Australian GP 2005: Physique against everyone

The 2005 season opened in the best possible way for Italian Formula 1. And no, it wasn't a double for Ferrari, or a victory for it. No, the Australian Grand Prix was won by a Renault, but Giancarlo Fisichella was driving.

The start of the season was set for Sunday 6 March, quite early compared to the dates of recent years. We note curiously that on that occasion Red Bull Racing made its debut in Formula 1, as the heir to Jaguar: David Coulthard and Christian Klien brought it to its debut.

Qualifying in 2005 took place differently from now: there were two sessions, in which each driver only had one fastest lap. At the end of the two sessions the two times were added and the best time obtained the pole position. It happened on Saturday that while the first session was taking place, rain arrived on the track, so the drivers who had not yet left the pits for their flying lap (the exit order was based on the finishing order of the 2004 Brazilian GP ) experienced heavy delays in the best of cases: some gave up on the tour, others crashed due to water planning. In this session, Fisichella was lucky enough to enter the track just before the rain hit the track, so as to obtain the best time. In the Sunday session, however, the fastest was Mark Webber, but the Renault driver from Rome maintained his lead and took pole.

The starting line-up was as follows: Fisichella, Trulli, Webber, Villeneuve, Coulthard, Klien. With McLaren, Ferrari and Bar relegated from eighth place onwards, with Alonso even thirteenth and Schumacher eighteenth.

On Sunday the weather conditions were decidedly better, and the race was held in the dry. The yellow flags were immediately waved at the start, due to Kimi Raikkonen, who had inadvertently turned off his car on the grid. We therefore had to proceed with the reconnaissance lap again, reducing the overall distance of the race by one lap. When the traffic lights went out Fisichella and Trulli maintained their position, while Webber, having started badly, was overtaken by David Coulthard, who instead made an extraordinary start and found himself in third place. Fisichella remained in the lead until the first stop, when he was passed by Barrichello and Alonso, in a great comeback, but returned to the lead a few laps later, when these two also stopped for their stop. There weren't many emotions during the race, except for the comeback of Alonso and Barrichello, but on lap 47 Schumacher came out of the pits and came back in front of Heidfeld's Williams, and at turn 5 he attempted to overtake the German, but was slightly squeezed on the right and ended up on the grass, cutting a portion of the lawn and falling back onto the track onto the German, causing both to retire.

The race ends with the extraordinary victory of Giancarlo Fisichella, with a weekend of 10 and praise. Barrichello and Alonso arrived second and third respectively, starting in mid-table and authors of a splendid comeback. Coulthard came fourth, with the new Red Bull, the revelation of the first race. Trulli however sank to ninth position after starting from the front row, and it was a truly disappointing weekend for him.

Giancarlo Fisichella won a great victory on March 6th, deserved from the beginning to the end of the weekend. We hope to soon see an Italian talent like Giancarlo on the top step of the podium. But in the meantime... let's enjoy the start of another exciting season!

Matteo Bramati.