07.03.2004 BEST POSSIBLE START FOR FERRARI IN AUSTRALIA AS THEY DOMINATE THE RACE AND FINISH 1-2

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro left Melbourne with maximum points after Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello finished first and second in the opening round of the 2004 season.

It was the 62nd one-two finish in the Scuderia’s history, the sixteenth for the pairing of Michael and Rubens and the team’s 168th victory from 687 races. The reigning world champion now has 71 wins to his name, 52 of them courtesy of Ferrari.

At the first race since launch control was banned, both Ferrari men made clean starts, Barrichello almost edging past Schumacher at the first turn, before trying again at Turn 3. Behind them, Alonso in the Renault had shot from fifth to third, as Montoya in the BMW-Williams went onto the grass at Turn 1.

Up until the second run of pit stops, Rubens was pushing Michael hard, as both men pulled away from the pack. However, the Brazilian had a slight problem with his brakes and from then on and with a refuelled and therefore heavier car, chose not to take any undue risks. Once it was clear that Alonso could not match the pace of the F2004, both Ferrari drivers eased off to look after the cars to the end of the 58 lap race.

Like almost all the front runners, the Scuderia put both its drivers on a three stop strategy, with Barrichello the first of the pair to pit on each occasion: Rubens made his pit stops on laps 11, 29 and 44, while Michael came in on laps 12, 30 and 45. So clear was their advantage around the Albert Park circuit that neither man dropped position during any of the refuelling stops.

Schumacher set a new lap record of 1’24”125 on lap 29 and by the end of the race only four other drivers were on the same lap as the Ferrari pair. The two men shared the podium with Alonso. While Jenson Button in the BAR-Honda was fourth for much of the race, he was eventually overhauled by the Williams-BMW duo of Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya, fourth and fifth respectively. The remaining championship points went to the Renault of Jarno Trulli in seventh and the McLaren-Mercedes of David Coulthard, eighth.