2000 Australian GP

OSRN 1

Round 1 of the 2000 F1 season at Melbourne.

Transcript

00:00:00He stands in his way, the world's most talented drivers and the world's best funded race team.

00:00:13There are new colors, new teammates, rookie drivers, more power, stickier tires.

00:00:20The 51st season of the world driving championship begins now.

00:00:26It's the Australian Grand Prix coming at you on Fox Sportsnet.

00:00:54Welcome to our Mercedes-Benz pre-race for the first Formula 1 race of 2000, the Grand

00:00:58Prix of Australia on Fox Sportsnet, your U.S. home of Formula 1 and host broadcaster for

00:01:04the United States Grand Prix in September.

00:01:07Hi, everybody.

00:01:08I'm Mike Joy alongside five-time Le Mans winner Derek Bell and joining us from the pit lane

00:01:12from F1 racing magazine, Peter Windsor.

00:01:16Ricardo Sato was the first driver to begin a reconnaissance lap for today's race and

00:01:19there you see the new BMW Williams livery.

00:01:22For the year 2000, BMW V10 power on board Frank Williams' cars.

00:01:28A lot has changed in Formula 1 this season and really excited about the new year.

00:01:32All the driver and car changes and there's even a new official champagne, Derek.

00:01:36Yes, there is indeed.

00:01:37Mom Cordon Rouge, which will be very exciting for everybody to spray everywhere and waste.

00:01:43Former manager of Williams Grand Prix, now with the London Sunday Times and F1 racing

00:01:47magazine, Peter Windsor is again with us to catch us up on all the news.

00:01:52Big atmosphere behind the pits at the Australian Grand Prix, never more so than in the Williams

00:01:56BMW crew.

00:01:57Out in blue for the first time, Frank Williams actually had tears in his eyes when he saw

00:02:01his boys in this colour because that was exactly the shade of blue that he ran back in 1969

00:02:06when he began in Formula 1.

00:02:07Modelled here for us today by Jimmy Jock Walter there and Pete Foster Hugh.

00:02:10Jimmy actually beginning his 21st season with the Williams team.

00:02:14Lots new, of course, three rookies having their Grand Prix debut today, all looking

00:02:17for good results.

00:02:19We have Ford in with the Jaguar name.

00:02:20Now Ford, an American company, perhaps a bit of a shame they don't have the stars and stripes

00:02:24on the side of that car and white and perhaps even an American driver.

00:02:28That's for the future, but at the moment, very much the Jaguar English brand they're

00:02:31pushing there.

00:02:32Eddie Irvine, of course, having his first race with that team.

00:02:35Michelin coming into Formula 1 in 2001, but all the top Michelin guys are here today and

00:02:40Williams, of course, looking forward to a very intensive Michelin test programme which

00:02:43will begin coincidental with the European season and they will be testing at the actual

00:02:47Grand Prix venues.

00:02:48So that's a very major plus for Williams.

00:02:51Also Toyota running Michelin tyres next year.

00:02:54Engines a big discussion point.

00:02:55Mercedes very comfortable with McLaren, of course, and winning races, winning world championships

00:02:59and now pushing to have a minimum of two teams per engine company.

00:03:03Why are they doing that?

00:03:04Well, of course, that would put pressure on BMW.

00:03:06BMW have an exclusive contract with Williams and for the moment, of course, want to keep

00:03:09it that way.

00:03:10But Mercedes are saying, let's start doing some sharing.

00:03:13That wouldn't exactly help BMW.

00:03:14That's what that one's all about.

00:03:16Finally, Foster's sponsoring the US Grand Prix at Indianapolis should be a lot of fun.

00:03:20Well, I think I know where the McLaren and Mercedes engines will go.

00:03:23They'll go to Alan Prost, who's having a terrible time at the moment.

00:03:25Plus, of course, I think one of the most exciting things is seeing this car here, which is the

00:03:29BMW-engined Williams.

00:03:30I'm sorry.

00:03:31I'm totally wrong.

00:03:32I saw a white car.

00:03:33I'm not used to these colours yet, is the fact that BMW will be back this year.

00:03:39And I think for the future, BMW in Formula 1 is really fantastic.

00:03:42Well, this team also has a new engine package.

00:03:44It's a Honda underneath the bonnet of that VAR for Jack Villeneuve and there's Jaguar

00:03:49coming out.

00:03:50So much is new for 2000.

00:03:51Let's take a moment and have a look back in snapshot form at some of the highlights of

00:03:56the 1999 season just concluded.

00:04:01Mika Hakkinen entered 1999 as the defending world champion, but there were lots more stories

00:04:06besides his repeat.

00:04:08Jack Villeneuve joined the new VAR team and they spent lots of money but were not rewarded

00:04:14with a single championship point.

00:04:18Stewart reigned at the Nürburgring.

00:04:19With the team's first win by Johnny Herbert, Frank Williams had to pay off a bet and wear

00:04:23Stewart Tartan in the paddock.

00:04:25Rubens Barrichello finished third, catching the eye on a contract from Ferrari.

00:04:30It was a year of highs and lows at Jordan.

00:04:32Heinz-Harald Frensen recorded two victories, while 1996 world champion Damon Hill concluded

00:04:38his career.

00:04:40Two-time car champ Alex Zanardi returned to Formula 1.

00:04:43It could have been a dream season turned nightmarish as he finished only three races and lost his

00:04:49ride for this year.

00:04:51Zanardi's tough transition was overshadowed by teammate Ralph Schumacher, who finished

00:04:55sixth in the point.

00:04:57So at the top, Ferrari versus McLaren again.

00:04:59Eddie Irvine got his first career victory in Melbourne, while Hakkinen answered back,

00:05:04winning three of the next five.

00:05:06The first crash in Britain was paid to his season, Mika Salo filled in.

00:05:11Hakkinen could have capitalized, but mechanical failures and crashes and a win by Coulthard,

00:05:16Mika just could not pull away.

00:05:19Schumacher returned early in Malaysia.

00:05:20He won the pole and helped Irvine to victory, while Jean Todd answered the bargeboard controversy.

00:05:26In Japan, Irvine off in Friday practice and then got a bad start in the race, handing

00:05:32the championship to Hakkinen, who led from start to finish and became only the seventh

00:05:36man in Formula 1 history to win consecutive drivers championships.

00:05:41How great that it went to the final race with Hakkinen edging Irvine by two points.

00:05:45Remember that Michael Schumacher there in fifth missed six races.

00:05:48And the constructors championship, well, Ferrari won it for the first time since 1983, a very

00:05:54close finish there.

00:05:55And of course, look at Jordan, Muge and Honda.

00:05:57They were running very close as well towards the end.

00:05:59Very strong year from them.

00:06:03We'll be right back as our Mercedes free race continues for the first Formula 1 race of

00:06:092000.

00:06:10Look what happened to Michael Schumacher on Friday.

00:06:11Oh, my goodness.

00:06:12He shot straight across the grass, aimed to the barrier, and that was it.

00:06:15Damaged the car very, very badly indeed, but wonder what he's telling Jean Todd right now.

00:06:24Welcome back to our Mercedes-Benz free race for the Australian Grand Prix, watching Pedro

00:06:29Denise go around.

00:06:30And that countdown clock upper left is the time to the start of the Australian Grand

00:06:33Prix.

00:06:34Ricciardo's laps continue in front of a big crowd and a lot of work going on in the Ferrari

00:06:38garage at Schumacher's car as Barrichello is out on the circuit.

00:06:43And look at Michael's new helmet, all that white and the sea of blue at the top.

00:06:46He and Barrichello are going to be very difficult to tell apart on the track that black or the

00:06:50dark black surrounding the eye port is the big clue.

00:06:55Barrichello's helmet has a white surround, as you see here.

00:06:58Otherwise, they are tough to tell apart.

00:07:01That's just one of the many changes for the 2000 season.

00:07:05Let's have a little more detailed look at what new for Y2, K that is.

00:07:12The Formula 1 season begins not in Australia, but in midwinter with the unveiling of the

00:07:16new cars.

00:07:17Here's the new McLaren Mercedes MP4-15 in a very tasteful unveiling.

00:07:23The most spectacular debut was that of the new B200 Benetton.

00:07:28And if you can't brag about your speed or your horsepower, baffle them with beauty,

00:07:35as Menardi did with the launch of their new car and driver lineup.

00:07:41Lots of driver changes.

00:07:42Rubens Barrichello moves from Stewart to Ferrari.

00:07:44Taking the seat of Eddie Irvine, who jumps to Stewart, now branded Jaguar.

00:07:50Giorno Trulli joins Jordan after a year with Prost.

00:07:55While the seat in the Sauber now filled by last year's super sub, Mika Salo.

00:08:00Just for stopping, returns to Formula 1 this year with the arrows team.

00:08:05Fastest so far of the three F1 rookies is Nick Heitfeld.

00:08:09Last year's McLaren test driver is at Prost, partnering with John Lacey, the most experienced

00:08:14driver in this field.

00:08:16New manufacturer's liveries.

00:08:18Ford sold out to Ford, which wisely, I think, branded their car Jaguar for the 2000 season.

00:08:24And BMW is now the engine supplier to Frank Williams under the eye of Gerhard Berger.

00:08:32Honda's Mugen tuning company supplies Jordan with engines.

00:08:35The official Honda power plants this season will be in the BAR.

00:08:40But with all these changes, will these familiar colors be the ones they'll all be chasing

00:08:45in the year 2000?

00:08:47For me, the best part of that was seeing that magnificent launch in Barcelona.

00:08:52The Italians really have that flair for it, don't they?

00:08:54But for me, I think probably for this year, these young drivers out there, you've got

00:08:58Heitfeld, you've got Button, and you've got Gaston Mazzacan.

00:09:01I think that's going to be very, very interesting to see how they get on.

00:09:04Michael Schumacher, his new partner, Barrichello.

00:09:06I'll be interested to match Barrichello's performance against Eddie Irvine's as they

00:09:09have swapped teams for the year 2000.

00:09:12The rules of Formula 1 have stayed mostly constant for the year 2000, but there have

00:09:16been some changes.

00:09:17Peter gives us an update.

00:09:19Very few technical changes to the cars this year, although in the cockpit, the drivers

00:09:23will be seeing for the first time some bulbs here, which will be lit up to indicate either

00:09:27the race being stopped, a blue, which means you're going to be overtaken, or yellow, be

00:09:32prepared to stop because something dangerous has happened on the circuit.

00:09:35Now, these bulbs, all FIA-issued, I have to say, are going to be actioned from Bernard

00:09:41Ecclestone's own personal digital TV compound here in the paddock and, indeed, at all the

00:09:45other Grands Prix.

00:09:46Not by Bernard Ecclestone personally, one has to say, but this is where race control

00:09:49effectively will be run from here on in.

00:09:52Other changes to the cars, Kevlar in the sides of the chassis.

00:09:55This is Heinz-Harald Frentzen's Jordan, about two millimetres thick, which is about one

00:09:59tenth of an inch.

00:10:00Kevlar stretching the full length of the chassis and the full height of the chassis, giving

00:10:04much more protection to the drivers.

00:10:06Also, increased testing on the side of the rollover bar here, 50% increase in lateral

00:10:11testing on the rollover bar, but some teams, Prost, BAR and Sauber, have yet to comply

00:10:16to that test.

00:10:17Back to you.

00:10:18I think the most important thing about it is those lights.

00:10:20I think it's vital that we drivers see those lights straight in front of us.

00:10:23We do have wonderful peripheral vision, but when we're trying to overtake somebody in

00:10:26a very exciting moment, you cannot see the lights on the side of the track.

00:10:30You know, Derek, more than ten years ago, in upstate New York, on short oval tracks,

00:10:33a system like that called RaceSafe was introduced.

00:10:35I'm surprised it's taken this long to reach the major formula, but I'm glad it has.

00:10:40It's a great idea.

00:10:41As you watch Rubens Barrichello, Ferrari's new teammate to Michael Schumacher, let's

00:10:47hear from the competition and world champion Mika Hakkinen.

00:10:50How does he feel going into a three-peat season?

00:10:52Well, I feel extremely good, you know.

00:10:54Like I say, we are close to the beach.

00:10:57It's very nice, you know.

00:10:58What's the best way to start this year?

00:11:01Is it difficult to motivate yourself after two world championships to the start of another

00:11:05new season like this?

00:11:06No, it's not.

00:11:08No, it's not.

00:11:10Obviously, winning a championship for twice gives you an enormous amount of more confidence

00:11:15and gives you again the situation like I don't have to push myself to basically prove myself

00:11:25I can do it or I can win it.

00:11:27I've done it.

00:11:28I don't have the pressure.

00:11:29I don't have pressure out of that.

00:11:31So, winning twice now is making me extremely relaxed.

00:11:36And I think starting this year now, 2000, and starting here in Melbourne, the situation

00:11:41looks extremely good.

00:11:43The team is more prepared than ever.

00:11:46The drivers, me and David, we are extremely happy.

00:11:49We're quite relaxed and confident for this new coming season.

00:11:53And let's see what happens this weekend.

00:11:58Well, I have to say, I think he's got to be a little less relaxed, a little bit more

00:12:01tough about this season coming up.

00:12:03He's had two, you know, wonderful championships.

00:12:05But he's been with McLaren eight years.

00:12:07This is his eighth season.

00:12:08And that's going to be tough for him to get that impetus, to get that drive, to get out

00:12:11there to beat these other guys.

00:12:12Because I think it's going to be tough competition for him.

00:12:14Well, it's clear he has the confidence.

00:12:15And perhaps his drive will come from a healthy Michael Schumacher this season.

00:12:19We'll see.

00:12:20Big crowd on hand as our Mercedes-Benz pre-race continues.

00:12:25And we wind down to the start of the Formula 1 season.

00:12:28Yesterday, the first car on track to make a qualifying pass, the senior driver of the

00:12:33field, John Alesi.

00:12:39Welcome back to our Mercedes pre-race.

00:12:42As we count down to the start of the Australian Grand Prix, trouble for Cross.

00:12:45That's John Alesi out of the car.

00:12:47And since there's less than 15 minutes to start, he cannot exit the garage and pit and

00:12:52come around to the grid.

00:12:53So if Cross climbs back in that car or into the spare, he will have to start the race

00:12:57from the pit lane rather than from his grid position.

00:13:03Now, in two weeks' time, we'll be at the Grand Prix of Brazil, and that race will air live

00:13:07on most Fox Sportsnet affiliates.

00:13:09Check your local listing.

00:13:10It's Sunday, March 26th, for Race 2.

00:13:13And we'd like to hear from you.

00:13:15We read all your e-mails.

00:13:17So please send them along, your comments, to formula1 at foxsports.net is our e-mail

00:13:22address.

00:13:23And we would certainly like to hear from you.

00:13:26Well, Derek, let's have a look at the circuit here at Albert Park.

00:13:29Yes, 3.3 miles.

00:13:30It's actually quite light by the drivers.

00:13:32It's fairly safe.

00:13:33Top speed of 185 miles an hour.

00:13:35Difficult for overtaking.

00:13:36Turns one, two, and three.

00:13:38And, in fact, 13 as well.

00:13:40Very hard on brakes.

00:13:41Track is dirty.

00:13:42But overtaking is the main problem.

00:13:43Let's go on board with David Coulthard.

00:13:47OK, we're going by with David in sixth gear as we streak down there, 185 miles an hour

00:13:51to this severe braking.

00:13:5380 mile an hour, third gear as he goes through turns one, turn two,

00:13:57and sweeps out down under this normally shadowed area here by the trees

00:14:02as we go down into turn three.

00:14:04This is a good overtaking spot, a place where Martin Brundle had a nasty incident

00:14:07a few years ago.

00:14:08David gets a bit of opposite lock on there.

00:14:09Remember, you don't really want to use all the road in the middle part of that

00:14:13corner because it's the exit that's really important.

00:14:15He's working his way up now, as you can see, working his way up through the trees.

00:14:20And then as he gets the power on coming out of there, he feeds it on.

00:14:24He's going to get up to about 175 miles an hour,

00:14:27working his way right up to this very, very tight entrance to this,

00:14:31what they call a Clark chicane.

00:14:33But it's a very wide exit as he comes out, speeds it up in third, fourth,

00:14:36fifth gear, winding himself up to around about 180 miles an hour

00:14:41for a left and a right-hand kink.

00:14:43You just go down one gear, sweep it through there.

00:14:45You don't want to lose it too much going in there.

00:14:47Again, feeding the power on.

00:14:48Then he's got another fast section.

00:14:50Again, as you can see, it's not easy to overtake

00:14:52because the cars are sweeping from one side of the road to the other,

00:14:55down into corner 13.

00:14:56Right-angled corner, a lot of severe braking.

00:14:59It is hard on the brakes.

00:15:00Another right-hander.

00:15:02This is Stewart corner number 14.

00:15:03Oops!

00:15:04And David loses it.

00:15:05This was taken at the end of qualifying yesterday,

00:15:07and that was nearly a lap with David Coulthard.

00:15:12So David climbed out.

00:15:13He was okay after this crash, but that red flagged the session,

00:15:16and here he is live.

00:15:17Yeah, absolutely.

00:15:18He's obviously very calm.

00:15:19Went out and did very well this morning in warm-up,

00:15:22so all the nerves of yesterday have gone.

00:15:25Well, that's getting a little ahead of our story.

00:15:27Coulthard bring out the red flag at the end of the session.

00:15:29Let's recap yesterday's qualifying for today's race.

00:15:34Well, as we saw just now, it was John Alesi who went out first,

00:15:38but it was very, very hot track temperature,

00:15:39about the same as today, in fact, 110 degrees.

00:15:42John went out in his first qualifying session in the frost.

00:15:45You saw him just now, of course, having problems with the car already.

00:15:48The car hasn't been going well all weekend for him

00:15:50or his young teammate, Nick Heidfeld,

00:15:52who'd just come up from Formula 3000,

00:15:54was the McLaren test driver last year.

00:15:56Jenson Button, another newcomer,

00:15:58he's had a moment in the morning session yesterday,

00:16:01crashed the car, didn't have a good qualifying minute.

00:16:03Eddie Irvine, in his new drive at Jaguars,

00:16:05he did have a good qualifying session.

00:16:07He qualified 7th place, but poor Johnny Herbert yet again.

00:16:11All the bad luck in that team seems to go to Johnny.

00:16:14The engine fails on him, and he only just stops it.

00:16:17Rubens Barrichello, well, he's the new man at Ferrari.

00:16:20Very emotional for him, even more so now,

00:16:22as he spins off the road.

00:16:24But he did extremely well to qualify 4th,

00:16:26right next to Michael Schumacher.

00:16:28Schumacher was trying exceptionally hard, as you can see,

00:16:31to get up. He could only manage 3rd,

00:16:33and was thwarted on his last attempt.

00:16:35Meanwhile, Mika Hakkinen, he gets pole again.

00:16:38The third time he's had pole at Albert Park.

00:16:41Tremendous bit of driving by Mika,

00:16:42terribly composed the whole way through.

00:16:44David Coulthard, well, he was trying to get up there

00:16:46and take Mika's position, but he damaged the car.

00:16:49Let's go down, and let's just...

00:16:51He did get hurt, but let's go down and see

00:16:53what David Coulthard had to say all about it.

00:16:56I just lost the back end.

00:16:58I was trying to make up a bit of time.

00:17:00I was struggling through the session with understeer,

00:17:03and ran out of time to make some adjustments to the car,

00:17:05so I tried to push through it.

00:17:07It just shows you when you push the car too hard.

00:17:10Anyway, let's go down and see for Peter Winter.

00:17:12Almost three battles in qualifying in Melbourne.

00:17:15One, obviously, for grid positions,

00:17:16two amongst all the rookies, three rookies in this race,

00:17:18and also to keep that thrust on the road.

00:17:20It didn't look easy at the beginning of qualifying, Nick,

00:17:22but you must be very pleased with the way things have worked out.

00:17:24Yes, in the end, it was not as hard to keep the car on the road,

00:17:27otherwise I wouldn't be able to be on different positions at least.

00:17:30So we improved the car a lot,

00:17:32especially to my last outing in qualifying.

00:17:35And he's quicker than his teammate too,

00:17:36so that's a great performance from Nick Heidfeld.

00:17:38Let's hope it's a great race for you.

00:17:39Yeah, I hope so too.

00:17:40Back to you.

00:17:41That means that the spare car is set up for Heidfeld,

00:17:44and that's the car that Alessi will have to climb into

00:17:46and start from the back of the grid today.

00:17:48Great strategy, Derek.

00:17:49Well, most of the cars are going to be on soft tires.

00:17:52I think it's only one.

00:17:53It's Jenson Button's on the medium tires,

00:17:55so really I think they're going to have to have at least two stops.

00:17:57The pit lane speed has changed.

00:17:58It's 48 miles an hour this year.

00:18:00Pretty darn slow.

00:18:01I think that's going to have an effect on how many times they stop.

00:18:03And, of course, as always, this is a race of attrition.

00:18:06Eight cars finished last year.

00:18:07You've got to be there at the end to see that checkered flag.

00:18:09I think that lowering of the pit road speed

00:18:12is probably going to make race strategy very much unlike anything we saw last year

00:18:16because you're going to spend a lot of time in that pit lane.

00:18:18You may want to forego an extra stop.

00:18:20Now, there's a fellow.

00:18:21Now, he's got a deal.

00:18:22Don't you like to look at a little TV set on the nose?

00:18:24I'd just like to have one of those little racers.

00:18:26Maybe not.

00:18:27Maybe something faster.

00:18:28Our Mercedes-Benz pre-race will continue

00:18:30as we will count down to Indianapolis and Formula 1

00:18:34coming back to the United States this year.

00:18:37And we'll go Formula 1 on 1 with Ferrari's new driver, Rubens Barrichello,

00:18:43coming up next.

00:18:47Formula 1 on Fox Sports Net is brought to you by Mercedes-Benz,

00:18:51located on the web at MVUSA.com.

00:18:59We'll be live in two weeks from the Grand Prix of Brazil.

00:19:01Check your local listings, and then through the season,

00:19:04three of our races will air at 10 a.m. your local time.

00:19:08We'll be live in Canada at the Canadian Grand Prix in June, of course,

00:19:11back to our 10 a.m. airing for France, Austria, Germany, Hungary, and Belgium.

00:19:18And then in September, Formula 1 returns to the United States

00:19:21and we'll be live as the host broadcaster for the U.S. Grand Prix at Indianapolis,

00:19:25noon for Japan, and live at Malaysia.

00:19:30Well, will this man win the championship?

00:19:32I'm sure he's thinking and feeling very confident right now,

00:19:35but it's a long haul ahead of him.

00:19:38Well, he'll get his first look at Indianapolis later this year,

00:19:41at least from behind the wheel of a McLaren Mercedes.

00:19:44Let's have a look in our countdown to Indy at what the drivers will see

00:19:47when they come to the fabled brickyard in September.

00:19:53There's the new Pagoda, which replaced the infield tower,

00:19:56which replaced the old wooden Pagoda.

00:19:58And there's the view from up there at the broadcaster level, infield pit suites.

00:20:06Millions of dollars spent, new garages, new press area,

00:20:09new suites above the F1 garages.

00:20:12This is the first lap you've ever seen of a car going around Indianapolis.

00:20:15It might be computerized, but that was it.

00:20:18There are those wonderful hospitality suites.

00:20:21Situated above the F1 garages, and there's the yard of bricks.

00:20:25And in the gasoline, from gasoline alley, out onto the circuit,

00:20:28and for the first time ever, they'll come out of gasoline alley and turn right.

00:20:32That hasn't happened since 1911.

00:20:37We're excited about it.

00:20:38At Fox Sportsnet, we're your home for Formula 1,

00:20:40and host broadcaster for the U.S. Grand Prix.

00:20:42Can't wait for September.

00:20:44There's Mika Hakkinen sitting in car number one,

00:20:46his championship car, of course, with the tire warmers on there,

00:20:48trying to keep the tire temperatures up around 100 degrees,

00:20:51so that when they start the race, it'll all be action,

00:20:53and he'll get lots of grip.

00:20:55Well, this season, McLaren with Hakkinen and Coulthard

00:20:58against Ferrari with Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello.

00:21:01Peter Windsor goes Formula 1 on 1 with Rubens.

00:21:05Rubens Barrichello threatened to win races last year,

00:21:07and this year he joins Ferrari as Michael Schumacher's teammate.

00:21:10In doing so, however, he turned down a drive from Jaguar

00:21:13as number one driver, and potentially a lot more money,

00:21:16pitting himself against the world's number one.

00:21:18Why did he do this?

00:21:19We talked about that and several other matters besides.

00:21:23First, it's a challenge.

00:21:25Second, driving for Ferrari would have been good with or without Michael.

00:21:30I think that's something that was clear to me.

00:21:33But having Michael, it is the first real chance

00:21:37that I can tell myself how good I am.

00:21:40So, it is the chance of my life.

00:21:42And it's been a different winter in the sense that you do test

00:21:45at Fiorano and Mugello, new circuits for you.

00:21:47How do you feel about that?

00:21:49Well, first of all, I thought it was a bit sad

00:21:53because you don't have the comparison

00:21:55and you go to Melbourne not knowing what to expect.

00:21:59But later on, I understand how good the facilities were.

00:22:03I mean, testing at Fiorano and Mugello,

00:22:05they fixed the problems overnight.

00:22:07I mean, they fixed the problem like this.

00:22:09Have you had any back-to-back comparisons with Michael so far?

00:22:12Same car, same tyres, same conditions?

00:22:14Yeah and no.

00:22:16Because we haven't driven the F1 2000 on the same time.

00:22:23Because when he drove the 2000, I was driving the 99.

00:22:28And then when I jumped up to the 2000, he stopped driving.

00:22:31So, in the 99, for example, I drove for the whole day

00:22:37and then he did three or four laps and he was slower.

00:22:40But then when I jumped on the 2000,

00:22:42he did a time that was two tenths faster than me.

00:22:44But at least the things are close,

00:22:46set-ups are not that different

00:22:48and whatever matters anyway will be when qualifying time arrives.

00:22:54First race as a Ferrari driver here in Melbourne.

00:22:56Just tell us how your emotions are going to be on the grid.

00:22:59Ferrari, for me, has been a really good camp

00:23:02and when I saw my name written on the car, I almost cried.

00:23:05But when I closed my visor, I was the professional driver

00:23:08trying to see if the car was better.

00:23:10So, since then, nothing changed.

00:23:12I was only there to get the best out of the car.

00:23:17He's full of self-belief and passion

00:23:19and Rubens Barrichello is out there proving to himself

00:23:21and to the world just how good he's going to be.

00:23:23Let's sit back and enjoy. Back to you.

00:23:27He's going to be good as you see him getting set,

00:23:29getting ready for the start of this Grand Prix

00:23:31and wait till two weeks in his home country.

00:23:33That should be quite an emotional happening.

00:23:36All right, we'll be back with the starting grid

00:23:39and the start of the 2000 season.

00:23:52Welcome back to Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia,

00:23:54getting set for the first Formula One race of 2000.

00:23:58Mika Salo set to go on what is a beautiful day.

00:24:0270 degrees, track temperature just 110,

00:24:05high humidity but little chance of rain.

00:24:08Ralf Schumacher in the Williams new colours.

00:24:10White and a very, very dark blue.

00:24:12Looks almost black on television.

00:24:14The Arrows car was introduced completely orange.

00:24:17That's a European cellular telephone company, orange.

00:24:20Then they added all that black

00:24:22and now it looks like Halloween again.

00:24:24De La Rosa.

00:24:28So, we're drawing close to a start.

00:24:30Formation lap coming up shortly and it's...

00:24:33going to be time to have a look at our Mercedes-Benz

00:24:35starting grid for today's race.

00:24:38As you have a look back through the field.

00:24:42Mika Hakkinen has his third straight pole

00:24:44here for McLaren Mercedes.

00:24:46Next to him is David Coulthard,

00:24:47his third straight, second time he started.

00:24:49I guess that's a omen for the season for him.

00:24:52Row two is Ferrari.

00:24:53Michael Schumacher not worried being third.

00:24:55He says the car will be competitive today.

00:24:57I would be if Rubens Barrichello was that close to me.

00:25:00And in row three, the Jordan.

00:25:02Harold Frentzen very happy

00:25:03to be closing the gap on Ferrari McLaren.

00:25:05And the Arno truly very happy

00:25:07to be in a competitive car at last.

00:25:09Eddie Irvine at the Jaguar,

00:25:11pleasantly surprised to be seventh.

00:25:12And Jacques Villeneuve has said,

00:25:14I'm happy to be where we are.

00:25:16Giancarlo Fisicalo for Benetton

00:25:18met his goal of a top ten start.

00:25:20And Mika Salo in the Petronas,

00:25:22which is the Ferrari.

00:25:23Last year's Ferrari engine

00:25:24was doing very well in tenth place.

00:25:26Ralph Schumacher for Williams

00:25:27thought he could have done better.

00:25:28Throttle problems.

00:25:29De La Rosa was very happy.

00:25:30He said, I'm quicker than I was last year.

00:25:32Just for stopping for Arrows,

00:25:34just a tenth off his teammate in 13th.

00:25:36Alexander Virts had no luck at all with the traffic.

00:25:38And the fastest of the F1 new boys

00:25:40is Nick Heitfeld for Cross.

00:25:42While Riccardo Zonta said

00:25:43they just plain missed the setup.

00:25:45John Alasi, no bright moments in his weekend.

00:25:48He'll start from the pit lane.

00:25:50And Marc Genet, the fastest of the two minorities.

00:25:5320th, Pedro Diniz for Sauber, a tough day.

00:25:56And Johnny Herbert said

00:25:57it's the worst pre-race he can ever remember.

00:26:00And then the other two rookies,

00:26:01Jenson Button, fuel pickup problems

00:26:03forced him into the spare.

00:26:05And the Argentine, Mazzacani,

00:26:07fills the grid for Minardi.

00:26:09There's two young men right at the back of the grid,

00:26:11but what a great future they have ahead of them.

00:26:18This is the fifth year at this circuit.

00:26:21Jacques Villeneuve, the winner in 96.

00:26:23David Coulthard, 97.

00:26:25Mika Hakkinen, 98.

00:26:26And last year, Eddie Irvine.

00:26:28So at this circuit, no back-to-back winner

00:26:31and in any Australian Grand Prix,

00:26:32nobody has doubled at Adelaide or here.

00:26:35Well, this is the 16th Australian Grand Prix as well.

00:26:38The others were held at Adelaide

00:26:39and then Melbourne poached it away from them.

00:26:45You're on board with Michael Schumacher there briefly.

00:26:48Yeah, he's not the one flying the helicopter.

00:26:49He was the one in the car.

00:26:50It's actually a great shot of the cars as they go around.

00:26:52We don't often see this shot.

00:26:55David Coulthard spun just at the corner,

00:26:57just where the car,

00:26:58right underneath the right-hand side of the helicopter.

00:27:00He lost it.

00:27:01In fact, where Michael Schumacher went off as well

00:27:03the previous day.

00:27:05There's the pit entrance.

00:27:06There's the pit road.

00:27:07And there you can see this pit speed line, I think,

00:27:09the white line just by that Firestone Bridge there.

00:27:11That's where they have to be doing 48 miles an hour.

00:27:13And that, of course, is where they'll put on their little

00:27:15press the button and the car should slow right down

00:27:18to the required speed.

00:27:19But it's a long way at 48 miles an hour in a Formula 1 car.

00:27:24Well, Derek, McLaren's on the front row.

00:27:26What does Michael Schumacher attempt to do

00:27:28between the grid and the first turn?

00:27:30Well, of course, Michael really has got to get between

00:27:32the two McLarens, because we've seen historically

00:27:34that Mika does seem to get away from David.

00:27:36David has done all, David Coulthard, that is,

00:27:38has done all the testing this year.

00:27:39Tremendous amount of it.

00:27:40But Hacken does have that ability.

00:27:42And I think if he has David behind him,

00:27:44he will pull away.

00:27:45But Michael has to get in there and keep with him.

00:27:47Of course, you've got Barry Kellow right close at hand.

00:27:50And this is Jean-Alaise sitting in the pit lane.

00:27:51Off come the tires.

00:27:52He cannot go out until those cars,

00:27:54all the cars have left the grid.

00:27:55What a way for him to start his year with Frost.

00:27:57Frost having a terrible time with these Peugeot engines,

00:28:00and makes you wonder,

00:28:01will he run Mercedes engines next year?

00:28:03Now, you will see the lights come up on the screen

00:28:06as we face the grid.

00:28:07They're all illuminated.

00:28:08They go out one by one.

00:28:09When the last light is out,

00:28:11the 2000 season is on.

00:28:22What a great start from Mika Hacken.

00:28:26Schumacher knifes across.

00:28:27Barry Kellow did not get a good start.

00:28:29Here come the Jordans.

00:28:30Just watch this first corner.

00:28:33First corner.

00:28:36You get a similar situation there.

00:28:38Very dangerous coming down in there,

00:28:39this middle pack here.

00:28:43Rubens, Barry,

00:28:44trying to hold off the Jordan behind him.

00:28:46What a pack now.

00:28:47Are they going to touch?

00:28:48Let's pray and hope they don't.

00:28:49No, they all keep it clean.

00:28:51Thank goodness for that.

00:28:52Derek, there were four abreast entering that corner.

00:28:56Yes, remember, this is a street circuit.

00:28:59There probably hasn't been any racing.

00:29:01Well, no, there hasn't been in the last year

00:29:03since the last race.

00:29:04It does get very green, very dirty,

00:29:06very dusty offline.

00:29:07You cannot afford to get too wide.

00:29:09Oh, what a good bit of maneuvering there that went on.

00:29:15All very clean so far.

00:29:17They brake very severely down.

00:29:19Oh, blocking one of those to come down here.

00:29:21Looked like a lazy was trying to work his way through there,

00:29:24I think, or certainly one of the prosts.

00:29:28Remember, a lazy started from the pit lane,

00:29:30gave up that 17th grid position

00:29:32due to car trouble in the warm-up

00:29:35and started 22nd and last.

00:29:38So it's Hockenden and Coulthard for McLaren,

00:29:40Schumacher third for Ferrari.

00:29:44Marichello dropped to fifth.

00:29:47Heinz-Harald Frentzen,

00:29:48that's the yellow car, the Jordan, in fourth.

00:29:51Jenson Button is already up to 15th.

00:29:53That was the prost that I saw moving forward.

00:29:55He's up to 15th and 23rd.

00:29:57I did mention that in warm-up,

00:29:59Jenson Button was second quickest.

00:30:01Absolutely outstanding.

00:30:02But this morning he said,

00:30:03I only wish I could have done that yesterday.

00:30:05I'd have been about eight places up the grid.

00:30:07But he did have an awful time yesterday

00:30:09in practice and qualifying after a rather bad crash.

00:30:12He is about 20 years old

00:30:13and he's come under a lot of,

00:30:15I won't say outright criticism,

00:30:17let's call it skepticism,

00:30:18from veteran F1 observers

00:30:20who say that he's too young.

00:30:21But maybe he just doesn't yet know what he can't do.

00:30:24Well, he certainly doesn't know what he can't do.

00:30:26Let's hope he doesn't find out too quickly.

00:30:28But he certainly is a stunning talent.

00:30:30He's only actually had two years in big-time racing.

00:30:34Well, not big-time.

00:30:35He had Formula Ford and then he had Formula 3.

00:30:37And there's only four,

00:30:38actually three world champions

00:30:40have actually come up from Formula 3

00:30:42direct to Formula 1.

00:30:43One of those was Senna.

00:30:44The other was Piquet.

00:30:46Oh, hello.

00:30:47Johnny Herbert is off already.

00:30:48How unfortunate for Johnny.

00:30:49This has been the worst weekend for him ever,

00:30:51I would have to say.

00:30:52Last year, he had the fire at the start, didn't he?

00:30:54Yes, he called it the worst pre-race in memory

00:30:56and now it's probably the worst start to the season in memory.

00:30:59And he won the coin flip from Eddie

00:31:00thinking his luck was changing.

00:31:01So who is to have the spare car?

00:31:03He's needed all five cars this weekend.

00:31:05Yeah, he needed it about a lap ago, I'm afraid.

00:31:07Good bit of overtaking going on here, is it?

00:31:09Oh, dear, it's all a bit tight there.

00:31:11Oh, dear.

00:31:12Did they tangle?

00:31:13Yes, they touched.

00:31:14Something came off.

00:31:15Bit of a bargeboard, I should imagine,

00:31:16or a bit of front wing.

00:31:17Doesn't look too stable, that blue car, as he goes away.

00:31:20But was that Johnny Herbert back there having that incident?

00:31:23Might well have been.

00:31:24That's probably what sidelined him at the end.

00:31:29And we start the season right about where we left off.

00:31:32Yes, sad to relate.

00:31:34I want to see a bit more yellow.

00:31:36I want to see the car,

00:31:37I want to see the Jordan in there

00:31:40a little bit closer at this stage.

00:31:41But it is a long race

00:31:42and it historically has been a race of attention.

00:31:46These guys know they've got the finish.

00:31:48They've all done lots of testing during the winter

00:31:50and, of course, race distances,

00:31:51but there's nothing like the real thing.

00:31:53Michael, of course, pretty darn close to the back of Coulthard.

00:31:56Not many aerodynamic changes done,

00:31:58you know, just tidying up changes for this year,

00:32:00so there is still a lot of turbulence behind the cars,

00:32:02which somehow they have to overcome.

00:32:04Now, late in qualifying yesterday,

00:32:06Schumacher was on a lap

00:32:08that might well have gotten him the pole.

00:32:10His first segment time was faster than Hockenheim's,

00:32:12but that was the lap on which David Coulthard crashed

00:32:15and brought out the red flag,

00:32:16so Schumacher was obliged to abort the lap

00:32:19and that's how he lined up third.

00:32:21But don't let the grid positions and speeds fool you.

00:32:24On the grid, Schumacher lacks half a second to Mika Hockenheim,

00:32:28but you see here that that's not really indicative

00:32:31of how close these cars are.

00:32:34No, it's a difficult time right now

00:32:36because the race has got to sort of steady itself down a bit.

00:32:39There's been all the hype,

00:32:40there's been months of preparation for this.

00:32:42The cars, I have to say,

00:32:43haven't driven under these extreme situations before.

00:32:46Michael Schumacher hasn't done much work in the car,

00:32:49so he's going to steady the program up.

00:32:51He's going to push David Coulthard.

00:32:52He knows that David makes the odd mistakes.

00:32:54Of course, Michael has made a few this weekend already himself,

00:32:57so I think he wants to steady things down a bit

00:32:59because he needs points in the first race of the year.

00:33:01They count very, very heavily

00:33:03towards the end of these early points.

00:33:06Marc Genet is back on track

00:33:07after an extended stay in the pits.

00:33:09Derek, I'm used to the idea of drivers having bad crashes

00:33:13like the one that Coulthard sustained yesterday

00:33:16in qualifying, climbing out and being okay.

00:33:19But the fact that he is racing the car that he crashed yesterday

00:33:23and the whole back of that car was rebuilt

00:33:25by the technicians last night and this morning,

00:33:27that looked like a bad crash

00:33:29and it looked like one that might write off the car,

00:33:31but not so.

00:33:32It is astonishing.

00:33:33When you also remember that yesterday morning

00:33:35after practice before qualifying,

00:33:37the McLaren mechanics changed both engines,

00:33:39one in 40 minutes and the other in 45,

00:33:42and then they had to rebuild his car overnight,

00:33:44so they're expecting some payback today

00:33:46from these two drivers.

00:33:50Samika Hakkinen leads

00:33:51from his McLaren Mercedes teammate David Coulthard,

00:33:54the Ferrari of Michael Schumacher is third,

00:33:56Frentzen in the Jordan fourth,

00:33:58Ferrachello's Ferrari and Jarno Trulli.

00:34:00We'll be right back.

00:34:03Welcome back to Albert Park

00:34:05and the first race of 2000 for the Formula 1 season.

00:34:08Rubens Ferrachello finds himself in a Jordan sandwich.

00:34:12That is Frentzen just ahead.

00:34:14Ferrachello got off to a bad start.

00:34:16He was fourth on the grid.

00:34:18Caught up Frentzen now.

00:34:20And in fact, he's very close.

00:34:21He's just snapping at his heels the whole way around.

00:34:23He's not using all the road in the corners,

00:34:25so he knows he's got the legs of the Jordan,

00:34:27but catching somebody up and overtaking him

00:34:29are two different things.

00:34:30Here's a good bit of replay.

00:34:31Oh, there's Alessi.

00:34:32He was making that charge from the back.

00:34:34Not a very good move from Jarno there,

00:34:36but he's kept it running, has he?

00:34:37Yes.

00:34:38Smoking the tires and off he goes.

00:34:40Great show for the fans there,

00:34:42but I'm sure Alessi is now about as frustrated

00:34:46as he can get,

00:34:47and his boiling point is low to start with.

00:34:49That's right, yes.

00:34:50He's known to flare quite easily.

00:34:55There's Jacques Villeneuve.

00:34:58There's Jacques Villeneuve in the BAR.

00:35:00They've got to really prove something this way.

00:35:02Jacques went very well in practice,

00:35:04they thought, and qualifying as well.

00:35:06He's been there all weekend.

00:35:07This is his make or break of the year with them.

00:35:09He's getting paid a tremendous amount of money to drive,

00:35:11and he really needs his time.

00:35:13That man has the ability.

00:35:14He should be in a top team,

00:35:16or a team capable of giving him a winning car.

00:35:20A look at Villeneuve's career stats.

00:35:23Right behind him, good battle raging.

00:35:27One of the salvers trying to hold off

00:35:29the challenge from the Arrows there.

00:35:34Villeneuve winner here in 96,

00:35:36and the pole winner for this race, 96 and 7.

00:35:39Isn't it good to see those two Arrows cars

00:35:41running up so well?

00:35:42They, along with the BAR,

00:35:44were two of the worst cars last year.

00:35:46Tom Walkinshaw's team had the most terrible seasons,

00:35:49but he has the budget this year.

00:35:51Orange have come in with $110 million

00:35:53over three years just in the last week.

00:35:55Hence the cars are orange,

00:35:57and they're looking very competitive indeed.

00:35:59They've done a lot of work on the aerodynamics of the car.

00:36:01In fact, they've got the aerodynamicist

00:36:03who went from Stuart Ford.

00:36:05He's gone across to them,

00:36:07and he's obviously doing a lot of work,

00:36:09and it's been coming out top speed.

00:36:11Back up front.

00:36:13Hockennan and Coulthard

00:36:15continue to hold first and second.

00:36:171.6 seconds is the differential,

00:36:20and you see Michael Schumacher right there

00:36:22in the Ferrari, keeping pace.

00:36:24Yes, he's, as I said,

00:36:26he's playing a possibly sort of waiting game,

00:36:28and I'm sure he'd like to get by if he could.

00:36:30But, you know, there are other pit stops to go.

00:36:32We're told, in fact, that David Coulthard

00:36:34may well be on a one-stop strategy,

00:36:36and Mika Hakkin on a two-stop.

00:36:38So Mika really has to get away at this point

00:36:40because he's got to go in for two stops.

00:36:42We have no idea what Ferrari are on,

00:36:44and I don't think they're going to tell anybody anyway.

00:36:46Sorry if I may just butt in.

00:36:48Frenzel has dropped back.

00:36:50I mean, he's some 13 seconds behind now,

00:36:52and Rubens needs to get by this group

00:36:54so he can catch up and stay with Michael Schumacher.

00:36:56Well, if Hakkin had started the race

00:36:58on light tanks, Derek,

00:37:00it doesn't appear evident

00:37:02from the way Coulthard's keeping pace with him.

00:37:04He started with a heavier fuel load.

00:37:06Absolutely not. At the same time,

00:37:08David Coulthard is no doubt trying to keep Michael at bay

00:37:10because they don't want Michael's pushing

00:37:12Mika Hakkin and edging him, you know,

00:37:14into playing different silly games

00:37:16and patching him up early.

00:37:18Good point.

00:37:21Well, the new rule

00:37:23about pit road speed

00:37:25being lowered for this year

00:37:27I think is really going to play strategy

00:37:29because that's really going to...

00:37:31You have to measure pit stops not just in terms of the time the car has stopped,

00:37:33but the total time the car...

00:37:35Oh, Irvine's... I don't know if he's off.

00:37:37He's certainly stopped, whether he's backwards into the wall

00:37:39or what it is.

00:37:41Oh, he's trying to get it out of the way.

00:37:43Oh, dear.

00:37:45He and de la Rosa are panicked.

00:37:47The Spaniard de la Rosa in the arrows.

00:37:51And they're going to steer him off to the fence.

00:37:53Here's what happened.

00:37:55Here we go. Let's see what happens.

00:37:57Whoa, dear, oh, dear.

00:37:59Eddie going backwards a long way down the ramp,

00:38:01and a wheel bouncing down the road.

00:38:03Nasty place for it all to happen.

00:38:05So that was de la Rosa's wheel.

00:38:07Looks like Eddie kept everything running.

00:38:09He's got all four wheels, but no engine.

00:38:11He had, in fact, dropped from 7th down to 11th,

00:38:13so he wasn't having such an inspired time.

00:38:15So last year's winner of the Australian Grand Prix

00:38:17and our producer Larry Holmes

00:38:20No points in Australia for Irvine,

00:38:22and that puts both Jaguars out of the race.

00:38:24Exactly. Not a good start for them.

00:38:26Safety cars going out because there is a lot of debris

00:38:28on the track from that incident,

00:38:30because they were actually on the road,

00:38:32not on the dirt when they collided.

00:38:34Well, when the bits and pieces started to fall off the car.

00:38:36Usually the cars touch, and then they go on the dirt,

00:38:38and everything falls off when they hit the guardrail or the fence.

00:38:40But in this case, they actually connected on the road.

00:38:45There's both drivers out of the cars and OK.

00:38:47Here's another look.

00:38:54Oh my goodness.

00:38:56Separate incident.

00:39:00That would have been for stopping.

00:39:03Look at the front wheel. The suspension broken on the front wheel.

00:39:06Steering went on the car.

00:39:08That's basically what happened.

00:39:10There's De La Rosa in the black suit

00:39:12talking to Eddie Irvine in the green.

00:39:15Eddie didn't have much to say,

00:39:17but he didn't poke him on the nose.

00:39:19He tried to hit it in the center,

00:39:21so maybe it wasn't all that bad after all.

00:39:23Well, the cat is not back

00:39:25and doing terribly well at the moment,

00:39:27but that car is totally a new car,

00:39:29apart from the engine, of course.

00:39:31Well, one of the nine lives, Jaguar,

00:39:33out early.

00:39:35Mika Hakanen and David Coulthard

00:39:37continue to lead with McLaren-type precision.

00:39:39We'll be right back.

00:39:42Welcome back to the Grand Prix of Australia.

00:39:44Round one of the Formula One World Championship.

00:39:47Safety car is on the course

00:39:49for an incident involving Pedro De La Rosa

00:39:51and Eddie Irvine.

00:39:55Look at all the day's scores,

00:39:56highlights and breaking stories,

00:39:58nightly at 10 and midnight on Fox Sportsnet.

00:40:00Check your local listings.

00:40:07At eight laps out of the race,

00:40:09Johnny Herbert with clutch trouble.

00:40:11Eddie Irvine and De La Rosa crash.

00:40:13We saw Jos Verstappen

00:40:15have suspension problems.

00:40:17He's returned to the pits,

00:40:18and they are attempting to repair his car

00:40:20and get him back out.

00:40:21Well, there was a lot of talking going on, I thought.

00:40:23They weren't terribly mobile about it.

00:40:25It's going to be interesting to see.

00:40:27These guys just aren't used to the restarts

00:40:29like we are in the States,

00:40:30so it's going to be quite interesting

00:40:32to see how they react to it all.

00:40:33They're obviously weaving around,

00:40:34trying to get the temperatures off in these tires

00:40:36because the temperatures do go away quickly.

00:40:39The teams have been informed

00:40:40that the safety car will come in this time.

00:40:45There's the new Minardi color

00:40:46right at the back of the grid.

00:40:48Looks a lot like the Jordan.

00:40:49It's kind of a day-glow lime,

00:40:51where the Jordan is now a day-glow yellow

00:40:53with a tinge of green to it.

00:40:55At least we haven't got the orange arrows to worry about

00:40:57and get worried and confused with their colors,

00:40:59although they're mixed with black fairly heavily.

00:41:02They're really weaving about,

00:41:03trying to get those tires warmed up,

00:41:05get them up to speed,

00:41:06because once they drop down in temperature,

00:41:09they also can lose pressure.

00:41:11And when you lose pressure,

00:41:12of course, you can actually have instability in the car,

00:41:14and of course the tire can, in fact, pull off the rim.

00:41:20I saw an SC sign indicating safety car.

00:41:22Here it goes to the pits.

00:41:24And the green will be back out.

00:41:26It's going to be a tough race.

00:41:28And the green will be back out.

00:41:31And we're racing once again in Melbourne.

00:41:34Mercedes, Mercedes, Ferrari, Jordan.

00:41:37And another Ferrari.

00:41:38Let's see if the Ferrari,

00:41:39let's see if Barrichello can get by the Jordan under braking.

00:41:41Oh, he's having a good look down the inside of Frentzen,

00:41:44but he didn't make it.

00:41:45That's what he's got to do.

00:41:46He's got to have another go at him up here,

00:41:48while maybe Frentzen's a little bit perturbed

00:41:50by the closeness of Barrichello right behind him.

00:41:53Here we go. Have another look.

00:41:55Garno truly trying to worry Barrichello there,

00:41:58in the second Jordan.

00:41:59And of course, if he can do that,

00:42:01it means that Barrichello can't worry Frentzen in front of him,

00:42:04so it works all ways.

00:42:09Now, will that play into anybody's hands

00:42:11as far as pit stop strategy is concerned,

00:42:13and tires, we don't know.

00:42:14They only lost maybe three laps,

00:42:16probably not enough to affect anything.

00:42:19You can normally have a switch on the dashboard,

00:42:21and you change that switch

00:42:23when you actually run behind a pace car,

00:42:25so the engine doesn't run too rich, slow down,

00:42:27and the car can go around, let's say,

00:42:29at 5,000, 6,000 revs,

00:42:30without actually having the engine choke up,

00:42:32which we're used to having in the old days.

00:42:34But you're not really conserving fuel.

00:42:36You're not burning as much,

00:42:38but you're not coasting around

00:42:40on the yellow flag lap to conserve fuel.

00:42:45He's sweeping down the back part of the circuit.

00:42:47Here we go.

00:42:48Michael's having a look down the inside of David.

00:42:50It is a place to overtake,

00:42:51but it's a very fast entry into that corner,

00:42:53but Michael is very, very close.

00:42:57He's got a car thinking about it,

00:42:58because right behind him is Heinz-Hauer-Frenzel.

00:43:00Look at Barry Kellow right behind.

00:43:01Remember, they were something like eight seconds behind

00:43:03just before the full pace.

00:43:05Oh, it's...

00:43:06The Coulthard slowed right down.

00:43:08Coulthard's coming in the pits,

00:43:10and he was on a one-stop strategy,

00:43:11so it can't be for fuel.

00:43:13Big trouble at lap nine for David Coulthard.

00:43:16Well, the guys that have the bad luck,

00:43:17they have the bad luck.

00:43:18You saw Johnny Herbert just now coming in,

00:43:20and David Coulthard cruising in very, very slowly indeed.

00:43:23And he had been quite fast on that lap,

00:43:25but you had noticed that Michael was up behind him,

00:43:27and Barry Kellow and Frenzel were close,

00:43:29so there was a problem.

00:43:30Coulthard was out of the race early

00:43:32here in Melbourne last year.

00:43:34Tires, fuel, clean of the visor.

00:43:39Long stop so far.

00:43:42Is he complaining about the tires?

00:43:43Well, Derek, might he have run over something

00:43:45during the caution period?

00:43:46He might have picked up some debris.

00:43:47Left rear puncture perhaps,

00:43:49but no, they're looking.

00:43:50I don't think so.

00:43:51They're looking at something underneath

00:43:52on the left-hand side of the car.

00:43:53A lot of smoke.

00:43:56Might be one of the barge boards or something.

00:43:58You can see them on this side of the car.

00:43:59Maybe one of the barge boards came loose.

00:44:02That's a long, long stop.

00:44:03That's the smoke pouring out of that

00:44:04left-hand bank of the engine.

00:44:08Nobody seems to know what to do.

00:44:10Not much you can do when all the bodywork's on.

00:44:11They're going to have to take that bodywork off.

00:44:13They really want to investigate.

00:44:14No, off he goes.

00:44:17A 44-second pit stop for David Coulthard.

00:44:21Basically puts him out of the running

00:44:22as far as the lead's concerned.

00:44:24It's a long way behind to be.

00:44:26But remember how high the attrition has been

00:44:28in this race the last couple of years.

00:44:30Oh, absolutely.

00:44:31You just need another yellow caution

00:44:32or something, and he didn't lose a complete lap.

00:44:34We can't quite hear it on the TV,

00:44:36but when you're at the track,

00:44:37the noise of that new...

00:44:39Oh, it's gone.

00:44:40The engine is going to go.

00:44:41Well, there was certainly clouds of smoke there.

00:44:43So something's...

00:44:44I believe it's Mika Hakkinen

00:44:45going by right now.

00:44:48And there's David.

00:44:49That was the engine.

00:44:50Obviously, it was a major problem with the motor.

00:44:54Well, that's when they send you back out

00:44:55and they say, well, let's see

00:44:56if we can find out what's wrong.

00:44:57Let's look at the telemetry in here

00:44:58and see if we can see what it is.

00:45:00David, what a tismal way to start the year.

00:45:02He's been working so hard.

00:45:04He's had so many critical people about him

00:45:06in the last year.

00:45:07You're not getting into the act,

00:45:08and he's saying, yes, I am.

00:45:10I can beat Mika on his day.

00:45:11He's still not beating Mika on his day.

00:45:14He's up there.

00:45:15He's very close.

00:45:16He's a tenth or so behind him,

00:45:17but he's not beating him.

00:45:18You've got to beat somebody like him to win.

00:45:20And while we're used to seeing silly season

00:45:22at the end of a season,

00:45:24already this week,

00:45:25there are rumors that Coulthard

00:45:27is out of that car for next year.

00:45:29It's not silly season anymore.

00:45:30It's like silly all the time.

00:45:32You just saw that Schumacher

00:45:33set the fastest lap of the race

00:45:34once David Coulthard got out of the way.

00:45:36Is David's engine blowing?

00:45:38He's obviously not really up to speed,

00:45:40so he hasn't got any heroics

00:45:41trying to control it,

00:45:42get it out of the way.

00:45:44And that's David going through turn three,

00:45:46I think I'm right to say.

00:45:47And he's going to pull right across.

00:45:49No oil apparently coming out of the back.

00:45:53But of course, that slowed down these guys.

00:45:55That bit of David Coulthard slowing down

00:45:57entering the pits

00:45:58broke this up a little bit,

00:45:59and they dropped back from Mika Schumacher.

00:46:05Now Hakkanen's left in the position he loves to be

00:46:07where he can just drive his own race.

00:46:09This beautiful, smooth driving he does.

00:46:12He's just part, he is one and part of that car,

00:46:14that McLaren Mercedes.

00:46:16Absolutely superb.

00:46:17Now last time past start finish,

00:46:19Schumacher was 2.6 seconds back.

00:46:22But Mika Hakkanen again,

00:46:23that had to be quite a fright for Michael

00:46:25to have David just suddenly cut off line

00:46:27and in with a bit of smoke trailing.

00:46:30And there you see Hakkanen,

00:46:32and you'll see Schumacher

00:46:34just barely come into view.

00:46:37Or not.

00:46:39And look at Villeneuve up there

00:46:40moving up to sixth.

00:46:41Villeneuve to sixth,

00:46:42and Zonta to tenth.

00:46:44So, VAR with high hopes

00:46:46and Honda power this year.

00:46:48He'll still be very, very happy

00:46:49if he can come around in sixth.

00:46:51Just keep it there in the race,

00:46:52he's going to have a good position.

00:46:53A long, long way to go yet.

00:46:55I don't know if you can really hear the noise

00:46:56of that McLaren,

00:46:57it is magnificent.

00:46:58It's different to anybody else.

00:47:02There we go, he's knocked,

00:47:03there's another half a second gap

00:47:05to Michael Schumacher now.

00:47:07He's really pulling away from Michael,

00:47:08he's turning on the gas.

00:47:10Because he hasn't got David Coulthard

00:47:11in there to slow Michael down at all.

00:47:16Yeah, McLaren have adapted

00:47:17a new exhaust system for this season,

00:47:19where everyone else runs two outlets,

00:47:21they have a Siamese system,

00:47:22and it's really a different sound.

00:47:24Well, it comes out through the diffuser.

00:47:26The diffuser's the area

00:47:27underneath the rear of the car

00:47:28that gives it stability,

00:47:29and where the pipes used to come out,

00:47:31in the middle of that diffuser,

00:47:32used to cause a lot of instability

00:47:34when you came off the gas pedal,

00:47:35when you turned into corners,

00:47:36made it very unstable.

00:47:37So, everybody went away from it.

00:47:39For two years,

00:47:40we have had exhausts in the diffusers.

00:47:42Ferraris have been coming out

00:47:43almost behind the drivers' heads.

00:47:44Suddenly, McLaren have somehow solved it,

00:47:46and they've got them coming up

00:47:47to the diffuser again.

00:47:48So, look for everybody else doing the same.

00:47:53Sometimes, our friends at Wink Mirrors

00:47:55are so full of that red Ferrari.

00:47:59And we saw some excellent drives

00:48:00from Frentzen last year,

00:48:01and also, of course,

00:48:02from Ralf Schumacher.

00:48:03Absolutely superb drives from Ralf last year,

00:48:05who's now in ninth place.

00:48:07Remember, he's in the Williams

00:48:08with the new BMW engine.

00:48:11Jensen Button is in the other car

00:48:12in twelfth place,

00:48:13so Jensen's doing very well indeed as well.

00:48:15But Ralf Schumacher, to me,

00:48:17was the driver of the year last year.

00:48:19He was sensational

00:48:20in that very underpowered Williams.

00:48:22What a thrill this must be

00:48:23for Barrichello in the Ferrari.

00:48:25Last year, in the Stewart,

00:48:27it was only on rare occasion

00:48:28that he'd been able to nip

00:48:29at the heels of the Jordans

00:48:31and have a strong shot to pass.

00:48:34And, you know, here,

00:48:36this has got to be the start

00:48:37of a dream season for Barrichello.

00:48:38Oh, I mean, absolutely outstanding.

00:48:39Imagine going to Brazil

00:48:40for the next Grand Prix.

00:48:41Doesn't matter what happens in this race,

00:48:43but there are six...

00:48:44There is, last season,

00:48:4516 starts, one pole,

00:48:47and three podium finishes.

00:48:48Most of those were due to attrition,

00:48:50one has to say,

00:48:51but the Stewart car

00:48:52was running extremely well

00:48:53and got better and better.

00:48:54Here we ride with Michael Schumacher.

00:49:07♪♪

00:49:17♪♪

00:49:27♪♪

00:49:33So Barrichello continues to harass

00:49:36And Peter with Barrichello

00:49:37now in a Ferrari.

00:49:39I would imagine,

00:49:40for the fans going to Brazil

00:49:41in two weeks' time,

00:49:42that's going to be

00:49:43a pretty tough ticket.

00:49:45Rubens Barrichello

00:49:46settling in very well at Ferrari.

00:49:48At Brazil now,

00:49:49they've already had to build

00:49:50two extra grandstands,

00:49:5210,000 people per grandstand,

00:49:54and whereas in previous years

00:49:56it's been pretty easy

00:49:57to turn up on the day,

00:49:58now it's capacity

00:50:00and it's a complete sellout

00:50:01for the Brazilian Grand Prix,

00:50:02right back to the level

00:50:03of the Ayrton Senna

00:50:04days.

00:50:05But don't forget,

00:50:06since then there's been

00:50:07a massive escalation

00:50:08in the price of tickets.

00:50:09So Rubens Barrichello

00:50:10really establishing himself

00:50:11as a national,

00:50:12Brazilian national hero

00:50:13as a Ferrari driver.

00:50:14And he commented here in Melbourne

00:50:16the first day he went out

00:50:17in the car

00:50:18how fantastic it was

00:50:19to see lots of Brazilian flags

00:50:20in the crowd here in Australia.

00:50:22Well, Barrichello

00:50:24is certainly going to sell

00:50:26for $100,000 in Euros today.

00:50:28He now has a great deal

00:50:29of money in his pocket.

00:50:31He's not going to

00:50:32let that the Ferrari

00:50:33run out of money,

00:50:34he's going to have

00:50:35a good deal of money

00:50:36to buy himself a Ferrari

00:50:37a Mitsubishi Camaro.

00:50:38And there's no doubt

00:50:39that he's going to

00:50:40have a great deal

00:50:41of money by the end of this year.

00:50:43Rubens Barrichello

00:50:44is going to race

00:50:48for the Monza Rally

00:50:50Well, Barrichello is certainly going to sell tickets in Brazil.

00:50:54And as you heard in Formula One on one during pre-race with Peter, with his

00:50:58enthusiasm, I think that's just going to be a huge boost for Ferrari.

00:51:01One thing to note, if we go back on board with Barrichello, the two chiefs

00:51:04spotting differences between his and Schumacher's helmets, the white

00:51:08surrounding the eye port of Barrichello and the very top of both helmets are

00:51:12that pearl blue, but whereas Schumacher's has the kind of stars effect, Barrichello

00:51:19has those little silver bars.

00:51:21And otherwise it's tough to tell the two apart.

00:51:23So tough that we said it, we called it wrong, but I could see that orange car

00:51:26in front of us going, I'm sure that's a Jordan in front, but he just told me

00:51:30that something had told me that it wasn't, it was Michael.

00:51:34Schumacher has knocked it down to 3.2 seconds.

00:51:38Currently not a threat to Hockenheim, but there you see he's

00:51:42within striking distance.

00:51:43It's McLaren and Ferrari here in Australia.

00:51:46There's where they're running and where they started.

00:51:4916 laps have been completed.

00:51:54Welcome back to Australia.

00:51:55Problems for Mika Hockenheim, the race leader and defending world

00:51:59champion, smoke from the back of his McLaren Mercedes, and he may have

00:52:04fallen victim to the same problem as teammate David Coulthard

00:52:07did half a dozen laps ago.

00:52:09He looked pretty much like it was exactly the same.

00:52:12We're heading towards pit stops at this point.

00:52:14Michael Schumacher has been clicking in fastest laps as well.

00:52:16Here we go.

00:52:16Let's watch it.

00:52:17As Mika Hockenheim suddenly has the motor go.

00:52:19Look at that.

00:52:20Clouds of smoke out the back.

00:52:21That's the end of the Australian Grand Prix for Mika this year.

00:52:24Again, no back-to-back victories at this race for

00:52:26anybody, as history dictates.

00:52:29Plus deja vu all over again.

00:52:31For the second year in a row, McLaren Mercedes will score no points in Australia.

00:52:36Let's just hope these Ferraris can get something.

00:52:37Let's see how well Rubens, Barry Kellis, if he can break up that, that

00:52:40gap between him and the Jordans.

00:52:42This will be done through some sort of pit strategy by Ferrari.

00:52:45Remember, they are the kings of pit strategy.

00:52:48Maybe they'll make it work in their favor again and let Barry

00:52:51Kello out ahead of those Jordans.

00:52:54Michael's never won here in Australia.

00:52:57And he's never had the pole either.

00:53:00Well, he said at the top of the day, the qualifying third would prove no hindrance.

00:53:05The car would be competitive and he's been able to keep the McLarens well in sight.

00:53:09He fell back for Mika Hockenheim when David Coulthard suddenly slowed coming

00:53:13out of the last corner and pitted.

00:53:15Only to fall out of the race.

00:53:17And that gap had remained constant as Schumacher continued to lay down the

00:53:21fastest lap of the race as the fuel load decreased.

00:53:25So he's been the fastest and he is now first.

00:53:29I think he just went past Hockenheim's car, stalled off to the side there.

00:53:33Pedro Diniz has stopped.

00:53:35That may be the first of pit stops here at lap 18.

00:53:39Nope.

00:53:39New front wing for Pedro Diniz.

00:53:41And no doubt, a little bit of fuel as well.

00:53:46Michael doesn't know there's Mika Hockenheim and he's probably pretty

00:53:51depressed about that for the beginning of his championship year.

00:53:53It's not the way he expected it to go.

00:53:55They've been so confident for all their testing.

00:53:57Here we go.

00:53:58Diniz coming in with a damaged wing.

00:54:01Must've nudged somebody somewhere, but there is quite a pack of them out there

00:54:03having one heck of a die, so it's not surprising that you nudge somebody and

00:54:07damage it.

00:54:10That smoke off the tar, I would hasten to add, off with the wing rubbing the

00:54:14front right tire.

00:54:16Yeah.

00:54:16Diniz was running between Jean Alessi and Nick Heidfeld back at 14th position.

00:54:23He and Alessi were locked up in a pretty good battle with

00:54:26Jensen Button and Alexander Virks.

00:54:32So now Schumacher with a 17 second gap on a Heitz-Harold Frentzen.

00:54:36And I would have said, you mentioned Ralph Schumacher, I would also add that

00:54:40Frentzen was certainly one of the stars of last season.

00:54:42He's kind of came out of the middle of the pack to establish himself as, as one

00:54:46of the top five of, of Grand Prix drivers.

00:54:50I did say that actually, Mike, but you were probably studying your notes.

00:54:54I did say it.

00:54:55I feel exactly the same as you.

00:54:56Those two were the drivers of last season.

00:55:00Ralph, of course, today, as we mentioned, is further back.

00:55:02He's in eighth place.

00:55:03Interesting also to notice that Alessi, despite his instance early, has worked

00:55:07his way past his teammate, Nick Heidfeld.

00:55:09And he's back, he's up into 12th place.

00:55:12So you've got the two Cross, which have had dismal times in practice.

00:55:15They haven't been running at all, well, during all the tests leading up to this

00:55:18event during, you know, Barcelona or wherever.

00:55:21And, uh, the Cross has been openly very, very critical of Peugeot's effort

00:55:26into making this engine work.

00:55:27We know that his contract expires with Peugeot at the end of this year.

00:55:30So maybe this is just the beginning of it, at the end of the race.

00:55:33But, you know, we also feel he'll be getting Mercedes engine next year.

00:55:36And Alessi up to, uh, up to 12th, despite a spin.

00:55:40And how about Jenson Button?

00:55:41Started on the last row of the grid and he's running up in 11th in his first

00:55:46Formula One race and only his third season of auto racing after, uh, after

00:55:51spending his youth and teenage years in go-karts.

00:55:54Yes, quite an astounding young man.

00:55:56He started off, uh, some, not that many years ago, as we said, but he's only 20

00:56:00years old to, you know, as we get in January, he was 20 years old.

00:56:04Uh, he started off from 89 to 97.

00:56:06He drove in karts in 97.

00:56:08He's the European super eight champion.

00:56:09He's the winner of the Senna Memorial Cup in Japan, third in the

00:56:12Formula A World Cup in Japan, 96, 98 British Formula Four champion.

00:56:17He was the winner of the Formula Four Festival, Autosport Driver of the Year.

00:56:19And from that, of course, he got his Formula One run in the McLaren and

00:56:23actually had his first drive in Formula One on November the 9th.

00:56:26And here he is in his first car, pretty not bad.

00:56:28And, uh, and having quite a run.

00:56:31He's just got to gain experience.

00:56:32All you have to do, he needs out there is to finish that race.

00:56:35He's in a group of cars, but he's just got to finish the race, gain the mileage.

00:56:39It's the only way to get better.

00:56:40You don't get it from reading books.

00:56:44Back on board with Barrichello.

00:57:04185 miles an hour.

00:57:40It has some power, doesn't it?

00:57:52I mean, Barrichello can make no impression upon him at all with sheer

00:57:56power, that Mugen Honda engine.

00:58:00Well, there's a lot of no comment going on at the Mercedes pit.

00:58:03Both their drivers are out.

00:58:04They started on the front row and for the second year in a row, failed to finish

00:58:08the Australian Grand Prix, Hockenden and Coulthard out of the race, both

00:58:12McLarens, both Jaguars, and both Aeros out of the race.

00:58:21There's a real group going on not far back.

00:58:23I mean, there really are some very close drivers.

00:58:26There's a whole bunch of Fisichella, Schumacher, Zonta, Wurz.

00:58:29They're all so close together that they're having a real dive.

00:58:35Yeah, quite a freight train back there from fifth on back.

00:58:39At the front, it's Ferrari, Jordan, Ferrari, Jordan, Schumacher,

00:58:43Frentzen, Barrichello, Trulli.

00:58:47We've not said much about Jarno Trulli, but a very impressive debut for him.

00:58:51Yes, wonderful.

00:58:52Remember, he has had very few years in racing as well.

00:58:54He's been there a very short space of time and he's coming through very well.

00:58:58He's getting the drive that he's so, I think, so obviously deserved.

00:59:02He had some good drives with Cross last year, but he just didn't have the

00:59:06machinery to do that well.

00:59:07But he's really going exceptionally well in testing, has been with the Jordan.

00:59:11And wasn't it Trulli that came into Formula One with less full-sized car

00:59:15racing experience than even Jenson Button?

00:59:18Absolutely.

00:59:19He had one year in the German Formula Three championship, driving for the

00:59:22Benetton Junior Team in 1996.

00:59:24He went to Bernardi for one year, Cross for two years, and here he is,

00:59:28driving for Jordan.

00:59:29But they all said, what a great talent this young man had, and he's doing

00:59:32extremely well.

00:59:33He's 25 years old, comes from Pescara in Italy.

00:59:38Nick Heidfeld is in the pits at lap 22 for Cross.

00:59:45Some people may be wondering, why has Heidfeld gone to Cross?

00:59:48I believe the reason for that is that he's under contract to McLaren.

00:59:52I believe that Alan Cross is very close to Ron Dennis at McLaren, as you may

00:59:56well be aware, because he raced and won the World Championship for McLaren.

00:59:59And I believe there's something going on with McLaren customer engines, or

01:00:03should I say Mercedes-Benz customer engines, going to Cross next year.

01:00:06So he's asked Cross to groom him through Formula One, and take the expense

01:00:10away from Ron Dennis having the crashes.

01:00:11Let Cross have the crashes.

01:00:14And it's another little bit of pressure on David Coulthard to know that

01:00:17Mercedes has not only groomed Heidfeld as a test driver, but now he's getting

01:00:20race experience as well, if that seat should open up, perhaps, at the end of

01:00:24this season.

01:00:25Way too early to speculate on that.

01:00:28Pit stops will be coming up for the front runners, and we'll be back.

01:00:31You are watching the 2000 season of Formula One on Fox Sportsnet.

01:00:37Welcome back to Fox Sportsnet coverage of the Grand Prix of Australia, round

01:00:40one of the World Championship.

01:00:44And in two weeks, we'll be at Barrichello's home country, Brazil.

01:00:47The Grand Prix of Brazil, live, Sunday, March 26th.

01:00:51Mika Hakkinen won the pole and the race after falling out here in Australia last

01:00:55year.

01:00:56Will history repeat?

01:00:58Join us in two weeks' time.

01:01:01That's Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

01:01:02Now, they are about 18 seconds behind Michael Schumacher.

01:01:07And they've picked up two seconds on Jarno Trulli.

01:01:11We just heard that both McLarens went out with the same problem.

01:01:14That was pretty self-evident, I thought.

01:01:15The oil, the smoke coming out the same place.

01:01:21The gap's constantly at 20.4 between Schumacher and Frentzen.

01:01:25And they've picked up two seconds on Jarno Trulli.

01:01:27And they've picked up two seconds on Jarno Trulli.

01:01:29The gap's constantly at 20.4 between Schumacher and Frentzen.

01:01:33I would say, right now, Schumacher is trying to conserve these tyres.

01:01:36Judging by the laps they've done, they're going for a one-stop strategy.

01:01:41Because they're into the 20s.

01:01:42They're into 24 laps, I believe.

01:01:4624 complete.

01:01:48So, they're doing a two-stop.

01:01:50They'd be in at 20 laps in the 58-lap race.

01:01:54One thing, Derek, to note is, is look how much lower the car overall,

01:01:59especially outside the driver cockpit area, the forward sections of the car,

01:02:03a lot of work aerodynamically done by all the teams

01:02:06who spent a tremendous amount of time in the wind tunnel.

01:02:08Most teams have their own wind tunnel.

01:02:10And they really try to minimize the frontal areas of these cars.

01:02:12It's one of the, probably, I don't know if it's more obvious changes over the winter,

01:02:16but it's something that a tremendous amount of time and effort was expended on.

01:02:20Yes, I think there's several things here.

01:02:21Ferrari actually have turned the engine from an 80-degree V, an 80-degree V,

01:02:27to a 90-degree V.

01:02:28That means they've opened it up, therefore lowering the center of gravity,

01:02:31therefore allowing the bodywork for the back to be a little bit lower,

01:02:34get fresher, cleaner air to that rear wing.

01:02:40You see Schumacher just lowered the fastest lap of the race again.

01:02:45So, he is certainly not out there paddling, marking time.

01:02:50You see, what happens as well, we've had two years of stable rules.

01:02:54Last year, this year, we really haven't changed the car at all,

01:02:56really apart from this rollover hoop stuff that they've been doing,

01:02:59and, of course, the lights and steering wheel.

01:03:00But that's not really a structural feature.

01:03:03And in this particular case, you've got the situation where

01:03:07they don't have that much they can do to the car to make it better.

01:03:09So, they just tidy up what there is.

01:03:10So, therefore, you're going to get all the cars much closer in speed.

01:03:13Well, two things, though, I think have happened, at least here with Ferrari.

01:03:17We've just seen that Michael's fastest lap was faster than his fastest lap of the race last year.

01:03:22So, there has been development, much of it aerodynamic.

01:03:25And perhaps more importantly, when Ferrari came to Australia last year,

01:03:29they were brand new to the Bridgestone tire.

01:03:31Now, they've had a whole season to work with the Bridgestone after many years on Goodyear.

01:03:35And I've got to believe they're much better prepared to optimize the car for this race

01:03:41than they were when they came here a year ago.

01:03:43Absolutely. But the other side of the coin is the fact that, will they go to Michelin?

01:03:47Because Michelin are coming back in again next year.

01:03:49If they come in, it's fairly logical that the other top team,

01:03:52although Williams has already gone to Michelin, you'd think that Ferrari go there as well.

01:03:55Therefore, although they can't be given duff tires by Bridgestone,

01:04:01you know, could they possibly not get the best tires?

01:04:04You know, best knowledge.

01:04:06Hard to say. Well, let's get Peter to weigh in on this from the pit lane.

01:04:11Peter, how much of a tire war do you think we'll have in Formula 1 next season?

01:04:16Michelin returning to Formula 1 in 2001.

01:04:20And already the rumors are saying that Ferrari will be switching to Michelin.

01:04:24The big question is timing. When will they do that?

01:04:27Because obviously they don't want to jeopardize their relationship with Bridgestone.

01:04:30They have a championship to win this year.

01:04:32But significant, we think, that on the McLaren now, there's a large Bridgestone logo on the nose.

01:04:38Last year, it was one of their major sponsors. Now, this year, it's the Bridgestone logo.

01:04:42So not really any doubt about where McLaren see their future.

01:04:46The question is Ferrari.

01:04:48At the moment, Michelin committed to supplying tires to Williams and to Toyota if they do come into Formula 1.

01:04:54And probably you can add Prost to that list as well.

01:04:58And Toyota, a question mark whether they will become the 12th constructor in Formula 1 in the year 2001

01:05:04or whether they will sit out and wait for 02.

01:05:06And I read somewhere that they've also bought part of Yamaha's engine development program

01:05:11so they can get some help from the development they've had in Formula 1 over the years.

01:05:15This is a tremendous dice battle going on here.

01:05:17Jack Villeneuve dicing here very, very closely with Mika Salo,

01:05:23who you remember replaced Michael Schumacher after Michael's incident at Silverstone last year in the Ferrari team

01:05:28and did such an outstanding job, in fact, backing off to let Eddie Irvine win, I might say.

01:05:33I think it was the German Grand Prix.

01:05:34Look how close Salo is to the back of Villeneuve's car.

01:05:37Remember, this is the best performance we've seen from the BAR, the Villeneuve car.

01:05:42They got no points at all in the World Championship last year.

01:05:45And right now, they're in a very good situation to get points.

01:05:48Yeah, Villeneuve in 5th, Salo in 6th.

01:05:50Now, just two seconds behind them is Fisichella.

01:05:52This battle's stretched out a bit behind them.

01:05:55Ralf Schumacher in 8th and Zonta in 9th.

01:05:59Alexander Bertz in 10th.

01:06:00Jensen Button in 11th are all pretty well in touch with each other.

01:06:07So, a great battle going on from 5th on back,

01:06:10as Michael Schumacher has now waltzed away by 22 seconds.

01:06:14We've just been given another little gem from the pits,

01:06:17and that is that both McLarens had engine problems.

01:06:20Really?

01:06:21Yes. Can you believe that?

01:06:23There's a fair old dice game.

01:06:25These two here, the two or three behind, they're having a really good race here.

01:06:28For Villeneuve, remember, in the BAR,

01:06:30it's the first year they're running the official Honda engine.

01:06:33A lot of changes within the team.

01:06:35Adrian Reinhardt's come in, really, as running the whole of the racing program.

01:06:37Uh-oh.

01:06:38Uh-oh. There we go. There's Alessi pulled off to the side.

01:06:41Obviously, we don't know why, but they have had a lot of problems this weekend.

01:06:44And his not-so-excellent adventure gets worse.

01:06:50So, Alessi is out.

01:06:51You just saw Schumacher lap Nick Heitfeld, Alessi's teammate.

01:06:56And so, a tough day, a tough weekend for Jean Alessi.

01:06:59Remember, he started in the pit lane after having problems during the recon laps.

01:07:04Twenty-Seven laps complete of 58.

01:07:19So we're getting close on to pit stop time for the one-stoppers,

01:07:24which is most of the field.

01:07:27Nick Heitfeld was in at lap 22.

01:07:29And Alessi is in his third.

01:07:31which is most of the field. Nick Heidfeld was in at lap 22, so he's on a two-stop.

01:07:36Pedro Diniz was in, probably not by choice, with front wing damage at lap 18.

01:07:45Ferrari seem to be setting up to have one of their cars come in.

01:07:52This is a situation where they'd probably like to have brought in Barry Keller a bit sooner,

01:07:55got him out so he had some clean road in front of him until he'd been locked between those two Jordans.

01:08:01Derek, I don't know about this. Here he goes, pit stop for Schumacher.

01:08:08I say I'm not sure about this rule with the lowered pit speeds.

01:08:11There's the speed limit there, he goes on the limiter there, 48 miles an hour,

01:08:15which seems desperately slow when you're doing 185.

01:08:19I really think that this will cut down on the number of two-stop races,

01:08:23or the strategy for two stops.

01:08:35Cleaning out the radiator inlets.

01:08:38While they cleaned out the radiator inlets, they put a little bit more fuel in, just in case.

01:08:41You saw that they kept the fuel filler on there.

01:08:45But I say the length of time that you spend in the pit lane is really going to,

01:08:50I think, change the face of race strategy with this lowered speed limit.

01:08:56Michael with a look in his mirror.

01:09:02Not wanting to let that Jordan go by him, because they then have to retake him.

01:09:05Not what he wanted at all.

01:09:12Because even though the tires are brought up to temperature, they probably were brand new,

01:09:16and the handling is always a different, one set of tires is identical to another,

01:09:20so you've got to go out and just play a little bit cool.

01:09:23That shot there, of course, you have is the Barrichello dice going on.

01:09:26So Michael is just ahead of Jarno Trulli behind him,

01:09:29and that is Frentzen ahead of Barrichello.

01:09:34So hi, it's Harold Frentzen, leads here in Australia.

01:09:38Mika Hakkarinen started on pole and led.

01:09:41When his car stopped running, Michael Schumacher took over the lead,

01:09:45and on the pit stop, Frentzen goes to the front.

01:09:48Let's ride with Barrichello once more.

01:09:57He must be coming in very, very shortly,

01:09:59because there's no point in him running out the back like that.

01:10:02I think he's nervous staying out another lap.

01:10:03I would have thought they just didn't want him to run behind that Jordan.

01:10:08Michael Schumacher, of course, will not be very far behind Barrichello either,

01:10:11because he went in at a very quick pit stop,

01:10:13and he was 20-odd seconds ahead.

01:10:15So Michael is not that far behind Barrichello at this time on the road.

01:10:25Those Jordans have been so good the last season.

01:10:30They've done so well, they've done so well.

01:10:32And what's amazing is that Eddie Jordan has one of the smallest staffs

01:10:36of all the Formula 1 teams,

01:10:38and their budget is nowhere near that of many of the teams

01:10:42they're finishing ahead of.

01:10:44They have a minor...

01:10:45They have...

01:10:45There is a problem, of course, a power problem,

01:10:47that he runs the Mugen Honda engine.

01:10:49Of course, that is...

01:10:51That team, or that engine, is prepared by the son of Mr. Honda,

01:10:55and who fell out with his father's son when he was 20 years old,

01:10:58set up his own Mugen Honda team.

01:11:00He owns...

01:11:00Has the shares in the Honda engine department,

01:11:02and Honda have some shares in his engine department,

01:11:05but they're battling one against the other,

01:11:06because they are all running the Honda engine.

01:11:08The Honda spokesman this weekend was asked about the Mugen engine,

01:11:12and he declined to discuss it.

01:11:14So...

01:11:15I think this is something like,

01:11:16my computer doesn't answer that question.

01:11:18Yes, perhaps.

01:11:23All right, so Michael Schumacher has made his pit stop,

01:11:26and he currently trails Heinz-Harald Frentzen,

01:11:30Rubens Barrichello,

01:11:32then Jarno Trulli,

01:11:33Jacques Villeneuve,

01:11:35Fisichella,

01:11:35Ralf Schumacher,

01:11:37Zonta Wurz,

01:11:38and rookie Jensen Button are the top ten.

01:11:4330 laps are complete in the Australian Grand Prix on Fox Sportsnet.

01:11:56Welcome back to Melbourne, Australia.

01:11:58Mike Joy with Derek Bell and Peter Windsor in the pit lane,

01:12:01confirms that it is the valve actuation system in the Mercedes V10.

01:12:07It's pneumatically actuated,

01:12:08and that is what went astray on both Mika Haakon and Ann David Coulthard.

01:12:15And here he comes.

01:12:16Yep, Barrichello's in.

01:12:20It was about time they had to bring him in.

01:12:22I mean, here he comes up the line.

01:12:24He'll press a button on his wheel any second.

01:12:26There he goes.

01:12:27Presses that button.

01:12:27Down to 48 miles an hour.

01:12:31It isn't an easy thing to do.

01:12:32Believe me, he's slowing down.

01:12:34To the right speed at that line.

01:12:36Oh, what a great shot.

01:12:43Now, can he get out in front of those Jordans?

01:12:45A lot of debris in the radiators, Derek.

01:12:47Taking a lot of time to clean that.

01:12:50Of course, you remember that is Barrichello's first pit stop for Ferrari,

01:12:54so it's not surprising everything is not perfect.

01:12:56You just saw the fuel cap just shut down as he accelerated down the pit road.

01:13:03Remember, this track is tree-lined,

01:13:05and you've got all these trees everywhere,

01:13:07and they drop their leaves down.

01:13:08There's little bits of debris all the time.

01:13:10As the cars go down the side of the line by that yellow line,

01:13:12they actually bring it off the grass into the track.

01:13:15You can't fail to pick it up.

01:13:17So, Barrichello comes back out behind him.

01:13:36Look at Ralph Schumacher.

01:13:42I thought I saw a white helmet.

01:13:43It takes a time to get used to these different helmets.

01:13:48Jenson Dunn, I think, having a most outstanding race.

01:13:52I mean, that young man.

01:13:54I know he's young. He's 20 years old.

01:13:55But, I mean, amazing.

01:13:57There he is doing, you know,

01:13:58virtually the same time as his teammate, Ralph Schumacher,

01:14:00who's substantially ahead of him on the grid.

01:14:02And he's doing just a magnificent job.

01:14:05If he can only just keep his cool and keep himself together.

01:14:10See, a lot of that young man, everybody speaks very, very highly of him.

01:14:13He's somebody so young.

01:14:14He seems to have his head on his shoulders too.

01:14:17So, that is Button.

01:14:19You see the blue top of a lot of those blue-topped helmets this year.

01:14:23Blue top, white upper, and then the union jack all from the side around the back.

01:14:28Tremendous showing from this BMW engine when you consider its first race.

01:14:37Coming up later today, the Franklin Templeton Classic Final.

01:14:41Tim Henman versus Leighton Hewitt.

01:14:43That's later on Fox Sportsnet.

01:14:44Check your local listings.

01:14:47So, both the Ferraris have stopped.

01:15:03Neither of the Jordans have been in.

01:15:06Nor the BARs, nor the Benettons, nor the Williams.

01:15:10And Barrichello's not finding it very easy to get by Jenson Button right now.

01:15:21Of course, right now, Barrichello on a full fuel load and Benson, uh, Benson, Jenson Button.

01:15:28You're thinking of Johnny Benson.

01:15:30Yeah, sorry.

01:15:32He stopped turning left here.

01:15:40When, uh, Button came to the circuit for the first time, he wanted to take a rental car and

01:15:53just do a drive around and wasn't allowed to because he's not old enough to hold

01:15:57the proper grade of international driver's license.

01:15:59The, uh, clerk of the course had to, had to chauffeur him around.

01:16:02I'm surprised they have to use an international driving license in Australia.

01:16:05Nowhere else in the world do we have a seat.

01:16:07Oh, oh dear.

01:16:08There's a flame on the back of the Jordan.

01:16:11That is not so good.

01:16:17Jarno Trulli?

01:16:18Jarno Trulli jumping out.

01:16:21Oh, what a shame.

01:16:22He was in third place with the, uh, pit stops and all.

01:16:26And a bit of extinguisher fluid there on the right side of the engine bay.

01:16:30Well, he put up a tremendous performance for his first race for Jordan.

01:16:33Showed that he has got things going for him.

01:16:35He is a strong driver.

01:16:36He just needs the car to run for him.

01:16:38There he goes.

01:16:39Hear that.

01:16:40That's it.

01:16:41Nearly loses it.

01:16:41Oil gets on those back tires.

01:16:44All have experienced that feeling.

01:16:45The most horrible feeling.

01:16:47Look at it exploding.

01:16:47Just decimated.

01:16:48The heat in the back is as intense as...

01:16:53So Frentzen comes in.

01:16:54Frentzen, who's the leader of the race, coming in the pits, which will allow Michael Schumacher

01:16:58back into the lead.

01:17:00There's the speed limit line.

01:17:03Now, last time by, he led Schumacher by 12 and a half seconds.

01:17:06I don't think there's going to be enough fuel to help him get back out of it and replace the

01:17:09rig.

01:17:10Also, activity we saw at VAR up at the, uh, top end of the pit lane.

01:17:15And Menardi.

01:17:21It's a long stop.

01:17:21Oh, yeah.

01:17:22Took him a long time with the fuel rig.

01:17:24Uh, they had a...

01:17:25Having trouble with the right rear wheel, so they can't get it.

01:17:27And they've got to get the fuel rig back in.

01:17:29That's the third try to insert the fuel probe.

01:17:31Oh, goodness.

01:17:33That will certainly allow Barry Keller into a nice strong position in second place.

01:17:37Frentzen will be very upset about that, because he was driving so beautifully.

01:17:41Now, a horrendous pit stop for Frentzen.

01:17:47I think they tried three times to get the, uh, fuel probe to flow fuel.

01:17:51In the, uh, dry brake system there.

01:17:54It's not, it's, it's, it's not an easy job to do that.

01:17:56I'd hate to be the man that does that, because everything really hangs when you get that

01:17:59thing on fair and square.

01:18:00You're exactly right.

01:18:01And if you get a bit of dirt on it or something, you don't get quite enough angle.

01:18:04And he was trying to get there really tight.

01:18:05Meanwhile, the mechanic was taking off the rear wheel.

01:18:08And I don't think he'd get quite in the right position to go on there absolutely flat.

01:18:13The, uh, the fueler is like the field goal kicker in American football.

01:18:17It's either we won, or you missed.

01:18:20And there's no in-between.

01:18:21He just missed and he lost.

01:18:22So Frentzen's horrible pit stop put Schumacher back into the lead and Jacques Villeneuve

01:18:35currently second.

01:18:38But we're told we'll pit this time.

01:18:40Well, BAR must, don't want to jinx them, but they must really be enthused with the performance

01:18:45of, uh, of Villeneuve and Zonta today.

01:18:49Well, as I said, they have the new Honda engines.

01:18:51A lot of work's gone into that.

01:18:52They obviously want to get out there for the future.

01:18:54Honda were coming in with their own team in this particular year, 2000, but decided that

01:18:58it wasn't the thing to do.

01:18:59They opted to go along with the BAR team, which I thought was a very brave move or a

01:19:03very smart coup by, by them to do that.

01:19:06Here's Villeneuve.

01:19:07Zonta's already been in there.

01:19:09He was in last lap.

01:19:10That was the activity we saw at the top end of the pit lane.

01:19:16This looks like a good stop.

01:19:17That's Button coming in.

01:19:23What an incredible experience for this young man.

01:19:29That's his first pit stop in his life, in earnest, for a Formula 1 team.

01:19:34Frank Williams must be very, very happy with the performance of the two BMW engines today.

01:19:38Far more than they ever expected.

01:19:39They said, if we can get in the top half of the field, we'll be very lucky.

01:19:43Well, there's still a long way to go, but my goodness, they're looking strong.

01:19:46Very impressive debut.

01:19:47So most of the leaders have now made their pit stops, as we're past halfway in the Grand

01:19:53Prix of Australia, round one of the world championship, and you're watching it all on

01:19:57Fox Sportsnet.

01:20:02Welcome back to the Grand Prix of Australia.

01:20:04It's Ferrari 1-2, Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, out in front of Ralf

01:20:10Schumacher and Heinz-Gerald French.

01:20:12And the McLaren started on the front row.

01:20:14And the McLaren started on the front row for the third year in a row.

01:20:19But for the second year in a row, neither are running at present.

01:20:24First, it was David Coulthard, who came into the pits.

01:20:27They had a look at it, sent him back out, and this happened.

01:20:33Meanwhile, Mika Häkkinen was leading the race, as he had done from the start.

01:20:38But then Häkkinen seemed to suffer the same failure at lap 19.

01:20:44Yeah, well, I mean, it happened just exactly the same, but he didn't have as much warning,

01:20:47because David had gone in the pits with his problem.

01:20:49They had noticed it.

01:20:51Trouble in the valve train for McLaren Mercedes.

01:20:56Frentzen coming in very, very slowly, if I'm not mistaken.

01:21:00Truly out of the race, and Frentzen coasting in.

01:21:05And are they waving him to the garage?

01:21:07He's waving to everybody, saying, that's it, folks.

01:21:09I can't do any more.

01:21:10The engine's obviously got the engine switched off.

01:21:12He knows his day is over.

01:21:14That was a great piece of driving by him, as always.

01:21:17Very firm, very strong, but they're out as well.

01:21:20Not saying much from Newton and Honda today.

01:21:22Barry Kellogg's just got the fastest lap of the race, a 1.41.4.

01:21:27So Frentzen becomes the ninth retiree.

01:21:34So out of the race, Häkkinen and Coulthard, both McLarens with engine trouble.

01:21:38Both Jaguars, Herbert with clutch problems,

01:21:41and Irvine in a crash with the arrows of De La Rosa.

01:21:45Add to that Verstappen with suspension problems.

01:21:48John Lacey pulled off.

01:21:50Jarno Trulli, a lot of smoke from the right rear after he spun in his Jordan.

01:21:56And now Frentzen, we're told, it's gearbox problems.

01:22:03So Frentzen, who finished second here last year,

01:22:05won't get his season off to quite such a great start.

01:22:08The thing was, is their reliability last year was so good for those guys,

01:22:11and they just kept running and running and running.

01:22:13But inevitably, Mugen want to get just that bit more power out of it,

01:22:17and want to show they're better than the Honda engines.

01:22:19And of course, as soon as you push that bit more power,

01:22:22in comes the unreliability.

01:22:25Well, you have both McLarens out of the race,

01:22:27both Jordans, both Jaguars, both arrows.

01:22:30Who said it wasn't a race of attrition?

01:22:32Yes, and then the Prost of a Lacey.

01:22:34And the race is not over yet.

01:22:40Michael Schumacher some seven seconds ahead

01:22:43on the last lap.

01:22:44His teammate, Rubens Barrichello.

01:22:47Well, Jenson Button right now is up for sixth place.

01:22:51The last time a rookie driver scored a point in Formula 1,

01:22:56it was Jacques Villeneuve.

01:22:57But Villeneuve, you know, came here as an Indy 500 champion,

01:23:01and a hard star.

01:23:03And he went to the best team in the world.

01:23:05Yes.

01:23:05Williams at that point.

01:23:06Right.

01:23:06I mean, and here comes Jenson Button after a year of Formula 4,

01:23:10and a year of Formula 3.

01:23:11And he's currently up to sixth place.

01:23:16What a story that would be.

01:23:19Good story for BMW with Ralf Schumacher running in third as well.

01:23:31Two-second gap between Schumacher and Barrichello has dropped on that lap.

01:23:34Now, was that Mazzucati that not only went offline,

01:23:36but off the racetrack for the Ferraris to go by?

01:23:39He did it before.

01:23:40He went on the grass to let them buy some laps to go.

01:23:43Well, the guy's not used to be overtaken by Ferraris.

01:23:45He's had two years of driving Formula 3000.

01:23:48The best result, I think, was something like a sixth place.

01:23:50This young man from Argentina.

01:23:52Not a tall experience, but out there because he brought the money,

01:23:55a lot of money from Telefonica.

01:23:57And the sponsor said,

01:23:58either you put our boy in the car,

01:24:00or we don't put the money in the team, Mr. Minardi.

01:24:02So that's what happened.

01:24:02And that's the state of a lot of the teams at the back of the grid these days.

01:24:10I can't believe that Schumacher's having a problem at the moment,

01:24:13but he's certainly backed off.

01:24:15There's no need for them to panic.

01:24:17There's quite a reasonable gap.

01:24:18Something like 41 seconds from Barrichello back to Raul Schumacher.

01:24:22So why not just cool it a little bit?

01:24:24And let's drop a thousand or two revs off the top of this rally.

01:24:27I'll tell you why not.

01:24:28It's something Schumacher said earlier this week.

01:24:30He said,

01:24:31you don't need contracts to dictate who is number one and who is number two.

01:24:35Whoever is fastest at Ferrari will be the number one driver.

01:24:38Boy, Rubens is reeling him in.

01:24:40Yeah.

01:24:41There's 15 laps to go.

01:24:43And you'd be very silly to push it on the first race.

01:24:46You know, a completely new engine.

01:24:48Really a very, very different car.

01:24:50Down to 1.8 seconds now.

01:24:52But Rubens knows he's not going to go by.

01:24:54And it's going to be an absolutely magnificent result

01:24:57if they can come in first and second.

01:25:09But we'll see who'll have the last word here shortly between Schumacher and Barrichello.

01:25:14Jim Rome has the last word as he tells it like it is on the Nightline of Sports Talk shows.

01:25:19Weeknights at 6.30 and 11.30 on Fox Sportsnet.

01:25:33This is not a situation you would have predicted at the top of the day.

01:25:37Ferrari's 1-2 and McLaren loading the truck to fly home.

01:25:46I must admit, I didn't think that all the top two top teams would finish.

01:25:50I had a feeling it'd be Jordan that would finish strongly.

01:25:52And they aren't looking that strong.

01:25:54Well, Jordan is out.

01:25:55McLaren is out.

01:25:59And right now, Ferrari and Williams BMW looking quite good.

01:26:04Absolutely amazing.

01:26:05And of course, Arrows as well.

01:26:07No, I don't mean Arrows.

01:26:08I'm sorry, Bill Arrows as well.

01:26:10Driving there so strongly in the VAR with that Honda engine.

01:26:16But one thing about Australia, it's a race of surprises.

01:26:19Eddie Irvine last year scoring his breakthrough victory.

01:26:23Frenson quickly emerging as a player with a second place for Jordan.

01:26:27And Ralph Schumacher finishing third.

01:26:29So you would have got long odds on a podium with those three names on it.

01:26:34Let's ride along in Barrichello.

01:26:37So,

01:26:50we heard there was smoke some time ago.

01:26:53So, maybe he's backing off for that very reason.

01:26:56But it's a very good reason to back off.

01:26:58There is certainly smoke.

01:26:59I don't think Rubens would be allowed to overtake him.

01:27:01This Michael slows down so much that Ralph Schumacher,

01:27:07who's 39 seconds behind, could actually make any improvement on him.

01:27:10With 15 laps to go, 14 laps to go, that's two seconds a lap.

01:27:14I don't think Ralph's going to do that.

01:27:18Rubens short shifted there and went up a gear.

01:27:20Oh, he's going!

01:27:22And he's got him.

01:27:23He's got him.

01:27:24Having said all that, can you believe that Michael Schumacher has a problem?

01:27:29Michael is nursing his car home.

01:27:31What a debut for this gentleman from Sao Paolo, Brazil, if he could do it.

01:27:38With a Brazilian Grand Prix coming up in two weeks,

01:27:40you couldn't have orchestrated it better, could you, Mr. Eccleston?

01:27:44No, but again, what a race of surprises.

01:27:51Here he goes.

01:27:53Straight by, I mean, no doubt about it.

01:27:55Michael down on power, or down maybe on a gear.

01:28:01Now, Michael, can Michael hold off and defend his second place from his brother?

01:28:12Well, will they bring Schumacher in?

01:28:20And there's also word from the pit lane that,

01:28:23well, it's hard to believe that Barrichello might need fuel.

01:28:26Now, he came in, I believe, either two or three laps after Schumacher.

01:28:30So, unless there was a problem with the fueling,

01:28:34he should certainly have enough fuel to go the distance.

01:28:36They're fueling up for somebody or setting up for somebody there.

01:28:43Michael, of course, is cruising and Barrichello's got to go like crazy

01:28:46to make up some time so he can go in if he has to.

01:28:48Yes, he's going in.

01:28:49Barrichello in.

01:28:50They must have made an error in the refueling.

01:28:53Unless he has a tire problem, maybe, or something.

01:28:55Who knows?

01:28:56We'll have to wait and see.

01:28:57And Schumacher goes back to the lead.

01:29:01All right, he's got 37 seconds.

01:29:03Check that, he's got 37 seconds on a route.

01:29:07Now, he's got a time for a pit stop.

01:29:08There is time for a pit stop as long as it's an ordinary one.

01:29:10It's no more than 10 seconds because it takes, it's like a,

01:29:13it's a 20-odd second pit stop.

01:29:16That's it, he's got the fuel in, off he goes.

01:29:18Yeah, he should go out in the lead.

01:29:21But now...

01:29:21I mean, his second place should have...

01:29:22In the old days of Ferrari intrigue,

01:29:26the Commandatore might well bring Barrichello in

01:29:28as if he needed a pit stop so that he wouldn't hinder Schumacher,

01:29:31and Schumacher go on to victory.

01:29:33But in today's F1,

01:29:36what do you think?

01:29:37Well, I have to defend...

01:29:39I hope not.

01:29:39I have to defend dear old Commandatore,

01:29:41who isn't here to do it, bless his heart,

01:29:42but he actually never went to the races.

01:29:45And of course, there wasn't the communication we have today,

01:29:47so he certainly couldn't sit in this room

01:29:48and dictate what happened in Australia.

01:29:49But I think it's fair comment, Mike.

01:29:51He would always sit in his office at home and watch the race.

01:29:59Well, Michael Schumacher goes back to the front,

01:30:02and now Barrichello holds second from Ralf Schumacher.

01:30:05We continue after this.

01:30:09Welcome back to Fox Sportsnet coverage of the Grand Prix of Australia.

01:30:12Gaston Mazzucani has parked his Minardi,

01:30:16retired from the race,

01:30:17joining a growing list of retirees.

01:30:21And just moments ago,

01:30:23the young 20-year-old phenom,

01:30:25Jenson Butt,

01:30:27having trouble with his Williams BMW,

01:30:29cloud of smoke.

01:30:30There is Fiona going through,

01:30:32and Fiona behind him.

01:30:33Is he gonna...

01:30:33No.

01:30:35Everybody on the brakes behind,

01:30:37as he is out of race.

01:30:38Yes, and of course,

01:30:39they don't know quite where he's likely to go,

01:30:40because he gets the oil sprayed on those rear wheels,

01:30:42on those rear tires,

01:30:43as we watch Ralf Schumacher in the other Williams.

01:30:46Ralf doing a stunning job there in third place

01:30:49in the other Williams BMW.

01:30:51And for a car that they felt might be down on horsepower,

01:30:56and a complete question as to reliability,

01:30:58not having been tested in battle,

01:31:01this is a tremendous debut.

01:31:03Well, BMW are putting all their effort into this project.

01:31:08They were gonna do enough,

01:31:08they were gonna get involved at Le Mans and things like that,

01:31:11and they won Le Mans last year with their sports car,

01:31:13but this...

01:31:14Gerhard Berger said,

01:31:15no, everything goes into this project,

01:31:17even the series of the race,

01:31:18Gerhard Berger said,

01:31:19no, everything goes into this project,

01:31:21even the series over here,

01:31:22that in America that I was involved with,

01:31:25they were gonna be asked to run in that,

01:31:26and they said,

01:31:27no, all our effort is going into the Formula 1 program,

01:31:29and rightly so too.

01:31:32Well, it's a large bucket to fill

01:31:34with the dollars to fund Formula 1 engine development program,

01:31:37but certainly if they can come back

01:31:43and run at this level all year,

01:31:46that'll be a tremendous boost for them.

01:31:48Well, I'll bet the banners will be up in the showrooms on Monday.

01:31:52They certainly will.

01:31:56The battle between those two giants,

01:31:58Mercedes-Benz and BMW,

01:32:00is gonna get very, very dramatic during the year.

01:32:02Ferrari calls on their own agenda,

01:32:04Ferrari you have to consider in a different world

01:32:06as far as cars are concerned,

01:32:07but these two major mass-producing car companies

01:32:11are gonna have a right royal battle all year.

01:32:18And it's interesting because the flavor of their cars are so different.

01:32:21Mercedes is really trying hard to establish a sporting image for their cars,

01:32:26while BMW is here to affirm theirs.

01:32:31The M program of street machines, street cars,

01:32:34now Mercedes has their AMG line of street vehicles,

01:32:38even to and including their sport utilities.

01:32:41Well, it's 12 years since we actually saw a BMW racing in Formula 1.

01:32:45The last time, in fact, was back in the 80s, in 86.

01:32:50Well, just beyond 86, in fact.

01:32:51The last victory they had was in Mexico in 86

01:32:54when Gerhard Berger won his first Grand Prix in a BMW.

01:32:58Now, of course, he's motorsports director of BMW.

01:33:01So it's really quite something for them.

01:33:03Remember, going back a few years,

01:33:04their engines, when they had turbocharged engines,

01:33:07they used to turn up something up to 1200 horsepower.

01:33:09In fact, the dynamometer used to stop working at 1200

01:33:13and the engine still kept going.

01:33:14So they reckoned it was something like 1400 horsepower for qualifying.

01:33:17As Frank Williams has heard to say the other day,

01:33:19that was when the men had to drive the cars.

01:33:21These days, it's not the same.

01:33:22And one has to agree, when a driver cannot control the power,

01:33:26that is something very, very spectacular.

01:33:34Remember, a year ago, Michael Schumacher had problems with his car,

01:33:38ended up eighth in the Australian Grand Prix.

01:33:45He came back with a second at Brazil

01:33:47and then back-to-back wins at San Marino and Monaco.

01:33:51Whoa, did you see him get out of shape there?

01:33:53Yes.

01:33:54He's taking it a bit steady, Michael.

01:33:56Keep that concentration up,

01:33:58although he normally doesn't have any problem with that whatsoever.

01:34:01Now, of course, he's getting light on fuel.

01:34:03The track is getting more oil on it.

01:34:04Out it goes.

01:34:05Look at him sliding out of shape there.

01:34:07But that's what is the fun of Formula 1 or of racing anywhere,

01:34:10is getting that tail out and controlling it.

01:34:12Absolutely magnificent.

01:34:14Well, I'm really confused as to Ferrari's strategy.

01:34:17If Barrichello was coming in anyway for fuel or whatever,

01:34:22why Schumacher, you know, let him by.

01:34:25It was an obvious let that he let Barrichello get by.

01:34:28And then Barrichello comes in on the very next lap,

01:34:30and now here's Schumacher sliding around.

01:34:32But, you know, he's still tossing that car around,

01:34:35despite a 25-second lead.

01:34:38Well, Michael said this before.

01:34:40Remember when he had the incident with David Coulthard at Spa in the wet?

01:34:43Why did he have to drive so fast?

01:34:45The reason for that was that you've got to keep the concentration.

01:34:47You have to drive fast.

01:34:48One has to look at this group here.

01:34:49They've had a race the whole way.

01:34:52That is Villeneuve, Fisichella, Zonta, Vicasalo, Alexander-Bergens.

01:34:59And a five-minute driving by Zonta here,

01:35:01because obviously he can't...

01:35:02Whoa!

01:35:02Even he got this car out of shape there.

01:35:04They had complained during pre-testing in Europe

01:35:07that the back of that VAR did slide a lot.

01:35:10They couldn't get it under control.

01:35:12But they certainly seem to have mastered it here.

01:35:16It's been 16 races since Villeneuve has scored a championship point.

01:35:21That, of course, the last race at Japan in 98.

01:35:25So 16 races is the whole 99 season,

01:35:27or his entire tenure with VAR.

01:35:30Very good, of course.

01:35:31Two there for those two Benetton cars.

01:35:33They've had a dismal couple of seasons.

01:35:35They've had a major restructure.

01:35:37Lots of people have left.

01:35:38New engineers coming in.

01:35:39Oh, look at this.

01:35:39A bit of working going on here.

01:35:41Is he going to go by?

01:35:43Yes.

01:35:44Very nice piece of work there.

01:35:46Salo.

01:35:48Salo getting by Zonta.

01:35:53Because Salo, of course, was right behind Jack Villeneuve earlier on.

01:35:57But that was before the fuel stops.

01:35:59Right.

01:35:59So now he's past Zonta and chasing Fisichella.

01:36:04And that puts Salo up into the points in sixth.

01:36:07It was so funny, because Salo was just saying the other day...

01:36:09He was saying that he finds there are lots of overtaking places here in Australia on this track.

01:36:14He just proved there's one there, because we haven't seen that one happen before.

01:36:16He's going to have another look now at Fisichella.

01:36:18His car is really working well.

01:36:20Remember that the Sauber has last year's Formula One Ferrari engine.

01:36:24Salo drove that in two or three Grand Prixs that he saw.

01:36:27Six of his Grand Prixs that he substituted for Michael Schumacher.

01:36:32Well, he's really boring Fisichella there.

01:36:35Fisichella, of course, again in that Benetton car.

01:36:41They're running the Supertech engine, which really is the Renault engine.

01:36:47Renaults, we've heard, may well be coming back next year or in the next couple of years.

01:36:51They're keeping their finger on the pulse of this Formula One machine.

01:36:54And they're developing an engine all the time.

01:36:56They got a lot of bad press, even if it's called a Supertech.

01:36:59Everybody knows it's a Renault engine at heart.

01:37:00And they don't need bad press.

01:37:02So, as far as I'm aware, they've been working very hard to make this engine much more competitive.

01:37:08Now, remember, they're up in the points-paying positions,

01:37:11largely due to the demise today of McLaren and Jordan.

01:37:15All four of those cars are out.

01:37:18But it is astounding for those two teams that we can see.

01:37:22The two Béals and the two Benettons to be running so close.

01:37:27And all together, last year, they were almost the jokers in the pack.

01:37:31Yes.

01:37:33Well, the middle of the pack seems to have gotten a little fatter this year.

01:37:36That's good.

01:37:37Well, that's because of this stability in the rules.

01:37:41The guys at the back get their act together.

01:37:43They haven't got as much budget, but they can develop the cars more in the winters.

01:37:46And, you know, there's some good engineers out there trying to work on these cars.

01:37:50Right. The fourth through eighth place cars come by to complete 52 laps.

01:37:56Six to go.

01:37:57The Ferraris lead Schumacher and Barrichello from Ralph Schumacher,

01:38:02Jacques Villeneuve, Fisichella, and Salomon.

01:38:05You're watching Formula One on Fox Sportsnet.

01:38:09Welcome back to Fox Sportsnet coverage of the Grand Prix of Australia,

01:38:11round one of the World Championship for 2000.

01:38:15The Ferraris lead.

01:38:16Later today, the Franklin Templeton Classic final round coverage.

01:38:20Tim Henman versus Leighton Hewitt.

01:38:22You'll see the finals later today on Fox Sportsnet.

01:38:27Again, this great battle raging from fourth on back.

01:38:40That white car is Villeneuve in the BAR.

01:38:43Just behind him, Mika Salo and Riccardo Zonta.

01:38:46Alexander Virts all in close contact.

01:38:50Derek, we've talked about what a great weekend these teams are having.

01:38:53McLaren in the offseason said we will focus on reliability.

01:38:56I guess they need to sharpen their focus.

01:38:58They certainly do.

01:38:59You just don't know what stuff they can do during the winter.

01:39:03It'll come right for McLaren.

01:39:04It did last year.

01:39:05They'll be right up there.

01:39:06But I'm amazed, again, how this group are going here.

01:39:09The apparent reliability at this time of those engines out there doing so extremely well.

01:39:14I know they're not running in the top three at the moment,

01:39:16but it is astonishing how well they're going.

01:39:19You can see there, of course, you can see that Mika Salo is

01:39:22shooting all over the back of Fisichella.

01:39:24Two blue cars.

01:39:25And, of course, Fisichella is trying to defend himself,

01:39:27and he's allowing Villeneuve just to pull away a little bit.

01:39:31Fisichella in the middle.

01:39:32Oh, he really catches up Villeneuve under braking there.

01:39:34In the light blue car, the dark blue car in the middle of that pack,

01:39:38that is Mika Salo in the Sauber.

01:39:43Riccardo Zonta having, obviously, evidently the best race of his career.

01:39:48He's going to finish at this point.

01:39:49He'll finish just out of the point, but an excellent drive from him.

01:39:53Right behind him, Alexander Virts.

01:39:56He and the second Benetton.

01:40:01This is fourth on back.

01:40:10Well, Salo had a look there on the outside.

01:40:19Here's Zonta's best result with ninth place last year in the French Grand Prix.

01:40:24So, it's quite something for him to be up there now.

01:40:26And, of course, he isn't very far behind Jacques Villeneuve, either.

01:40:29He's doing a good job right there.

01:40:36Winner here in 96, the first year this race was run at Albert Park.

01:40:54What's it, Drew?

01:40:55It's fantastic.

01:40:57This is, uh, this is a race I would gladly have bought a ticket to see.

01:41:01Yeah, this would be wonderful.

01:41:052.4 seconds over five cars.

01:41:08That's great.

01:41:15To remind you, Michael Schumacher is 22 seconds ahead of the field.

01:41:18His teammate, Rubens Barrichello, in second.

01:41:20The last Ferrari won two in Australia was 1987.

01:41:30Again, Salo really catches up with Fisichella under braking.

01:41:32Yeah, absolutely.

01:41:37The deceleration is the one thing that you really, you find out when you drive these cars,

01:41:41how they do brake.

01:41:43They're incredible, the deceleration.

01:41:45It's in such a short space of time, and that's why it is so important to be able to do that.

01:41:49And that's why it is so difficult to overtake, because there just isn't that room in that

01:41:53braking distance to overtake anybody.

01:41:57They're using all these carbon brakes.

01:41:59Look at that group coming down, but use these carbon brakes.

01:42:01That's where you see this big sort of black haze come off when they're braking at the

01:42:04end of this race.

01:42:06Interesting aside on the BAR, you see the lucky strike there written on the rear wing

01:42:11in the countries where tobacco advertising is forbidden, where the, uh, the Jordans say,

01:42:16oh, here, no, having a look.

01:42:18Lozanto, where the Jordans will say Buzz and Hornets in kind of a, I think a little backhand

01:42:24at the flap that developed over their paint scheme last year, where they were lucky strike

01:42:27on one side and 555 on the other.

01:42:29After initially having each car represent one brand, the cars instead of lucky strike

01:42:33in the non-tobacco countries will say, look alike.

01:42:46For leader Michael Schumacher now, two laps left in this Australian Grand Prix.

01:42:58And Ferrari in position to score maximum points.

01:43:02Five lead changes.

01:43:04Ten cars remain running with the retirement of Jenson Button and Pedro Diniz.

01:43:13So again, attrition here is very high.

01:43:16In this opening round, Salo again, same place, same look to the outside.

01:43:21He's still going to get a point if he finishes in that place.

01:43:24And that's really, they just want to get in those points.

01:43:27Very important for them, sort of morally to get in that place.

01:43:32The Ferrari win, which it looks very much like they might do.

01:43:35There'll be 620 starts that they've had.

01:43:39It'll be 126 victories.

01:43:41Quite something.

01:43:43And Michael Schumacher will move to just 34 points, I believe, out of second place in

01:43:52the all-time Grand Prix list.

01:44:03Briggs says Michael Schumacher will break his jinx here if he can pull this one, just

01:44:08one more lap off.

01:44:09I think it's a real credit to Ferrari, too, to produce this engine, which is dramatically

01:44:15different, dramatically different to last year's.

01:44:17And he gets out there with Rubens, and they produce this engine, and they can get out

01:44:21there and show a 1.2.

01:44:23Amazing, I believe.

01:44:25And not what we thought it would happen, either, ultimately.

01:44:29Very, very special moment for Michael.

01:44:30Remember last year, he had that terrible crash at Silverstone.

01:44:32Put him out, really cost him the World, certainly cost him the World Championship.

01:44:36And he knows that he's capable of winning the World Championship.

01:44:38He knows he wants to win Ferrari.

01:44:40He once said, somebody said to him, where are you going to move at the end of this year?

01:44:43He said, I will be staying with Ferrari even when my contract expires.

01:44:46I want to stay with Ferrari.

01:44:47It's quite a statement from Michael Schumacher.

01:44:50And he says he still wants to race until he's 35, which is another four years.

01:44:53So who knows what will happen?

01:44:54Of course, Mercedes and people like that would love to have him racing for a German manufacturer.

01:44:59But Michael Schumacher onto one of his, not a classic victory, but certainly a fine piece

01:45:03of driving, a very intelligent piece of driving.

01:45:06So Schumacher was 8th last year.

01:45:07Barrichello finished in the points in 5th place here one year ago, of course, with Stewart,

01:45:14now with Ferrari.

01:45:23This is Michael's first win since Monaco last year, because of breaking his leg at Silverstone.

01:45:29Here he comes, very, very important time for Michael Schumacher.

01:45:34Boy, does he need these points.

01:45:37A wonderful cheer from the crowd.

01:45:39The Ferrari fans in Australia will be loving this one.

01:45:42And so will all his team and everybody in Maranello will be watching it on the big screen,

01:45:45I have no doubt.

01:45:46Look at that crowd.

01:45:4836th Grand Prix win for Michael Schumacher.

01:45:54Saluted by his team.

01:45:57And Ferrari will score maximum points in Australia, as here's Rubens Barrichello in

01:46:02his first drive for Ferrari, finishing second to Schumacher.

01:46:06He led the race and heads for his home country Grand Prix in two weeks.

01:46:10What a great moment for him.

01:46:11He's such an emotional man.

01:46:14And Ralph Schumacher there for Williams, finishes third.

01:46:21So Michael Schumacher draws first blood in the 2000 season.

01:46:27We'll be back in a moment.

01:46:32Welcome back to Melbourne, Australia, where Michael Schumacher has scored his 36th Grand

01:46:41Prix victory, third on the all-time list, five behind Ayrton Senna.

01:46:45And it's the 126th win for Ferrari, which scores a one-two with Michael Schumacher and

01:46:50Rubens Barrichello.

01:46:51Great debut for the BMW-powered Williams, Ralph Schumacher third.

01:46:55Jacques Villeneuve gets the first-ever points for BAR.

01:46:58Giancarlo Fisichella and Mika Salo get the points today.

01:47:01Zonta, Virts, Genet and Heidfeld, the rookie, also classed as finisher.

01:47:07So Schumacher leads the chase for the driver's championship.

01:47:11Barrichello, four points back.

01:47:13Schumacher Jr., Villeneuve, Fisichella and Mika Salo in the points.

01:47:17And the constructors, well, naturally it's Ferrari.

01:47:19Maximum points there, 16 to McLaren, zero.

01:47:22Williams with four.

01:47:23British American Racing with three.

01:47:25So let's go to the podium where we'll hear the German national anthem for Michael Schumacher

01:47:29and the Italian anthem for winning constructor Ferrari.

01:47:32And look at those Italian mechanics, aren't they happy?

01:47:36What a way to start the season.

01:49:29So

01:49:59what a great day for the Schumacher brothers and for Barrichello.

01:50:02What a debut for Ferrari.

01:50:04Yeah, the winning driver receives the trophy from, by Steve Brax, the Premier of Victoria,

01:50:09which of course is the state in which Melbourne is situated, in southern Australia.

01:50:20Giantot gets the constructor's trophy.

01:50:22He's the manager of the Ferrari team.

01:50:24For Mr. James Cronk, Chief Executive of Qantas Airways,

01:50:27with the name behind the Grand Prix today.

01:50:30Rubens Barrichello, a great moment for him.

01:50:32And his second time on the podium, receiving it by Mr. Donald Walker,

01:50:36Chair of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation.

01:50:41The third place position to Ralph Schumacher is Mr. John Osborne from Cams,

01:50:45that being the, basically the governing body of motorsport in Australia.

01:50:49In fact, Qantas painted up a 747 as a Formula 1 car.

01:50:53So look for that if Qantas serves an airport near you.

01:50:56Well, MUM is the new brand of champagne in Formula 1 podiums,

01:51:00replacing Moet and Chandon, which have been there for nearly 30 years.

01:51:04And this stuff looks like it sprays pretty well.

01:51:06It sprays just as well, doesn't it really?

01:51:11Boy, they're having a good time up there.

01:51:12Very special to win the first race of the year.

01:51:15Talked about it for quite some time.

01:51:16Plus, you've had so many months to prepare for it.

01:51:19That's so important to try and get those points early on.

01:51:22As I said earlier, as the year goes on, those points have become so vital

01:51:26for all those gentlemen standing up there today,

01:51:28and the other three that got points in time.

01:51:31Well, they all start the season with such great promise.

01:51:34Ferrari has delivered on that promise with a stunning 1-2 finish.

01:51:38We'll hear from the podium finishers in the Australian Grand Prix after this.

01:51:43Go back to Melbourne.

01:51:44Well, it may well be that Rubens Barrichello was so easily able to catch up Schumacher,

01:51:49because his tanks were nearly empty.

01:51:50Let's see if we can find out.

01:51:52I thought I lost it.

01:51:58Welcome to the top three finishing drivers of the 2000 Australian Grand Prix.

01:52:03Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher.

01:52:07Michael, this must be the perfect start of the season for you.

01:52:091-2 for Ferrari, first for you.

01:52:11Your first win in 10 attempts here in Australia.

01:52:13No points for McLaren.

01:52:14You must be delighted.

01:52:16Yes, certainly.

01:52:16I mean, delighted is probably the wrong word.

01:52:19I mean, imagine how long we're in Ferrari.

01:52:21It's the fifth times we try to win this Australian Grand Prix

01:52:27and be competitive from the beginning of the season.

01:52:30But somehow, when I went into my new car,

01:52:34I immediately felt this is the car I'm going to do it with

01:52:37and I'm going to fight really from the beginning of the championship with.

01:52:40And obviously, there was a little bit of disappointment yesterday

01:52:43because we didn't get the full potential out.

01:52:45And myself, I wasn't too worried.

01:52:48And I believe I proved this today that I was right.

01:52:51And thanks really to the guys.

01:52:53They have done a fantastic job.

01:52:54I mean, not just the car is reliable, but it's so bloody fast, this car.

01:52:58I'm really, really delighted to drive this car.

01:53:02Now, even at the start, when you were in third place behind the two McLarens,

01:53:04you just seemed totally in control.

01:53:05Was that the case?

01:53:07Yeah, I was already from the beginning, basically driving pretty easy,

01:53:11saving my tyres, saving my fuel,

01:53:13just for the final moment when pit stops would have come to attack.

01:53:17That was my strategy and it worked fine.

01:53:20Unfortunately, the two guys in front of me broke down.

01:53:23I would have wished to have a race until the end

01:53:26to prove really how good we are.

01:53:28But I think we will have plenty of opportunities to do this this year.

01:53:31Now, talking about that, when you saw David retire,

01:53:33did you then consciously pick up the pace

01:53:35to perhaps force Micka into also having a similar problem?

01:53:38I mean, I saw David slowing down and I was wondering what's going on,

01:53:42whether he had a problem or whether his team told him to do certain things.

01:53:47I wasn't sure.

01:53:48So I was worried for a moment what is really going on.

01:53:52Luckily, I saw him going into the pits and I knew what is going on.

01:53:56So it was just a matter of being calm, cool,

01:54:01putting pressure on Micka that we wait till the pit stop and see what happens.

01:54:06That was my strategy.

01:54:07I wasn't thinking he would break down as well.

01:54:10Thank you, Michael.

01:54:11Rubens, your first race of Ferrari equaled your best ever finish.

01:54:15But at the start, when you were behind Heinz-Harald

01:54:17and the others were getting away, what were your thoughts at that moment?

01:54:20It was really hard because, like Michael said,

01:54:23this car is unbelievable.

01:54:24This car is really, really good.

01:54:26So unfortunately, in Melbourne, there's not a lot of places to overtake

01:54:31unless the car in front is really slow.

01:54:34Heinz-Harald was trying to keep his pace

01:54:37and at a certain point he was going really fast,

01:54:41but that took a long time.

01:54:43So the guys in front were going away.

01:54:47So, you know, I was trying to work the tactics with Ross

01:54:53and everybody says he's the maestro and he really is.

01:54:58I mean, he changed my strategy.

01:54:59Unfortunately, I don't know what happened to Frentzen,

01:55:01but I think we would have done him anyway.

01:55:04But he did a fantastic job and the whole team did.

01:55:08How close to that first stop did you actually make the decision

01:55:10that you were going to go for a second one?

01:55:12He was on that lap, I would say.

01:55:14He was pretty much on that lap when we saw

01:55:17that Heinz-Harald was going for a long first instant.

01:55:21We chose to go for two.

01:55:23So he was on that lap.

01:55:25Thanks, Rubens.

01:55:26Ralph, the day didn't start very well.

01:55:28You had to take the spare car.

01:55:29I mean, how surprised are you to finish,

01:55:30let alone finish on the podium?

01:55:32Yeah, it's really amazing.

01:55:34I mean, we came here again like last year

01:55:36when having no race distance isn't a test,

01:55:39but the team did a fantastic job.

01:55:40The car was really great to drive.

01:55:41It was the best car I've ever had.

01:55:44And, you know, speaking about the engine,

01:55:45BMW did a great job.

01:55:47I mean, it did its job as drivable as an ICE engine

01:55:50and it was reliable, you know, and we finished third.

01:55:53I mean, I thought that if we finished,

01:55:54that we'd finish in the points,

01:55:55but I never thought about finishing third.

01:55:57It was a great day for us.

01:55:59Now, in the race, you were battling quite closely

01:56:01with a number of other drivers.

01:56:02Do you have a good fair fight?

01:56:04Well, it's actually a little bit boring here

01:56:06because the only thing you can do is following cars

01:56:08and wait till the pit and then be quicker,

01:56:10and that's what we did.

01:56:11You know, we went into pits very late,

01:56:14I think nearly the latest,

01:56:15and that made us overtaking the other cars.

01:56:19Thanks, Ralph.

01:56:20Michael, we go on now to Brazil,

01:56:21where I think it's fair to say last few years,

01:56:22Ferrari have struggled in the anti-clockwise

01:56:24and over the bumps.

01:56:25Do you feel you can carry on this good form

01:56:26with this new car?

01:56:28Certainly, yes.

01:56:29I mean, this car is a faster car than it has ever been.

01:56:32It has been competitive.

01:56:34It is reliable, as we have seen.

01:56:36So, I'm really looking forward now for all the season.

01:56:39I believe we will be able to be competitive everywhere.

01:56:43Not only the car is fast,

01:56:44we have already very good ideas how to develop it,

01:56:47and so everything looks to be a very good year for Ferrari.

01:56:54Michael Schumacher leads his teammate

01:56:56and his younger brother home in Australia.

01:57:00We'll be back to wrap things up.

01:57:02Welcome back to Melbourne,

01:57:03where Ferrari has scored a stunning 1-2

01:57:05in the opening round of the World Championship.

01:57:08But there has been a change to the official result.

01:57:11The FIA technical delegate, Joe Bauer,

01:57:13has excluded Mika Salo.

01:57:15There is a regulation that states

01:57:17that surrounding the front wheels,

01:57:19no body work is permitted in a given area

01:57:23except for brake cooling ducts.

01:57:25And the front wing of Salo's Sauber

01:57:27was found to extend three quarters of an inch,

01:57:2920 millimeters,

01:57:31into the exclusion zone.

01:57:33So, that moves Ricciardo's onto up to sixth.

01:57:35Both BARs score in the points.

01:57:38Verts, Chenet and Heifeld are the other finishers,

01:57:41and Salo is excluded.

01:57:44Well, we're off to Brazil in two weeks' time,

01:57:46and we'd appreciate your comments.

01:57:47Email us, formula1 at foxsports.net.

01:57:51That's how you can reach us,

01:57:52and we read each and every one of your emails.

01:57:55It's off to Brazil.

01:57:56We'll see you there live in two weeks' time.

01:57:59For Peter Windsor and Derek Bell, I'm Mike Joy.

01:58:02You've been watching Formula One on Fox Sports Net.

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