|
|
Dominant Melbourne victory for Fisichella
Australian GP - Race
Fisichella won the Australian race with ease
Giancarlo Fisichella took a dominant victory in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix leading from Pole Position to the chequered flag for Renault. Rubens Barrichello finished in second position for Ferrari while Fernando Alonso made it an ever better day for Renault by working his way up to finish in a fine third position.
The 58-lap Australian Grand Prix was not a classic race but Giancarlo Fisichella drove a flawless race to take the chequered flag just under six seconds ahead of Barrichello who gained track position by pitting later than his immediate rivals. For Barrichello, second position was a just reward for a very solid drive.
"It was a fantastic race. I was quite conservative until the last five or six laps and Rubens was catching me, but the car was really good, well balanced and consistent," Fisichella said. "I know it's the first race of the season but Renault have a very good potential. In the last few laps I was bit worried because I was catching up with a backmarker but it didn't affect me in the end."
Fernando Alonso drove a great race and was clearly the fastest man on track for large portions of the 58-laps event. Starting back in 13th position Alonso was one of the few drivers able to make passes on track and to make them stick. The Spaniard could well have finished second to make it a Renault one-two had a move on Jacques Villeneuve early in the race been successful.
David Coulthard finished in fourth position after a very solid performance in the new Red Bull Racing Cosworth. The Scotsman started from fifth position on the grid and immediately passed Mark Webber’s BMW Williams for position in a move he would hold to the end of the race.
Coulthard was however quite fortunate to finish as he and Webber almost made high-speed contact when trying to lap one of the hopelessly slow Minardis. With Coulthard taking avoiding action, Webber jinked right to pass Coulthard but found himself on the grass. Thankfully there was no contact and the Australian was able to follow Coulthard home to finish fifth in his debut race with the BMW Williams squad.
Juan Pablo Montoya had a low-key debut for McLaren Mercedes as he finished in sixth position while Christian Klien drove a trouble- free race to finish seventh for Red Bull Racing, fending off Kimi Raikkonen to the chequered flag. Raikkonen stalled his McLaren on the grid at the start of the race and starting from the back of the pack was unable to make much headway in the closing stages and was rather fortunate to finish eighth and score a point for McLaren.
Jarno Trulli started on the front row of the grid for Toyota, but was unable to run with any real pace due to a blistered rear tyre and slid down the order to finish out of the points in ninth position. Ralf Schumacher meanwhile started 15th and finished 12th after having to make an extra pitstop to have his seat belt tightened. The result underlines the sheer amount of work Toyota has to do if they want to be competitive in Formula One.
Felipe Massa drove a good race for Sauber to finish in tenth position using a one-stop strategy after starting the race from the back following his qualifying drams. In contrast his new team-mate Jacques Villeneuve slid from his starting position of fourth to finish behind Massa in the 13th spot.
BAR Honda had a race to forget with both drivers running closer to the back of the pack than the front and ending the race pitting our of the points in order to gain a fresh engine for the Malaysian Grand Prix in two weeks time. Jenson Button was classified in 11th position a lap down with Takuma Sato 14th two laps down. Quite clearly BAR have problems with the 007 chassis.
The class of 2005!
Of the rest Narain Karthikeyan drove a solid race to finish 15th on his debut for Jordan Toyota while Tiago Monteiro survived a spin to finish 16th ahead of Patrick Friesacher in the sluggish Minardi.
Michael Schumacher was never a major factor in the race after starting last but one following his qualifying drama and overnight engine change. The 2004 race winner found himself battling with Nick Heidfeld for a lower point placing when he and the BMW Williams driver came together at the third turn following a round of pitstops. Schumacher certainly defended his position vigorously, while Heidfeld simply locked his wheels on the grass and brought his unspectacular Williams debut to a premature end.
Giancarlo Fisichella put in a faultless drive to lead the championship as the teams pack up and head to Sepang for the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International |
|
IP卡
狗仔卡
發表於 2005-3-6 16:03:00
提升卡
置頂卡
沉默卡
喧囂卡
變色å¡
顯身å¡