2000 Australian Grand Prix

The 2000 Australian Grand Prix (officially known as the 2000 Qantas Australian Grand Prix ) [ 5 ] was a Formula One motor race held on 12 March 2000 at the Albert Park Circuit in Albert Park , Melbourne , Victoria, Australia before a crowd of 124,300. It was the first race of seventeen in the 2000 Formula One World Championship . [ 6 ] The 58-lap race was won by Michael Schumacher for the Ferrari team after starting from third position. Schumacher's new teammate for the 2000 season, Rubens Barri...

Mika Häkkinen started on pole position in a McLaren , with teammate David Coulthard alongside him, but both retired with pneumatic valve failures. [ 8 ] Three drivers made their Grand Prix debut: future world champion Jenson Button in a BMW-Williams, Nick Heidfeld in a Prost and Gastón Mazzacane in a Minardi . Mazzacane and Button retired from their debut race, and Heidfeld finished ninth, two laps behind. [ 7 ] [ 9 ] This race also marked the debut of team Jaguar Racing , who were previously kn...

Out of the 11 teams and 22 drivers on the starting grid, three drivers made their debut. Nick Heidfeld joined the Prost team alongside Jean Alesi . [ 15 ] The two replaced Prost's 1999 season line-up of Olivier Panis , who moved to McLaren as test driver and Jarno Trulli , who moved to Jordan alongside Heinz-Harald Frentzen following Damon Hill 's retirement. [ 16 ] [ 17 ] At the Minardi team, Gastón Mazzacane replaced Luca Badoer , who opted to continue as Ferrari test driver, a role he began i...

Jaguar driver Johnny Herbert was the first person to retire, retiring with clutch problems on lap 2. By lap 4, the two McLarens of Häkkinen and Coulthard, along with Schumacher, were already pulling away from Frentzen's Jordan, who was five seconds behind Schumacher. On lap 7, the front suspension on the Arrows car of Pedro de la Rosa failed, sending him into a tyre barrier. Herbert's teammate, Irvine spun trying to avoid the Arrows car. Irvine could not get the Jaguar going again as it suffered...

When the green flag was given at the end of lap 10, Coulthard slowed dramatically and came in for a pit stop with engine problems. Coulthard returned to the track, but the problem continued and forced his retirement on lap 11. Schumacher was now promoted to second, with Frentzen in third place. Barrichello was in fourth place, with Trulli fifth. Behind the top five, BAR driver Jacques Villeneuve was in sixth place, heading a queue of cars down to 12th place Button. [ 33 ] Häkkinen retired on lap...

Trulli retired his Jordan car on lap 36 with gearbox problems. The retirements and pit stops moved Button up the order, putting the Williams driver in third place before his pit stop on lap 36. [ 33 ] [ 34 ] Frentzen also made a pit stop on lap 36, but the Jordan mechanics experienced problems while refuelling the car, costing Frentzen over ten seconds in the stop. Frentzen rejoined the track in sixth, however retired three laps later with gearbox problems. [ 34 ] [ 35 ] Barrichello took the lea...

The retirements of the McLaren and Jordan team cars elevated Ralf Schumacher , Button's Williams teammate, into third position. Villeneuve was fourth, Giancarlo Fisichella was fifth in the Benetton , with Button sixth. [ 33 ] With 11 laps remaining Button retired from the race with an engine failure. [ 29 ] Ricardo Zonta , in a BAR, was promoted to sixth, but was overtaken by Salo with a few laps remaining. [ 33 ] Schumacher won the race after 58 laps in a time 1:34:01.987, twelve seconds ahead ...

I was driving pretty easily from the beginning, I was saving my tyres, saving my fuel, ready for the final moments when the pit stops came and I had to attack. Unfortunately the two guys in front of me broke down. I would have preferred to race them to the end, to prove how good we really are. [ 35 ]

Note: Only the top 5 positions are shown for both sets of standings.

37°50′59″S 144°58′06″E  /  37.84972°S 144.96833°E  / -37.84972; 144.96833