Australian GP - Ferrari Owners' Club

GRAND PRIX: Australia: When the Flag Drops
by Winston D'Arcy

21.3.07

I must of course begin by congratulating Kimi Raikkonen on his dream debut for the Ferrari as he won his first race for the Scuderia, becoming the first driver to do so since who? (Answer at the bottom of the page)

Kimi qualified on pole and won with ease, leading from the flag, setting fastest lap and was not troubled throughout the race except for his radio packing up and one minor wobble. His fortunes were in marked contrast to those of his team mate, Felipe Massa, who qualified 15th, was demoted to last on the grid following an engine change and struggled home a lapped sixth - a severe disappointment following his winter testing form.

Under normal circumstances Kimi would have been hailed as man of the meeting but he was overshadowed by Lewis Hamilton. The 22 year old made a stunning F1 debut, qualifying fourth, getting ahead of team mate and reigning World Champion Fernando Alonso with an audacious move around the outside of the first corner on the first lap when Alonso was blocked by a BMW (must've spotted a parking space). He moved up to third when Heidfeld pitted, got away with a low-flying incident (see pic), drove flat-out for much of the race, including an on-the-limit pit lane entrance and ran faster than Alonso for most of the race.

The canny Alonso re-asserted the status quo by taking on a couple more laps of fuel at his second stop which allowed him to to stay out and stay ahead when Hamilton was baulked by Sato and had to pit. Alonso's fastest lap was also ultimately better than that of Hamilton. Nonetheless, Hamilton showed stellar talent and what's more had luck on his side. His was easily the most exciting F1 debut since that of Michael Schumacher 16 years before and his is a fairy tale story, though I understand he did have the benefit of our Editor's advice many years ago and incidentally the immense support and encouragement of Ron Dennis.

BMW-Sauber confirmed that their winter testing form was no fluke. Heidfeld qualified third and finished fourth and Kubica qualified fifth and ran fourth before being forced to retire with hydraulics problems.

As predicted, Renault were off the pace, Fisichella nodded off as per usual, receiving a number of wake-up calls from his pit. He did however nicely squeeze Trulli off the road when emerging from a pit-stop and managed to come home fifth. Rookie team mate Heikki Kovalainen had an awful debut, qualifying 13th and finishing tenth after numerous spins and off-track excursions, receiving a blast from Flav to add to his troubles. I don't think Renault will be a threat this year.

Williams beat their new engine supplier Toyota. Nico Rosberg drove a good aggressive race, pulling a demon move on Ralf Schumacher, who scored the final point. Toyota fared much better than their Japanese rival Honda who were just dismal. Takumo Sato out-qualified both in Honda's last year's car and it was only Barrichello's determination that salvaged some respect for the team. The car has a high speed aerodynamic rear-end instability which was clearly demonstrated by Button at one point in the race. A big smart-alec advertising campaign, like the Earth thingy, backed up by "Honda - the Power of Dreams" sponsoring ITV's coverage, is almost always a recipe for disaster. Racing must speak through results not gimmicks.

The TV coverage of what was essentially a dull race was fair though I found I had to re-wind and watch several times to see the tiny things which made a difference. Coverage of qualifying was dreadful. The Director failed to pick up the right car at the right time and what with random close-ups, cuts, zooms and changes of direction, together with James Allen driveling on about anything other than what we are actually seeing, I found the whole thing totally confusing. I much prefer single car qualifying with Martin Brundle telling me what's going on on the track. One scary thing the TV did pick up very well was Coulthard going over the top of Wurz's Williams after a lunge from impossibly far back. His Red Bull came within inches of going over Wurz's head. A sober reminder that motor racing can still be a dangerous game.

To end on a more cheerful note, congratulations again to Kimi and to Lewis on a fairy tale come true. Well done Brother!

Jean Todt:

"We started with our drivers at opposite ends of the grid, with Kimi on pole and Felipe in last place because of an electrical problem in the gearbox management that had hampered his qualifying yesterday. Kimi maintained his first place after the start and then did a very good job of managing the race, while Felipe staged a great climb through the field to take him up to sixth place. The chassis-engine package proved to be competitive, the team worked with dedicated professionalism and the drivers were impeccable. This all means that we can look forward to the rest of the championship with prudent optimism, even if we have seen there is some very strong and well prepared opposition and some very talented young drivers."

Kimi Raikkonen :

"A fantastic victory! It is great to be winning again with my new team whom I want to thank for giving me a great car. The race was not as easy as it might have looked from the outside, partly because shortly after the start, the radio failed so it was almost impossible to talk to the pit wall. Fortunately we had prepared well for the race and I knew what I had to do, but there were a few difficult moments. I was not flat out all the time, adapting my pace to the way the race was going. It was nice to hear my national anthem again on the podium as it had been a while. I have to say that last year it seemed to be the Italian one I was hearing usually. This is a great way to start the championship. We know we have a very competitive package but we still have to work to make it even better and above all, reliable."

Felipe Massa:

"After what happened in qualifying yesterday it would have been difficult to do any better than this sixth place. I was able to run at a good pace even with a full fuel load facing a race that would be one long climb through the field. The F2007 was very competitive and so I am optimistic about the next few races. But I cannot forget the disappointment for the failure in qualifying, which meant I had to start from the back of the grid. If not for that, I would definitely have been fighting for the win. But I am happy with the overall result in terms of what it means for the team and I am happy for Kimi who won on his debut with Ferrari."

THE AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX, ALBERT PARK, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA;
58 LAPS; 307.574KM. WEATHER: SUNNY.

Classified:
Pos	Driver	Team	Time
1.	Raikkonen	Ferrari	1.25:28.770
2.	Alonso	McLaren	+ 7.242
3.	Hamilton	McLaren	+ 18.595
4.	Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+ 38.763
5.	Fisichella	Renault	+ 1:06.469
6.	Massa	Ferrari	+ 1:06.805
7.	Rosberg	Williams	+ 1 lap
8.	R.Schumacher	Toyota	+ 1 lap
9.	Trulli	Toyota	+ 1 lap
10.	Kovalainen	Renault	+ 1 lap
11.	Barrichello	Honda	+ 1 lap
12.	Sato	Super Aguri	+ 1 lap
13.	Webber	Red Bull	+ 1 lap
14.	Liuzzi	Toro Rosso	+ 1 lap
15.	Button	Honda	+ 1 lap
16.	Davidson	Super Aguri	+ 2 laps
17.	Sutil	Spyker	+ 2 laps
	Wurz	Williams	NC
	Coulthard	Red Bull	NC
	Kubica	BMW Sauber	NC
	Speed	Toro Rosso	NC
	Albers	Spyker	NC

Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:25.235


World Championship Final Standings, Round 1
Drivers:			Constructors:
1.	Raikkonen	10	1.	McLaren	14
2.	Alonso	8	2.	Ferrari	13
3.	Hamilton	6	3.	BMW Sauber	5
4.	Heidfeld	5	4.	Renault	4
5.	Fisichella	4	5.	Williams	2
6.	Massa	3	6.	Toyota	1
7.	Rosberg	2
8.	R.Schumacher	1