Australian Grand Prix Review

By now the behind-the-scenes events at Albert Park have been well-documented. Paul Stoddart and Minardi defiantly turned up in Melbourne with their 2004 cars, and 8 of the 9 signatures from the other teams he needed in order to get special dispensation. Regardless, the stewards threw out the cars anyway, so Stoddart turned to the Victorian Supreme Court. He got his Pyrrhic injunction, only for FIA threats about cancelling the race altogether to get the Minardi boss to back down and convert his cars to '05 spec.

Back in September last year, when Stoddart first announced his intended stance, he could well have hid behind the pretence of Minardi's impoverishment. And he would have found willing allies in the likes of Eddie Jordan, at that stage facing an uncertain future for Jordan, and Dave Pitchforth, ditto for Jaguar. Stoddart could then also find other sympathisers from the rest of the team bosses, except for Ferrari, carried along by the fervour of unity sweeping through the paddock at Interlagos.

Yet as Melbourne drew near and Stoddart's resolve stood firm, it became painfully clear that his position was in fact a political one, not a financial one at all. Paul had become the unofficial 'shop steward' spokesman for the coalition of nine. According to him, those non-Ferrari teams were united, even if the men at the helm of BAR, Jordan and Red Bull had changed, in their belief that the 2005 rules were illegitimate. The fact that Minardi could comply with the 2005 regulations showed that Stoddart was merely taking a stand.

But was this really a seismic rebellion or merely a Stoddart frolic? Even after the battle was over and Minardi's little fist-shaking had been quashed, Paul was coming out with them fighting words. "As far as I am concerned what we are doing here is rapidly pushing the Formula One world championship to its destruction ... The wounds are getting so deep now there is not going to be any healing ... [the manufacturers] are going to go their own way ... I'm going to go that way [too]." Emotional stuff.

Those who think that this has moved beyond being about money and is now a matter of governance and principles should consider this. Why did no other team join Stoddart in taking the hopeless stance? Was it because their sponsors would not like the adverse press of being labelled as a trouble-making team? Why were Jordan and Red Bull so opposed? Was it because an illegal Minardi could rob them of positions, therefore championship places and the money that goes with it?

For all the huff and puff of Ron Dennis talking about preparing McLaren for a defection to the GPWC in 2008, Stoddart's solo unsupported crusade showed that this political battle is still all about money and a fairer slice of the cake, than a question of principle. We're still talking manufacturers after all - multinationals with a view first and foremost to the bottom line. The GPWC remains, for the moment at least, a justifiable lobbying group rather than a genuine breakaway threat.

And if the GPWC is tenuous enough, the coalition of the nine has been exposed by its own unofficial spokesman as being rather weak. Jordan and Red Bull are more obvious targets for Bernie than clay pigeons are for a sharp-shooter. Their disagreement with Minardi's position shows that, at the end of the day, it's every man for himself. Perhaps Max Mosley is right after all - the nine will be unable to really agree on a comprehensive set of alternative regulations. Time will tell.

Needless to say, the FIA were thoroughly unimpressed by the entire sorry episode, and responded with their lashing, vitriolic press release threatening the future of world championship events in Australia. Obviously, as Australian motorsport fans that is a scary thought, but the FIA's position is understandable. What has to be understood is that the Victorian Supreme Court gave Minardi an injunction to compete until 2:15pm on Saturday, when all parties, including the FIA, could be convened for a proper hearing.

Take the eve of the FIFA World Cup as a hypothetical example. One team's star player has been suspended but wishes to argue the legality of that. So he goes to the local court and gets an interim injunction, without FIFA being heard. The earliest a hearing involving all parties can be convened is after the match. The player takes part and scores the winning goal. OK, so Saturday practice and qualifying isn't the World Cup final, but you can see the difficulty these last-minute interim injunctions can pose.

As a final word on the matter, most people in the paddock respect Stoddart for the way he keeps Minardi going, and for his generosity in the face of difficult conditions. F1 Rejects will always remember and be grateful for how Paul invited us for a browse around the Minardi garage in 2003. But politically he does push the envelope often, and on this instance he went too far, probably to his own detriment. He has come out of this worse off, and may have, in fact, undermined the anti-FIA position.

On this occasion, for not knowing when enough is enough and that it's time to knuckle down and simply get back to racing, Paul Stoddart earns our 'Reject of the Race' award. Which is not to say that we're FIA or Mosley supporters either! Far from it! Though the report card on the 2005 regulations hasn't been finalised, thanks to the weather in Melbourne and two-race engine rule leaving some questions outstanding until Malaysia, some of the early indications aren't altogether favourable, as expected.

The reduction in tyre availability and the two-race engine rule meant that Friday was as much a non-event as expected, especially the first session. Perhaps this is all a part of Bernie's plan for two-day Grand Prix weekends but more of them. That in itself may actually be a good idea, especially if Friday becomes a test day and testing otherwise is restricted (but as if Ferrari would agree to that). Teams mostly have their set-ups pre-programmed in advance anyway, so starting free practice on Saturday only is feasible.

Despite the two-race engine rule, the number of non-engine-related excuses for changing an engine is completely ridiculous. Qualify near the bottom for some reason? Change your engine for the race. Had a spin in the race? Park it and change your engine for the next event. Don't look like scoring points? Park it as well. Michael Schumacher and BAR both exposed the too-many loopholes in the engine-changing rules. The FIA must consider only allowing engine swaps when the problem is motor-related.

The lack of tyre changes also proved less effective than expected. Both Michelin and Bridgestone have made their rubber so durable, Jarno Trulli's Toyota was the only key example of someone dropping back because of their tyres not lasting. The drivers' tyre-preservation job is looking easier than expected, but we'll hold judgment on that until we hit hotter tracks. Removing tyre changes has also taken away one element of human error in pit stops. More than ever before, pit stops are a matter of tactics and strategy.

As for the teams and drivers themselves, once things really mattered Giancarlo Fisichella was the star of the show, by good fortune more than anything else. He was the only man who did his Saturday lap on dry tyres when the track was ready for it (Jacques Villeneuve on dries before him may have been a touch too early). Fisi was also second quickest on Sunday morning behind Mark Webber, made no errors in the race and walked away with what was a comfortable win in a top-notch Renault R25.

Unlike the mix-up in Brazil 2003, Fisi could finally celebrate a victory from the top of the podium. We've predicted a big year from him, and to state the obvious this was the best possible way to kickstart his return to regular front-running competition. But the naysayers can also quite justifiably argue that throughout Sunday he was under minimal pressure, and that you can't read too much into his performance. Just how good is the Fisichella-Renault package when everyone's on an equal footing? We shall see.

REJECT OF THE RACE
Paul Stoddart
Pushed the goodwill of the F1 world a little too far this time

Yes, Ferrari turned up in Melbourne only with their F2004M, but momentum in a season is important, and Maranello have started off in stuttering fashion. They did likewise in similar circumstances in 2003, other teams gained confidence, and look how superb the 2003 season turned out to be. Compare that to the demoralisation everyone felt when Ferrari sewed up both titles within a few laps of free practice on Friday at Albert Park last year. The point is, Ferrari's results this time have given others a crucial look in.

Of course, maybe the F2005 will blow everyone's doors off, but at no stage in Melbourne in dry conditions did the F2004M look dominant compared to the speed of the Renault R25, the McLaren MP4/20, the Red Bull RB01, even the Williams FW27. Barrichello's drive from 11th to 2nd was almost on par with Alonso's, with some really fast laps on low tanks but perhaps not quite Fernando's breathtaking ones. Crucially also, for the first time ever he has the jump on Michael. Could 2005 end up being Rubens' year?

A DNF was Schumacher's worst start to a season since 1998. The relative closeness between the cars from any of the non-Jordan and Minardi teams meant that Michael also struggled to make huge progress through the field. It would have been one of those points-salvaging operations a la several 2003 races. The allusions to two years ago, plus the sense in which Ferrari isn't going to dance away from the field like they did last year, is what's generally giving teams and fans hope as they departed from Melbourne.

The World Champion will also go down as the first 'strategic retirement' this season, after he was pushed out from his dangerous position following his collision with Nick Heidfeld, but found himself too far behind to be worth his while. It's a poor indictment for the sport, for sportsmanship in general, and for the fighting spirit when people just quit when things have gone against them and are rewarded for doing so. Still, Schumi had more reason than BAR, who simply pulled their cars off on the last lap ...

The revelation of the weekend turned out to be Red Bull Racing. Jaguar never managed to get both cars in the points in the one race (although they would have if points had been awarded down to 8th from 2000 to 2002); RBR have managed the feat in race number one. It was easily the best combined performance for this squad since its Stewart days. Sure they were aided by the Saturday weather that gave them the track position, but they had to have the speed to hold their own.

Perhaps on raw lap times they might have been only a smidgin slower than the Williamses and McLarens they held at bay, but coupled with good pit stops and smart strategy they were quick enough to stay in front, and that's all that matters. As we've already said above, it shows that there's not much to choose from in terms of speed between any of the cars from the top 8 teams. That's going to make qualifying all-important, and points hard to come by. And Red Bull already have 7 in the bank.

That's three fewer than what Jaguar managed all year in 2004, and had Barrichello and Alonso been more tardy making their way up the field, David Coulthard would have come 2nd. As it was he was only 16 seconds adrift of Fisichella, and 11 behind Rubens. How the Scot must feel like he has the last laugh right now having demolished both McLarens! It was a brilliant, forceful drive by DC, starting with his opportunistic move under Webber at the first corner, and at one stage holding fastest lap of the race.

Clearly the RB01 doesn't eat its rear tyres alive like the Jaguar R4 and R5 did. DC's only careless moment was when he nearly tripped over Patrick Friesacher's Minardi and then inadvertently put Webber on the grass to defend his position. But it was the heat of the moment, and David may not have been fully aware that Mark was getting alongside him. The question now is whether DC can keep scoring points even if he doesn't qualify so high; or will Red Bull turn out to be the BARs of 2005?

In fact, though he was passed by Alonso, Barrichello and Juan-Pablo Montoya at the first stops, Klien actually got ahead of Heidfeld's Williams himself. In the end, 7th and two points was thoroughly deserved. On the other hand, that Heidfeld was overtaken by the Red Bull in the pits was indicative of the appalling tactics they employed, where in both pit stop sequences the Williams cars were the first to blink and come in, thereby spending time on full tanks while others were running close to empty.

At a place like Melbourne, where the penalty for a heavy car is most severe of all the circuits on the calendar, this was suicidal. The latent speed of the FW27 was not that bad, as shown by Heidfeld on Friday, and by Webber going fastest of all in the Sunday qualifying session. But Mark was clearly running on slightly lower tanks than others, and amazingly at the Australian's first stop, they neither short-filled him to get past Coulthard, nor did they long-fill him to get an advantage at the second stop sequence.

By sticking to their status quo, and a poor strategy at that, Webber was never able to get by Coulthard, despite probably being a touch faster. How the Aussie must be spewing that he was beaten by his old team. After starting 3rd, with a previously-unforeseen podium on the cards, Webber was a little too cautious going into turn 1, leaving the door open for DC. That, and the poor pit tactics, cost him a career-best 4th, even if Barrichello and Alonso would probably have kept him off the dais.

Compared to the performances of Rubens and Fernando, Mark's drive didn't appear stunning, but who knows how he would have gone had he been given the challenge of some low-fuel banzai laps in which to make up some places. Still, the Australian had the measure of Heidfeld when it mattered. He may not have silenced the doubters yet, but with a better fuel strategy, and an improved car - the FW27 at times did look like an understeering, ill-handling beast - he may yet do so.

It's amazing how, befitting his quiet nature, throughout last year there was never much to comment about Heidfeld while he was with Jordan, and there's still not much to say even though he's now with a top team! As could be expected, he was putting in a solid, consistent, reliable weekend, hardly spectacular, but that's not Nick. He was doing exactly the job Williams want him to do, and at this rate he will score a handy helping of points. But on this race weekend alone it does look like Webber might have his measure.

McLaren will come away from Melbourne quite disappointed. There is some inherent speed in the MP4/20, as shown by having three cars in the top five times at the end of Friday. But was that just low-fuel speed or an indication of race pace? Not only did the weather on Saturday dump them in the middle of the grid, but come race day they were unable to make that kind of astonishing progress Barrichello and Alonso did, and in addition there were more reliability woes when Kimi Raikkonen aborted the first start.

As a side point, the new procedure whereby the cars immediately do a second warm-up lap when someone stalls worked a treat. It's so simple, why didn't anyone think of it earlier? But you do get the impression that the McLaren package isn't as dynamic as, say, Renault's at this stage. Plus it's a tad flimsy too, Raikkonen's mirrors noticeably flexing and his barge boards working loose. The Finn's burn from the stern to end up 8th was decent enough, but Montoya's drive to 6th in hindsight really was startlingly quiet.

The men from Woking haven't exactly contributed to the aesthetic beauty of the paddock either this year, firstly with their devil horns on the MP4/20 that we hope doesn't catch on. But secondly, what was the deal with the team's salmon-pink shirts that they were wearing throughout Friday and Saturday? Either they were going for the metrosexual look or they had been given the Queer Eye treatment, but either way they were the butt of many jokes ... and quite rightly so as well!

BAR captured the headlines by being the only team to pull their cars off the track on the last lap, as some had threatened to do, and worryingly that was about the only headline they generated. Suffice to say that the new 007 really is as slow and down on grip as feared. Jenson Button and Takuma Sato, regular points-scorers last year, were relegated to midfield non-entities. Sato was always at a disadvantage after crashing on Saturday qualifying, so perhaps it was Button's showing that was the more alarming.

Button actually started 8th but dropped back at the start and never recovered. Up to and during the weekend, BAR were talking about chasing their first win even if that came at the expense of maintaining their lofty 2nd in the constructors' championship. On current form, and given the increased competitiveness of Renault, McLaren, Williams and Red Bull, they'll do neither. If BAR really get relegated back to where they were, say, two or three years ago, it will be interesting to see how it affects Button and Sato's driving.

A friend commented after the race that Toyota need to realise the race lasts for 57 laps, not 10, and he's spot on. Trulli took advantage of his Toyota's fortuitous first front row start to run 2nd early on, but fell back helplessly during and after the pit stops. The Toyotas were the only notable casualties of excessive tyre wear, and as has seemed to be their modus operandi over the past few years, they simply haven't got mid-race pace worked out. From the first stops onwards both TF105s basically dropped off the radar.

It was a generally unsatisfying weekend for the Swiss team, their engine covers now adorned with a little bit more backing from Credit Suisse. Villeneuve was extremely lucky to start 4th, and Felipe Massa unlucky to be caught on dries as the storm hit in Saturday qualifying. But their contrasting fortunes were reversed on Sunday afternoon, Jacques dropping to 13th through nothing but slow pace and a tricky car, and Massa shooting up to 10th, only a second behind Trulli.

It was a very good, but by no means astonishing, drive from the young Brazilian, so you have to start asking questions about his team-mate. A time will come when the excuses will have run out and people will have to concede that Villeneuve is simply not good enough for F1 any more. More impotent performances like this and that time will come sooner rather than later. Jacques has not had a really excellent race weekend in years, and he can depend on the goodwill from the mid-1990s for only so long.

Jordan were feeble as expected. Both Narain Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro struggled to keep their cars on the road, with Monteiro possibly proving the greater disappointment, as Karthikeyan's style was expected to be wilder and therefore less productive. Yes, the Indian looked more like an accident waiting to happen, but at least there was some genuine speed there, especially in Saturday qualifying where he was somewhat impressive. By contrast, the Portuguese driver appeared to be plodding.

And so we come back to Minardi, and lost in all the political wrangling of the weekend were two of the biggest victims, Christijan Albers and Patrick Friesacher. Both desperately needed track time, and the lack of it resulted in frankly embarrassing debuts for both of them, as they over-drove, over-corrected, overdid everything, out of nerves as much as anything else. They got in the way of the leaders, and Friesacher in particular looked out of his depth, though he ran ahead of Albers in the race.

In the end, if the politics were allowed to subside, if the more ridiculous aspects of the 2005 rules were overlooked, there was much from the season opener to raise hope that this could actually be a more closely-fought season. Renault may be in a position to challenge Ferrari already, and McLaren and Williams are not far off. But one race is never enough to answer all the questions definitively. It will take Malaysia and beyond before real trends start emerging. To that end, roll on Sepang!