Sunday, March 06, 2005
March 6, 2005 Fisichella Wins Australian GP By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 4:02 p.m. ET MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Giancarlo Fisichella was exuberant, and it was tough to blame him. He gulped and sprayed champagne after winning the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Sunday in a decided change of pace for Formula One -- a winner other than Michael Schumacher. Schumacher, the seven-time world champion who won 13 of 18 races last season, was never in contention and failed to finish in his bid to defend his title. His Ferrari teammate, Rubens Barrichello, was second while Fisichella's Renault teammate, Fernando Alonso, was third. David Coulthard was fourth for Red Bull Racing, formerly Jaguar. This was Fisichella's second Formula One victory. His first came after 100 starts, and he had to wait five days to have it confirmed. So it was with good reason he punched the air as he crossed the line and stood in the cockpit as his crew pushed him toward the postrace ceremony. ``It's my first time to celebrate the victory on the podium,'' the 32-year-old Italian said. ``It's been fantastic, a great experience. I want to do it again.'' The 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix initially was awarded to Kimi Raikkonen when the race was stopped in heavy rain. It took a few days for officials to realize stewards had miscounted, and Fisichella's Jordan was leading when the race was stopped. It took 12 days before he received recognition in Imola, Italy. ``It's completely different now -- it's a great day for me,'' said Fisichella, who led from the pole position and completed 57 laps of the 3.295-mile circuit in 1 hour, 24 minutes, 17.336 seconds, just more than 5.5 seconds ahead of Barrichello. Schumacher, who last season won his fifth drivers' championship in a row and sixth consecutive constructors' title for Ferrari, collided with Williams driver Nick Heidfeld and retired on the 43rd lap. He fell 25 seconds off the pace in the first of two qualifying runs, struggling in driving rain. He started from the back after having a new engine installed in his Ferrari and worked up to seventh before his tangle with Heidfeld. ``There are some positives -- we were competitive, Rubens drove a superb race despite the fact we had last year's car,'' Schumacher said. ``We can be satisfied and regard this weekend as a good sign for the rest of the championship.'' Sunday's result was a reward for driver skill, with Fisichella known as one of the finest stylists behind the wheel, easy on the tires and engine and smooth around the course. That was the intent of a raft of new regulations introduced this year -- a two-day qualifying format, restrictions of one set of tires per race and one engine for two race weekends, and aerodynamic changes to reduce downforce and make handling harder. Fisichella says the downpour Saturday -- just after he finished his first qualifying run and just as Schumacher was starting his -- contributed to his victory. ``After 10 years in Formula One I never showed my talent because I never drove the right car,'' said Fisichella, who joined Renault from Sauber this season. ``This time I have a great car. I don't want to lose the opportunity to show my talent.'' Ferrari is running modified versions of its 2004 scarlet cars for the first three GPs before introducing its 2005 model. Barrichello said his result showed his team has no problems. ``It proves Ferrari has no crisis,'' he said. ``We are here, we are going to fight.'' Notes:@ Alonso had the quickest lap (1 minute, 25.683 seconds), giving Renault confidence for the March 20 Malaysian Grand Prix. ... Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve, in his first drive for Sauber, finished 13th. ... BAR-Honda, second in the 2004 constructors' championship, had a bad weekend with Jenson Button 11th and Takuma Sato 14th. ... Narain Karthikeyan, the first Indian driver in F1, was 15th. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press
