Melbourne Grand Prix Report, written 11.03.96

So, at last the season is underway. After months of preparation the teams headed for the new circuit at Melbourne.

Murray Walker certainly seemed to approve of the new course, which saw a few surprises on Sunday. The first major incident, and the most spectacular one involved Martin Brundle in the freshly painted gold B&H Jordan. On the very first lap, seconds into the race he had a horrific 185mph shunt which saw him overtake David Coulthard in a very literal sense. David Coulthard explained he thought someone touched his back end which caused him to veer left into Martin's path, who was unable to brake in time and smashed into the back of the McLaren, hitting the rear wheels and taking off, the Jordan then flipped over in mid air, overtook David Couthard and slid to a halt upside down in the gravel trap off the corner. Remarkably, Martin Brundle was straight out of the car and off down the pit lane for a quick OK from the doctor before sprinting off to get into the spare car.Who's a lucky boy then, exactly how lucky became apparent when both halves of the smashed Jordan were lifted onto the rescue truck after the race had been stopped. As Martin Brundle dryly remarked later

"I don't think they'll be using that one again."

The restart saw a more orthodox first lap, with Damon Hill managing to hold on to second place behind rookie Jacques Villeneuve, instead of losing 2 places to the Ferrari's of Irvine and Schumacher like he did at the first start. Martin Brundle became the first retirement of the race again, spinning of at the same turn early on, possibly due to cold brakes or a bad case of nerves, and who can blame him. Irvine only held off Schumacher for a few laps before he got past to chase after the disappearing Williams'. This left Irvine and Alesi to battle for 4th place, 2 of the hardest chargers in F1 after the same place. Sure enough, only a few laps later Alesi saw a gap and went for it, only to collide with the back of Eddie's car. This wrecked the Benetton's bodywork and Alesi had to retire, better luck next time Jean as the Benetton was looking quick in his hands. Alesi must be hoping for a few wins this season after breaking his duck last year. The first round of pit stops went without major incident, Shumacher coming in early for the first of what should have been 2 stops, and the Williams duo going on to make only one stop.

Only a few laps later Michael Schumacher had an off, later blaming brake failure, his front right locking up severely before he left the track, damaged his car and had to cruise back to the pit lane and retirement. This left the Williams pair to fight over first and second place. Behind them Eddie Irvine had a lonely race to take 3rd place, equalling his best ever position in his first race for Ferrari. Behind him for most of the race was a 4 car jam consisting of Rubens Barichello, Gerhard Berger, Mika Hakinnen & Mika Salo. Unfortunately Rubens didn't finish the race either which left 4th, 5th and 6th to Berger, Hakinnen and Salo respectively. A good day for the Finns.

An interesting battle then began between Hill and the French Canadian 24 year old. Jacques showed he is a gutsy racer, sliding off the course at one point, regaining control, and blocking Damon's attempt to pass (or was he just holding his line ?). Justice was done however as he developed a minor mechanical fault, about 5 laps from the finish, which forced hom to slow down to avoid blowing his Renault V10. Hill got past and roared home to a second consecutive win in Australia (after Adelaide at the end of last season). He has also now equalled his father's tally of 14 Grand Prix wins, and must surely have many more before him. A very good omen for Damon is that the winner of the first Grand Prix of the season has gone on to win the title for the last 6 years, let's hope this is his year. Villeneuve cruised home 20 seconds clear of Eddie Irvine to leave Frank Williams with 16 points. Overall Jacques Villeneuve gets my vote for drive of the day with Damon Hill and Eddie Irvine coming equal second, both did extremely well. Mr Frustrated award goes to Jean Alesi and Michael Schumacher equally.

The tables as they stand today 11.3.96

See you in 3 weeks time at Interlagos, Look for the Thurday practice, and Saturday qualifying times for the Brazilian Grand Prix at this site as soon as they are available.

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