en la entrada a la curva Stewart y chocó contra la barrera de neumáticos del lado izquierdo a 160 km / h (99 mph). [31] [32]Sato resultó ileso; [30] la práctica se detuvo durante nueve minutos para permitir que los alguaciles limpiaran la pista. [31] Dado que los coches de repuesto no se podían utilizar en los entrenamientos libres, Sato se perdió la cuarta sesión porque su coche necesitaba reparaciones. [32]

En la cuarta sesión, un breve chaparrón empapó el circuito, lo que impidió una mejora en los tiempos de vuelta ya que algunos pilotos se salieron de pista. Por lo tanto, ningún piloto mejoró el mejor tiempo de Michael Schumacher, ya que Barrichello, en el segundo lugar, redujo a la mitad la diferencia con su compañero de equipo. El dúo Williams de Montoya y Ralf Schumacher mejoró al tercero y cuarto y el par de McLaren de Coulthard y Räikkönen cayó al quinto y sexto. Heidfeld, el dúo BAR de Jacques Villeneuve y Panis y Fisichella fueron del séptimo al décimo. [33]

Calificativo [ editar ]

Rubens Barrichello se hizo con la cuarta pole position de su carrera.

La sesión de clasificación de una hora del sábado por la tarde vio a cada competidor limitado a doce vueltas, con el orden de salida decidido por sus vueltas más rápidas. Durante esta sesión, la regla del 107% estaba en vigor, lo que requería que cada piloto estableciera un tiempo dentro del 107% de la vuelta más rápida para calificar para la carrera. [23] La sesión comenzó en pista seca hasta que a mitad de camino cayó una fuerte tormenta que hizo que el circuito estuviera resbaladizo e impidió cualquier mejora en el tiempo de vuelta. [34] [35] Barrichello completó dos vueltas antes de que lloviera (la primera se vio comprometida por un tráfico más lento); [36] consiguió la cuarta pole position de su carrera y la primera desde el Gran Premio de Gran Bretaña de 2000con un tiempo de 1 minuto, 25,843 segundos. [34] Se le unió en la primera fila de la parrilla Michael Schumacher, quien cometió un error en una acera en el primer tercio de una vuelta. [35] [37] Ralf Schumacher, tercero, permaneció en el garaje durante los primeros tres minutos para evitar un tráfico más lento. [36] Coulthard, cuarto clasificado, intentó rebasar a Villeneuve por fuera en la última curva y entraron en contacto. Coulthard golpeó la pared con la rueda trasera derecha y giró hacia una zona de salida. [35] Un error puso a su compañero de equipo Räikkönen quinto. [37]Montoya, en sexto lugar, perdió seis décimas de segundo después de que Fisichella desacelerara su primera vuelta cronometrada. Trulli en séptimo fue frenado por un coche Jaguar en su primera vuelta. Fisichella, en octavo lugar, expresó su satisfacción por el equilibrio y el rendimiento de su coche. [36] Massa fue el novato mejor clasificado en el noveno lugar después de dos errores. Su compañero de equipo Heidfeld se clasificó décimo. [35] [36]

Button fue el piloto más rápido en no clasificarse entre los diez primeros después de haber sido cuarto al principio. Panis completó una vuelta cronometrada ya que no pudo sacar más rendimiento de su BAR 004 y ocupó el puesto 12. [36] El exceso de sobreviraje redujo la velocidad de su compañero de equipo Villeneuve en el puesto 13. [37] Salo, 14º, condujo con cautela en su primera vuelta cronometrada. Una falla menor de presión de combustible limitó a Frentzen en el puesto 15 a una vuelta sin problemas. [36]A McNish, 16º, se le dedujo un juego de neumáticos de su asignación de clasificación porque Toyota usó por error un juego asignado para las sesiones de práctica del viernes el sábado. Una parada sorprendió a Bernoldi al inicio de su primera vuelta cronometrada y se clasificó 17º. Webber ocupó el puesto 18 y usó neumáticos para clima húmedo. [37] Los dos coches Jaguar R3 tenían una deficiencia aerodinámica importante y estaban en el puesto 19 y 20: [38] Un equilibrio de los frenos traseros redujo la velocidad de Irvine y una deficiencia de manejo hizo que De la Rosa condujera el Jaguar de repuesto. [36] Yoong completó una vuelta cronometrada en el puesto 21. [37] Cinco minutos en el auto Jordan EJ12 de repuesto de Sato se detuvieron antes de que Stewart girara con un embrague hidráulico. problem that automatically selected third gear. The session was stopped for eight minutes to allow marshals to move his car. Sato returned to his garage and drove Fisichella's race car but the rain made him more than 107 per cent slower than Barrichello.[39]

Post-qualifying[edit]

After qualifying, the Jordan team principal and owner Eddie Jordan appealed to the stewards to allow Sato to participate in the race because he was under the 107 per cent limit during free practice. They permitted him to start under "exceptional circumstances" as in the case of previous cases affected by changeable weather.[39][40]

Qualifying classification[edit]

PosNo.DriverConstructorTimeGap
12 Rubens BarrichelloFerrari1:25.843
21 Michael SchumacherFerrari1:25.848+0.005
35 Ralf SchumacherWilliams-BMW1:26.279+0.436
43 David CoulthardMcLaren-Mercedes1:26.446+0.603
54 Kimi RäikkönenMcLaren-Mercedes1:27.161+1.318
66 Juan Pablo MontoyaWilliams-BMW1:27.249+1.406
714 Jarno TrulliRenault1:27.710+1.867
89 Giancarlo FisichellaJordan-Honda1:27.869+2.026
98 Felipe MassaSauber-Petronas1:27.972+2.129
107 Nick HeidfeldSauber-Petronas1:28.232+2.389
1115 Jenson ButtonRenault1:28.361+2.518
1212 Olivier PanisBAR-Honda1:28.381+2.538
1311 Jacques VilleneuveBAR-Honda1:28.657+2.814
1424 Mika SaloToyota1:29.205+3.362
1520 Heinz-Harald FrentzenArrows-Cosworth1:29.474+3.631
1625 Allan McNishToyota1:29.636+3.793
1721 Enrique BernoldiArrows-Cosworth1:29.738+3.895
1823 Mark WebberMinardi-Asiatech1:30.086+4.243
1916 Eddie IrvineJaguar-Cosworth1:30.113+4.270
2017 Pedro de la RosaJaguar-Cosworth1:30.192+4.349
2122 Alex YoongMinardi-Asiatech1:31.504+5.661
107% time: 1:31.852
2210 Takuma SatoJordan-Honda1:53.351+27.5081
Sources:[41][42]
Notes
  • ^1 – Takuma Sato set a time 107% slower than the fastest qualifying lap. He was granted permission from the stewards to start the race due to "exceptional circumstances".[40]

Warm-up[edit]

A half-hour warm-up session was held on Sunday morning in variable weather as heavy rain fell before it commenced.[23][43] Teams used rain tyres and set-up their cars against the weather of the time.[44] With a lap of 1 minute and 41.509 seconds, Michael Schumacher was fastest with teammate Barrichello 1.382 seconds slower in second position. Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher, Montoya, Massa, Heidfeld, Fisichella, Trulli and Irvine made up positions three to ten.[45] With 40 seconds to go,[46] Salo drove off the racing line to allow Barrichello past into Ascari corner. He drove onto a white painted line, lost control of his Toyota and crashed into the barrier; Salo's front wing detached heading towards an escape road.[43][44][46]

Race[edit]

The weather at the start was dry and overcast with the air temperature between 15 to 18 °C (59 to 64 °F) and the track temperature from 20 to 23 °C (68 to 73 °F).[47][48][49] A total of 127,000 people attended the event.[50] Sato drove the spare Jordan EJ12 car set up for his teammate Fisichella; after warm-up the Jordan team rectified an electrical problem that rendered its clutch inoperable.[51] Before the race commenced at 14:00 local time,[23] Frentzen and Bernoldi stalled their stationary cars; marshals and mechanics extricated them to the pit lane.[52][53]

Ralf Schumacher made contact with the rear of Barrichello's car and retired with heavy car damage at the start of the race.

Ralf Schumacher used the grip on the outside to pass Michael Schumacher for second position and challenged the heavily fuelled Ferrari of Barrichello for the lead.[54][55] As Michael Schumacher turned left to provide himself with the best possible entry for Brabham corner, his teammate Barrichello switched lanes twice to try and block Ralf Schumacher, who responded by turning to the centre in anticipation that momentum would move him into the lead.[56] Barrichello braked early for Brabham turn and caught out Ralf Schumacher,[55] who struck the rear of Barrichello's car at about 240 km/h (150 mph).[48] He launched over the Ferrari,[53] grazed Barrichello's helmet,[50] careened 100 m (330 ft) and rested against the tyre wall.[2][57] Barrichello's rear wing was removed from his car, spinning broadside to a stop and caused an eight-car accident.[55] His teammate Michael Schumacher and Räikkönen drove onto the grass to avoid a collision,[2][53] as Fisichella hit the Sauber cars of Heidfeld and Massa, causing Button, Panis and McNish to get caught up in the incident. Villeneuve, Salo, Webber, Irvine, de la Rosa, Yoong and Sato negotiated their way through the crash scene.[2]

The drivers involved in the crash returned to the pit lane in anticipation that the race would be stopped and could drive their spare cars for a restart. However, the FIA race director Charlie Whiting did not stop the race and order a restart since no driver was injured. He deployed the safety car with the damaged cars moved and debris cleared.[54][58] This left Coulthard in the lead, followed by Trulli, Montoya, Michael Schumacher, Irvine and de la Rosa.[47] At the conclusion of lap two, Räikkönen entered the pit lane for a 48-second pit stop for a new front wing and to remove debris lodged behind his back.[2][53][55] Webber's differential and traction control began to malfunction on lap three.[59] On the same lap, Frentzen ignored a red light instructing drivers to remain in the pit lane until further notice and ventured onto the circuit.[49][52] The safety car was withdrawn at the conclusion of the fifth lap and Coulthard led Trulli and Montoya.[47] Going into Whiteford turn,[48] Montoya drew close to Trulli and slid wide on oil laid on the circuit.[54][58] Michael Schumacher used Montoya's error to overtake him for third place.[60] Further down the field, Räikkönen moved from eleventh to ninth position.[53]

Coulthard began to pull away from the rest of the field, increasing his lead to four-and-a-half seconds by lap seven.[47] That same lap, Sato overtook de la Rosa for sixth place, as Webber lost seventh position to Räikkönen.[53] At the back, Bernoldi rejoined the race after switching from his race car to the spare Arrows vehicle.[2] Trulli blocked Michael Schumacher from passing him for second into Brabham corner on the eighth lap, allowing Montoya to gain on Schumacher; he was not close enough to affect a pass.[48] There were overtakes further down the field: Räikkönen passed de la Rosa and Sato as Villeneuve overtook Webber for ninth.[53] During lap nine, Trulli lost control of the rear of his Renault on oil at the exit to Jones turn, and broke his suspension in a collision with the inside barrier.[48][55] Because Trulli was stopped on the centre of the track,[49][61] the safety car was deployed for the second time to allow marshals to move his car.[47] When the safety car was withdrawn at the end of the 11th lap, an electrical fault distracted Coulthard, causing him to miss a gear change,[55][56] lock his brakes,[49] and understeer wide onto the grass entering Prost turn.[48] He fell to fifth.[49]

Michael Schumacher moved into the lead with Montoya second and Irvine third.[61] On the approach to Brabham corner Montoya's higher straightline speed allowed him to overtake Michael Schumacher on the outside at the end of the main straight for the lead.[2] Montoya then steered onto the inside to maintain the lead from Schumacher at Jones corner.[55] By the 13th lap, Michael Schumacher had close to within eight-tenths of a second to affect a pass on Montoya,[49] which he was unable to do because of slower traffic.[48] On lap 14,[53] Sato retired in the pit lane with an unrectifiable electronics issue that limited his gear selection.[62] Michael Schumacher continued to pressure Montoya into an error,[55] and caused the latter to drive onto oil at Brabham corner.[2] He overtook Montoya on the inside at the exit of Jones turn to take the lead at the start of lap 17.[48][56] Michael Schumacher began to pull away from the rest of the field as Montoya struggled to generate heat in his tyres. On lap 18, de la Rosa fell to eighth after Yoong, Webber and Villeneuve overtook him. On the following lap Frentzen was disqualified for his earlier transgression of ignoring the red light at the exit of the pit lane.[53]

By the 22nd lap Michael Schumacher increased his lead over Montoya to 11.3 seconds with consecutive lap times in the 1 minute and 29 seconds range.[2][60] Räikkönen was eight-tenths of a second behind Montoya.[49] On the same lap, Coulthard went off the track at Prost corner. His reduced speed meant Irvine passed him for fourth soon after.[48] On lap 23 Bernoldi was disqualified from the race because the stewards deemed him to have switched to the spare car after the race began.[55] Webber and Villeneuve passed Coulthard for fifth and sixth on laps 25 and 26.[48][53] Villeneuve in sixth had a rear wing failure that sent him into the tyre wall at high speed on the entry to Waite corner and retirement from his 100th race entry on lap 28.[49][53][57] He was unhurt. On lap 29, Yoong overtook Coulthard for sixth position.[53] Seven laps later, Coulthard became the race's final retirement when he pulled off to the side of track at Whiteford corner because his McLaren was stuck in sixth gear.[2][49]

Michael Schumacher (pictured in 2005) took his third win at the Australian Grand Prix and the 54th of his career.

Webber was the first of the top six drivers to make a pit stop on lap 37.[48] He had a problematic 34.9 second pit stop; the Minardi's fuel cover did not open automatically and a mechanic used a screwdriver to unsecure it. Webber rejoined the track in sixth position.[63] Montoya and Michael Schumacher made their pit stops on laps 37 and 38.[61] In the meantime, Räikkönen recorded the race's fastest lap of 1 minute, 25.841 seconds on lap 37,[2] as he sought to pass Montoya for second position after his pit stop.[55] He made his stop on lap 38.[53] As Räikkönen drove onto the track, he drew alongside Montoya and carried excess speed into Brabham corner.[55] He understeered wide onto the grass as he regained control of the rear of his car and fell to third, behind Montoya.[47][48]

With the first four positions settled, attention switched to the battle for fifth between Webber and Salo.[53] Webber short shifted to prevent unneeded car component stress and noticed Salo closing up. He went faster and the Minardi team owner Paul Stoddart radioed that he had to defend fifth from Salo. Webber was aware of a potential revenue bonus of $25 million for Minardi if they finished ahead of Toyota in the World Constructors' Championship.[59] Salo had been aware of the distance between himself and Webber and closed up to the latter by the 57th lap.[55] He attempted to pass Webber; the aerodynamic turbulence created of airflow over Webber's car and the latter's block caused Salo to spin through 180 degrees on radiator coolant from Button's car at Whiteford turn. Salo was able to restart his car and continue in sixth.[47][48][64]

Michael Schumacher led the final 39 laps to take his third successive Australian Grand Prix victory and the 54th of his career.[58] Montoya was 18.628 seconds behind in second position. He was a further 6.4 seconds ahead of Räikkönen,[2] who took the first podium finish of his career in third.[58] Irvine and Webber finished fourth and fifth after starting from 19th and 18th respectively.[48][58] Salo took the final point in sixth place, the first time a team scored points in its debut race since JJ Lehto finished fifth for Sauber at the 1993 South African Grand Prix.[65] Yoong came seventh with a "long" brake pedal and a car optimised for wet-weather;[62] marshals mistakenly waved blue flags at Yoong because they did not know which lap he was on.[64] De la Rosa was the final classified finisher after a misfiring engine required him to undergo a lengthy pit stop. The attrition rate was high, with eight of the twenty-two starters finishing the race.[2][57]

Post-race[edit]

The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and spoke to the media in a later press conference.[23] Michael Schumacher called his battle with Montoya "an interesting one" and "a bit back and forward", adding "I think as well that the tyres played a little bit of a role in that; initially I struggled to get the temperature in where these guys seemed to get faster on top of temperatures but then it went the other way around, their tyres went off and my one came in so I had a nice chance to battle a little bit and finally got first position for us, which was ideal."[66] Montoya said he enjoyed the battle and stated Ferrari had the fastest car, "I think the conditions were not the best for the tyres. Hopefully in Malaysia it is going to be hotter, it could play into our hands a little bit."[66] Räikkönen said he was surprised to finish third and talked about the ease of overtaking other cars, "Some cars was more difficult and then it was helping me a lot big time because the safety car came out second time and I got behind the leaders and that was the main reason that I catch them, but it was quite a difficult and interesting race."[66]

Mark Webber (pictured in 2010) finished fifth and was given an impromptu podium ceremony after the race.

Ron Walker, the chairman of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, persuaded Webber and Stoddart to celebrate their fifth-place result with an impromptu ceremony on the podium, which led to a fine of £50,000 from the FIA president Max Mosley.[67] In a retrospective interview for The Weekend Australian in 2012, Stoddart called Webber's fifth-place finish "the most exciting two points in the history of Formula One".[67] Webber commented on the result, "Finishing the race fifth was unbelievable. We had people scaling catch fencing. Occupational health and safety would have gone ballistic these days. It was a unique day."[67] The result saw Webber's three-race contract with Minardi extended to the end of the season.[67] The media compared Webber's achievement to the ice skater Steven Bradbury winning a gold medal in the men's 1000 metres short track speed skating at the 2002 Winter Olympics; both men were successful after several participants crashed in their respective events.[63][68]

Following their collision, their third in the past two seasons, Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher were summoned to meet the stewards, who reviewed television footage post-race. Neither driver received a penalty and were given a warning.[69] The stewards classed the crash as "a racing incident", with neither competitor to blame.[50] Ralf Schumacher argued Barrichello braked earlier than normal, saying "I was afraid to turn into the first corner because I suddenly saw cars flying next to me. I decided to go straight on and have a nice ride through the grass, which was a good decision, otherwise I guess I would have been hit."[50] Barrichello said he was not to blame for the accident, "If he wanted to overtake on the outside, he should have moved a lot further. I didn't get in his way."[50] Jackie Stewart, the three-time world champion, argued Ralf Schumacher had misjudged the braking distance for turn one,[70] while Coulthard stated his belief Barrichello caused the accident by braking earlier than usual.[71]

Whiting's decision not to stop the race after the eight-car crash was criticised. The technical director of the Jordan team Gary Anderson called it "the most absurd thing I've seen in my life".[54] Fisichella believing not stopping the race was "ridiculous",[62] and Michael Schumacher agreed it should have been stopped.[66] Coulthard defended the decision, saying "I've always felt that to deprive the spectators of a number of cars as a result of an incident at the first corner isn't really good for the business. But this isn't Hollywood. You don't cut out the bits you don't like. This is real. This is racing."[56] Ralf Schumacher also backed Whiting's ruling, noting "Charlie Whiting took the right decision by not stopping the race. He had made it quite clear to us that he would not stop a race unless it was for safety reasons and that wasn't the case."[72]

Because this was the first race of the season, Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with ten points. Montoya was second with six points and Räikkönen was third with four. Irvine was fourth with three points and Webber was fifth with two points.[2] Ferrari took the lead of the World Constructors' Championship with ten points. Williams were second with six points and McLaren followed in third with four points. With three points, Jaguar were fourth and Minardi fifth with two points with sixteen races left in the season.[2]

Race classification[edit]

Drivers who finished in the top six points-scoring positions are denoted in bold.

PosNo.DriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
11 Michael SchumacherFerrari581:35:36.792210
26 Juan Pablo MontoyaWilliams-BMW58+18.62866
34 Kimi RäikkönenMcLaren-Mercedes58+25.06754
416 Eddie IrvineJaguar-Cosworth57+1 Lap193
523 Mark WebberMinardi-Asiatech56+2 Laps182
624 Mika SaloToyota56+2 Laps141
722 Alex YoongMinardi-Asiatech55+3 Laps21 
817 Pedro de la RosaJaguar-Cosworth53+5 Laps20 
Ret3 David CoulthardMcLaren-Mercedes33Gearbox4 
Ret11 Jacques VilleneuveBAR-Honda27Broken wing13 
Ret10 Takuma SatoJordan-Honda12Electrical22 
Ret14 Jarno TrulliRenault8Spun off7 
Ret2 Rubens BarrichelloFerrari0Collision1 
Ret5 Ralf SchumacherWilliams-BMW0Collision3 
Ret9 Giancarlo FisichellaJordan-Honda0Collision8 
Ret8 Felipe MassaSauber-Petronas0Collision9 
Ret7 Nick HeidfeldSauber-Petronas0Collision10 
Ret15 Jenson ButtonRenault0Collision11 
Ret12 Olivier PanisBAR-Honda0Collision12 
Ret25 Allan McNishToyota0Collision16 
DSQ20 Heinz-Harald FrentzenArrows-Cosworth16Disqualified215 
DSQ21 Enrique BernoldiArrows-Cosworth15Disqualified217 
Sources:[42]
Notes
  • ^2  – Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Enrique Bernoldi were disqualified for passing the red light at the exit of the pit lane and changing to the team's spare car after the commencement of the race, respectively.[55]

Championship standings after the race[edit]

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

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