2000 Australian GP: Ferrari one-two after McLaren double retirement

Michael Schumacher won the first race of the 2000 season at Albert Park Circuit from grid position three. His new team-mate Rubens Barrichello finished second to complete a one-two for Ferrari. Third place went to Ralf Schumacher in the Williams, who had started from grid position eleven. The decisive factor was engine failures on both McLaren cars, which had lined up on the front row. After that, Ferrari brought its drivers safely home on two different pit strategies. You can find all results and data on our race page for the 2000 Australian GP.

Pole-sitter Mika Häkkinen led David Coulthard after the start. Both Ferraris got away badly. Schumacher still held on to third place at the first corner. Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the Jordan passed Barrichello there (sources 2, 3). Debutant Jenson Button made the best start, climbing from 21st to 15th (sources 2, 3). Marc Gené in the Minardi and Nick Heidfeld in the Prost touched at the first corner. Gené then had to pit with bent steering (source 2).

For Johnny Herbert, Jaguar's debut was over after just one lap. The listed cause was clutch failure. According to Atlas F1, he had been hit by Alexander Wurz beforehand (source 3). After six laps, the front suspension on Pedro de la Rosa's Arrows broke and he crashed into the tyre barriers. At the same time, the race also ended for Eddie Irvine, who spun off the track. The Safety Car was deployed, and racing resumed after lap ten (sources 2, 3, 4).

Shortly after the restart, Coulthard began to slow. Atlas F1 reported a pneumatic problem. He came into the pits, went back out and parked the car after eleven laps (source 3). Häkkinen led the race until lap 18. Then his engine blew in a cloud of oil (source 3). Officially, engine failure is recorded as the cause of retirement for both McLaren drivers.

That handed Schumacher the lead. According to Wikipedia, he was already 16.5 seconds ahead of Frentzen at that point (source 2). With Mercedes engines taking the favourites out of the race, the Melbourne opener turned into a false start for the world champion.

Schumacher made just one pit stop. He came in on lap 30 and rejoined third behind Frentzen and Barrichello, just ahead of Jarno Trulli (sources 2, 3). Frentzen now led for Jordan, but his own stop on lap 36 went wrong. The fuel nozzle would not connect properly, and the car came off the jack too early (source 3). He fell well back and stopped after 39 laps with a hydraulic failure. Trulli had already retired after 35 laps with engine failure. According to Wikipedia, a broken exhaust was the cause (source 2). Jordan therefore came away without points, even though both cars had run in the points for a long time.

Barrichello was stuck behind Frentzen for a long time, so Ferrari switched him to two stops. He took on only a little fuel on lap 33 and was considerably faster than his team-mate in the lighter car. Wikipedia puts it at around two seconds per lap (sources 2, 3). At the end of lap 44, Schumacher let him through so that he could build a gap to Ralf Schumacher (source 3). After Barrichello's short refuelling stop on lap 46, Michael Schumacher was back in front. According to Wikipedia, he won by 11.415 seconds (source 2).

Only nine drivers were classified at the finish. Other notable retirements:

• Jos Verstappen, Arrows: suspension, after 16 laps
• Jean Alesi, Prost: hydraulics, after 27 laps. He had started from the pit lane after an engine problem (source 2).
• Gastón Mazzacane, Minardi: gearbox, after 40 laps
• Pedro Diniz, Sauber: transmission, after 41 laps
• Jenson Button, Williams: engine, after 46 laps while running sixth (source 3)

Mika Salo passed Ricardo Zonta in the closing stages and took the chequered flag in sixth in the Sauber. Hours after the race, he was disqualified. The technical stewards objected to the front wing because it protruded into an area between the bargeboards and the front wheels where nothing was permitted (sources 3, 4). This promoted Zonta to sixth place.

Winners: Ralf Schumacher went from grid position eleven to the podium, gaining eight places. Atlas F1 highlighted that it was BMW's first podium (source 3). Zonta and Gené each gained ten places. Despite the first-lap collision, Gené finished eighth, one lap down. After a pointless debut season, BAR scored the first points in its history (sources 3, 4). Jacques Villeneuve finished fourth and Zonta sixth. In between, Giancarlo Fisichella came fifth for Benetton.

Losers: McLaren lost 17 places with Coulthard and 16 with Häkkinen. Jordan also came away without points despite grid positions five and six. Jaguar had to retire both cars early on its debut (source 2).

After the first race, Michael Schumacher led the 2000 standings with 10 points. Behind him were Barrichello on 6, Ralf Schumacher on 4, Villeneuve on 3, Fisichella on 2 and Zonta on 1 point. In the constructors' standings, Ferrari had 16 points, followed by Williams and BAR on 4 each and Benetton on 2. McLaren left empty-handed.

According to Wikipedia, it was Michael Schumacher's 36th Grand Prix win and his first in Australia, at the tenth attempt (source 2). On his Ferrari debut, Barrichello finished second, once again matching his best career result (source 2). Alongside Button, Heidfeld and Mazzacane also made their Formula 1 debuts here (source 4). McLaren had been dominant in qualifying, but the race showed that Ferrari had the more reliable package.