Australian Grand Prix

Position:

Driver:

Team:

Time:

1.

M Hakkinen

Mclaren

1:30.010

2.

D Coulthard

Mclaren

1:30.053

3.

M Schumacher

Ferrari

1:30.767

4.

J Villeneuve

Williams

1:30.919

5.

J Herbert

Sauber

1:31.384

HH Frentzen

Williams

1:31.397

7.

G Fisichella

Jordan

1:31.733

8.

E Irvine

Ferrari

1:31.767

9.

R Schumacher

Jordan

1:32.392

10.

D Hill

Jordan

1:32.399

11.

A Wurz

Benetton

1:32.726

12.

J Alesi

Sauber

1:33.240

13.

T Takagi

Tyrrell

1:33.291

14.

R Barrichello

Stewart

1:33.383

15.

J Trulli

Prost

1:33.739

16.

M Salo

Arrows

1:33.927

17.

E Tuero

Minardi

1:34.846

18.

J Magnussen

Stewart

1:34.906

19.

R Rosset

Tyrrell

1:35.119

20.

P Diniz

Arrows

1:35.140

21.

O Panis *

Prost

1:35.215

22.

S Nakano

Minardi

1:35.301

Qualifying

Michael Schumacher had a fairly successful qualifying session and managed to place his Ferrari on the second row of the grid. However his Ferrari was 7 hundredths of a second behind the Mclaren of Mika Hakkinen as the Mclarens set the early pace. With rumours that Ferrari had a secret weapon for the race many made Schumacher the race favourite.

Irvine however did not fare as well and had to battle hard to get his Ferrari into eighth place and was a whole second of Schumachers time.

The qualifying was shrouded with contraversy. First of all there was a number of teams querying Mclarens braking system with many believing it to be a form of traction control and then Mclarens claims of industrial sabotage. Scumacher once again clashed with Hill after Damon slowed him down on a quick lap (subsequently Hill was fined $1000) and Panis was given a penalty for breech of rules.

Position:

Driver:

Team:

Time:/Cause:

1.

M Hakkinen

Mclaren

1h:31mins:45secs

2.

D Coulthard

Mclaren

1h:31mins:46secs

3.

H H Frentzen

Williams

+ 1 Lap

4.

E Irvine

Ferrari

+ 1 Lap

5.

J Villeneuve

Williams

+ 1 Lap

6.

J Herbert

Sauber

+ 1 Lap

7.

A Wurz

Benetton

+ 1 Lap

8.

D Hill

Jordan

+ 1 Lap

9.

O Panis

Prost

+ 1 Lap

DNF

G Fisichella

Benetton

Accident

DNF

J Alesi

Sauber

Blown Engine

DNF

M Salo

Arrows

Mechanical Fault

DNF

J Trulli

Prost

Clutch Fault

DNF

R Rosset

Tyrrell

N/A

DNF

E Tuero

Minardi

Blown Engine

DNF

S Nakano

Minardi

N/A

DNF

T Takagi

Tyrrell

Accident

DNF

J Magnussen

Stewart

Accident

DNF

R Schumacher

Jordan

Accident

DNF

M Schumacher

Ferrari

Blown Engine

DNF

P Diniz

Arrows

N/A

DNF

R Barrichello

Stewart

Electrical Problem

The Race

Mclaren took an easy win and in the process they managed to lap everyone in the field.The race turned out to be a race of attrition with only 9 cars finishing the race.

Ferrari turned out not to have a secret weapon up there sleeve with both cars struggling. Schumacher was losing around 1 second a lap before the Ferrari's engine blew on lap 5.
Irvine and Frentzen had a good scrap thought out the race and Irvine was able to take his Ferrari into 4th place.

Hakkinen led from the start and held this lead until he unexpectedly came in for a second pit stop. The pit stop was so unexpected that the pit crew weren't even out of there garage. Coulthard now seemed to be running away with the race but a 'Gentleman's agreement' between the two saw Coulthard let Hakkinen by with only three laps remaining.

After the race Coulthard said " We knew we had the fastest car and agreed that who ever reached the first corner first would win the race......... As long as the car is as fast in Brazil the same agreement will apply. Mika owes me one."

The FIA subsequently banned all Team Orders except for championship winning positions.