2005 Australian GP: Fisichella wins, Alonso charges onto the podium

In his very first race for Renault, Giancarlo Fisichella won the 2005 Australian GP at Albert Park. He started from pole position and led the race apart from the laps around his pit stops. Behind him, Rubens Barrichello finished second for Ferrari, with Fisichella's team-mate Fernando Alonso third. Alonso had started 13th on the grid. The race was decided as early as the rain-hit qualifying and by Fisichella's commanding drive at the front. World champion Michael Schumacher retired after a collision.

New rules applied in 2005. An engine had to last two race weekends, and a single set of tyres had to survive both qualifying and the race without being changed. The starting grid was set by the aggregate of two single laps: one on Saturday, the second on Sunday morning with race fuel. On Saturday, the rain arrived mid-session. Fisichella had done his lap on slicks while the track was at its driest, laying the foundation for pole. Alongside him was Jarno Trulli in the Toyota, while third on the grid went to home hero Mark Webber in the Williams.

The weather caught out many of the favourites. Schumacher ran in the rain on Saturday and was well down the order anyway. Ferrari therefore changed his engine and skipped the Sunday lap, so he started from 19th. Felipe Massa in the Sauber lined up 18th. Takuma Sato in the BAR had to start from the very back after an engine change. In Melbourne, Ferrari was still running the interim F2004M because the new F2005 was not yet ready.

The first start attempt was aborted. Kimi Räikkönen stalled his McLaren on the grid, the car was pushed into the pits, and the field completed an extra formation lap. As a result, the race was shortened by one lap to 57 laps. Räikkönen had to start from the pit lane despite having qualified tenth.

At the second attempt, Fisichella led through the first corner, followed by Trulli. David Coulthard, in Red Bull's debut race, passed Webber for third. According to Autosport, Fisichella was 2.1 seconds clear of Trulli after ten laps. The Toyota soon dropped back, however, as its rear tyres blistered, and under the new rules Trulli was not allowed to change them. Jacques Villeneuve made a poor start in his Sauber and lost several places on the opening lap.

Fisichella gave up the lead only twice, both times because he was in the pits to refuel. Barrichello led briefly on lap 24, Alonso on laps 43 and 44. Fisichella then took over at the front again and stayed there until the end. He was never seriously under pressure all race. At the finish, he was around five and a half seconds ahead of Barrichello.

The places behind Fisichella were settled during refuelling. Barrichello battled a wayward brake balance for almost the entire race, with the rear wheels locking up. In the second round of stops, however, he got ahead of Coulthard and Webber and was second from then on. Alonso had previously spent a long time stuck behind Villeneuve. He eventually got past, set the fastest lap of the race and, through the final stops, also moved ahead of Coulthard and Webber, up to third.

The rest of the field ran a variety of strategies. Massa made do with just one stop and climbed from 18th to tenth. Schumacher had started on a heavy fuel load. Because of the smaller tank in the F2004M, he still had to pit twice. Ralf Schumacher lost a lot of time in the Toyota because he had to come in twice in quick succession: his seat belt had come loose.

• Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) and Nick Heidfeld (Williams), after lap 42, accident: According to Grandprix.com, the crash happened on lap 43. Schumacher was just rejoining the track after his second stop when Nick Heidfeld tried to pass him at Turn 3. Heidfeld was forced onto the grass and slid into the Ferrari, with both cars ending up in the gravel. Heidfeld was out on the spot. Schumacher made it back to the pits with damage from the collision and retired there. Heidfeld later maintained that his move had been the right one. No penalty for either driver is on record.
• Christijan Albers (Minardi), after lap 16, gearbox: According to Autosport, he had lost first and second gear.

There was one more peculiarity that makes the classification look not entirely clean. Jenson Button and Sato each peeled into the pits on their final lap. BAR were exploiting a loophole: anyone who failed to finish a race could fit a new engine for the next one without penalty. The loophole was closed before the next Grand Prix. Button was classified eleventh and Sato fourteenth.

Winners:

• Alonso gained ten places from 13th, more than anyone else in the field.
• Barrichello moved up nine places from eleventh on the grid.
• Massa gained eight places with his one-stop strategy.
• Red Bull scored seven points on debut. Coulthard finished fourth, Christian Klien seventh.
• Webber finished fifth in his first race for Williams, equalling his best result to date.
• Juan Pablo Montoya scored points straight away in his first race for McLaren, finishing sixth.
• Räikkönen had started from the pit lane and still secured a point in eighth.

Losers:

• Trulli started from the front row, lost seven places because of his blistered tyres and finished only ninth.
• Villeneuve dropped from fourth on the grid to 13th on his Sauber debut, a lap down.
• Williams lost Heidfeld in the collision, and with him potential points.
• Ferrari could not be satisfied despite Barrichello's second place, as Schumacher failed to finish.

Narain Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro for Jordan, as well as Patrick Friesacher for Minardi, also saw the chequered flag, all of them several laps down.

After the first race of the season, Fisichella led the 2005 drivers' championship with 10 points. Behind him were Barrichello on 8, Alonso on 6, Coulthard on 5 and Webber on 4 points. In the constructors' standings, Renault already had a lead with 16 points over Ferrari (8) and Red Bull (7). Williams and McLaren had 4 points each.

For Fisichella, it was the second Grand Prix win of his career, following his victory with Jordan in Brazil in 2003. This time he won in dominant fashion, and the Renault R25 made the strongest impression in Melbourne. Ferrari had almost always been at the front in the preceding years and were still racing the interim car here. After this opener, it looked as though the balance of power in Formula 1 could shift. On top of that came Red Bull's successful debut as Jaguar's successor. Next up was the Malaysian GP.