March 2004

FedeF1 offers its sincere condolences to the Spanish people and anybody else affected by the attacks on Madrid. - Fede -

10 March 2004 Toyota are in the process of redesigning the TF104, which was lapped twice at Albert Park last weekend. Mike Gascoyne said that a 'total repackaging' would be presented by the San Marino GP.

10 March 2004 FIA has ruled-out changing the much-criticised new 'back to back' qualifying system until at least after the first few races of 2004.

9 March 2004 Flavio Briatore has denied that he ahd Willi Weber have an agreement for R. Schumacher to switch teams and move to Renault. Briatore admitted talking with Weber in Melbourne, but said that they never discussed R. Schumacher's racing future.

8 March 2004 Willi Weber has told German paper Bild that R. Schuamcher is set to leave Williams and sign for Renault. According to the article, there already is an understanding with Flavio Briatore and signing the contract is a mere formality. R. Schumacher has recently expressed his dissatisfaction with Williams.

8 March 2004 Norbert Haug said that, in his opinion, M. Schuamcher and Barrichello could have lapped the whole field in Australia, if they had wanted to.

8 March 2004 The controversial new 'back-to-back' qualifying system is apparently due to be scrapped before next GP. F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone said that he would like to see a return to the one-hour long free-for-all qualifying.

8 March 2004 Australian Grand Prix Corporation chairman Ron Walker confirmed that Melbourne will host a Grand Prix in 2006. Bernie Ecclestone had reportedly been worried that the 2006 Australian GP would clash with the Commonwealth Games.

7 March 2004 The doomsayers who predicted another 2002 after the free practice and qualifying sessions were vindicated today, as Ferrari took an extremely comfortable one-two finish in Melbourne. The red team was in a different league from all the rest and race leader M. Schumacher could even afford to slow down massively in the last 10 laps to enjoy the leisurely drive to the highest step on the podium. Full race report is available in the Race Reports section.

Australian GP finishing times:

1. 1 M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1h24'15"757 219.011 Km/h 2. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B +0'13"605 218.423 Km/h 3. 8 ALONSO Renault M +0'34"673 217.519 Km/h 4. 4 R. SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M +1'00"423 216.424 Km/h 5. 3 MONTOYA Williams BMW M +1'08"536 216.082 Km/h 6. 9 BUTTON BAR Honda M +1'10"598 215.995 Km/h 7. 7 TRULLI Renault M +1 lap 8. 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M +1 lap 9. 10 SATO BAR Honda M +1 lap 10. 11 FISICHELLA Sauber Petronas B +1 lap 11. 15 KLIEN Jaguar Cosworth M +2 laps 12. 16 DA MATTA Toyota M +2 laps 13. 17 PANIS Toyota M +2 laps 14. 19 PANTANO Jordan Ford B +3 laps 15. 12 MASSA Sauber Petronas B +14 laps 16. 18 HEIDFELD Jordan Ford B +15 laps 17. 20 BRUNI Minardi Cosworth B +15 laps 18. 14 WEBBER Jaguar Cosworth M +29 laps 19. 21 BAUMGARTNER Minardi Cosworth B +45 laps 20. 6 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M +49 laps

6 March 2004 Will it be 2002 all over again? Ferrari had little competition in the new-style qualifying sessions. First Barrichello drew gasps from the crowds when he beat M. Schumacher's best free practice time of yesterday, then M. Schumacher himself took on the challenge and the pole position. Montoya put in an impressive performance, but a couple of mistakes relegated him to the second row. He clocked exctly the same time as a superb Button and, according to the new rules, the Colombian took third place and the Briton fourth. The less is said about McLaren's performance in qualifying, especially Coulthard's, the better. Of course, the race is a different thing and there could be clever pit-stop and fuel-load strategies in play here but, if qualifying is anything to go by, it seems that the Silver Arrows will not give the other "strong" teams anything to worry about. Coulthard went for a trip on the grass in the last straight of qualifying. His car bounced up and down and, if any damage occurred to it, we'll only find out tomorrow during the race. Not the way the Scot would have wanted to start what is perhaps the most crucial year of his career. R. Schumacher's qualifying position wasn't anything to write home about, either, though he did well in the first session. A number of cars suffered mechanical or electronics problems and failed to qualify. They will start tomorrow's race from the back of the grid. All in all, the only real challenge to Ferrari came from Montoya today, and he could have been on the front row, had he managed a cleaner flying lap. Button was seriously impressive. Let's hope he keeps it up, the last thing that I (and most other fans) want is another season dominated by just one team a-la-2002.

Australian GP first qualifying session times:

1. 3 MONTOYA Williams BMW M 1'25"226 224.002 Km/h 2. 1 M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'25"301 +0'00"075 3. 4 R. SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M 1'25"445 +0'00"219 4. 6 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 1'25"592 +0'00"366 5. 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 1'25"652 +0'00"426 6. 9 BUTTON BAR Honda M 1'25"898 +0'00"672 7. 8 ALONSO Renault M 1'25"928 +0'00"702 8. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1'25"992 +0'00"766 9. 14 WEBBER Jaguar Cosworth M 1'26"232 +0'01"006 10. 11 FISICHELLA Sauber Petronas B 1'26"286 +0'01"060 11. 10 SATO BAR Honda M 1'26"737 +0'01"511 12. 12 MASSA Sauber Petronas B 1'26"833 +0'01"607 13. 17 PANIS Toyota M 1'27"253 +0'02"027 14. 15 KLIEN Jaguar Cosworth M 1'27"258 +0'02"032 15. 7 TRULLI Renault M 1'27"357 +0'02"131 16. 18 HEIDFELD Jordan Ford B 1'27"469 +0'02"243 17. 16 DA MATTA Toyota M 1'28"274 +0'03"048

Australian GP second qualifying session times (starting positions):

1. 1 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'24"408 226.173 Km/h 2. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1'24"482 +0'00"074 3. 3 MONTOYA Williams BMW M 1'24"998 +0'00"590 4. 9 BUTTON BAR Honda M 1'24"998 +0'00"590 5. 8 ALONSO Renault M 1'25"699 +0'01"291 6. 14 WEBBER Jaguar Cosworth M 1'25"805 +0'01"397 7. 10 SATO BAR Honda M 1'25"851 +0'01"443 8. 4 R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M 1'25"925 +0'01"517 9. 7 TRULLI Renault M 1'26"290 +0'01"882 10. 6 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 1'26"297 +0'01"889 11. 12 MASSA Sauber Petronas B 1'27"065 +0'02"657 12. 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 1'27"294 +0'02"886 13. 16 DA MATTA Toyota M 1'27"823 +0'03"415 14. 11 FISICHELLA Sauber Petronas B 1'27"845 +0'03"437 15. 18 HEIDFELD Jordan Ford B 1'28"178 +0'03"770 16. 19 PANTANO Jordan Ford B 1'30"140 +0'05"732 17. 21 BAUMGARTNER Minardi Cosworth B 1'30"681 +0'06"273

5 March 2004 The new season has officially started. The Australian GP Friday free practice sessions have taken place and were both dominated by Ferrari, but we all know that qualifying is a different matter. Trulli was faster than promising team mate Alonso and Coulthard beat Räikkönen by almost a second in the first session, but the Finn caught up in the second. We'll just have to wait and see what the qualifying session brings.

Australian GP Friday first free practice session times:

1. 1 M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'25"127 224.263 Km/h 4 laps 2. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1'25"361 +0'00"234 9 laps 3. 7 TRULLI Renault M 1'27"025 +0'01"898 10 laps 4. 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 1'27"264 +0'02"137 5 laps 5. 8 ALONSO Renault M 1'27"359 +0'02"232 14 laps 6. 3 MONTOYA Williams BMW M 1'27"462 +0'02"335 12 laps 7. 4 R. SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M 1'27"675 +0'02"548 11 laps 8. 9 BUTTON BAR Honda M 1'27"867 +0'02"740 7 laps 9. 35 DAVIDSON BAR Honda M 1'27"921 +0'02"794 25 laps 10. 14 WEBBER Jaguar Cosworth M 1'28"089 +0'02"962 6 laps 11. 38 ZONTA Toyota M 1'28"118 +0'02"991 17 laps 12. 6 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 1'28"233 +0'03"106 5 laps 13. 10 SATO BAR Honda M 1'28"874 +0'03"747 6 laps 14. 17 PANIS Toyota M 1'28"955 +0'03"828 11 laps 15. 11 FISICHELLA Sauber Petronas B 1'29"120 +0'03"993 6 laps 16. 16 DA MATTA Toyota M 1'29"169 +0'04"042 12 laps 17. 18 HEIDFELD Jordan Ford B 1'29"826 +0'04"699 11 laps 18. 37 WIRDHEIM Jaguar Cosworth M 1'30"033 +0'04"906 23 laps 19. 15 KLIEN Jaguar Cosworth M 1'30"046 +0'04"919 7 laps 20. 19 PANTANO Jordan Ford B 1'30"100 +0'04"973 18 laps 21. 39 GLOCK Jordan Ford B 1'31"626 +0'06"499 11 laps 22. 21 BAUMGARTNER Minardi Cosworth B 1'32"886 +0'07"759 14 laps 23. 20 BRUNI Minardi Cosworth B 1'33"236 +0'08"109 8 laps

Australian GP Friday second free practice session times:

1. 1 M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'24"718 225.345 Km/h 15 laps 2. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1'24"826 +0'00"108 22 laps 3. 7 TRULLI Renault M 1'25"757 +0'01"039 23 laps 4. 9 BUTTON BAR Honda M 1'25"786 +0'01"068 15 laps 5. 8 ALONSO Renault M 1'25"853 +0'01"135 22 laps 6. 4 R. SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M 1'25"882 +0'01"164 26 laps 7. 3 MONTOYA Williams BMW M 1'26"206 +0'01"488 19 laps 8. 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 1'26"215 +0'01"497 17 laps 9. 14 WEBBER Jaguar Cosworth M 1'26"312 +0'01"594 17 laps 10. 6 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 1'26"579 +0'01"861 18 laps 11. 11 FISICHELLA Sauber Petronas B 1'26"601 +0'01"883 27 laps 12. 10 SATO BAR Honda M 1'26"967 +0'02"249 14 laps 13. 12 MASSA Sauber Petronas B 1'26"969 +0'02"251 25 laps 14. 38 ZONTA Toyota M 1'27"165 +0'02"447 25 laps 15. 35 DAVIDSON BAR Honda M 1'27"516 +0'02"798 11 laps 16. 17 PANIS Toyota M 1'27"710 +0'02"992 11 laps 17. 15 KLIEN Jaguar Cosworth M 1'27"724 +0'03"006 20 laps 18. 16 DA MATTA Toyota M 1'27"807 +0'03"089 16 laps 19. 18 HEIDFELD Jordan Ford B 1'27"826 +0'03"108 15 laps 20. 37 WIRDHEIM Jaguar Cosworth M 1'28"781 +0'04"063 30 laps 21. 20 BRUNI Minardi Cosworth B 1'28"991 +0'04"273 18 laps 22. 21 BAUMGARTNER Minardi Cosworth B 1'29"708 +0'04"990 9 laps 23. 19 PANTANO Jordan Ford B 1'30"061 +0'05"343 18 laps 24. 39 GLOCK Jordan Ford B 1'30"291 +0'05"573 4 laps

4 March 2004 We're back! better late than never. Updates to FedeF1 have started and we shall be ready for the start of the 2004 season, tomorrow night. Please be patient, bear in mind that FedeF1 is maintained as a labour of love by one person and one person only (that's Fede). And she's mighty busy with things other than Formula 1 right now.

Last updated on by Federica Massagrande