In a race characterised by mishap and misadventure, Eddie Irvine survived Melbourne's war of attrition to claim his first grand prix win at the 82nd attempt yesterday, closely followed by the Jordan of Heinz Harald Frentzen.
As, one by one, competitors dropped away through accident and mechanical failure, Irvine serenely piloted his Ferrari F399 through the debris to eventually stand on the top step of the podium drenched in champagne and punching the air with delight. It was the first time an Irishman had won a Formula One grand prix since 1983, when fellow Ulster-man John Watson won the US Grand Prix West in Long Beach, California.
Irvine led yesterday's Australian Grand Prix from the end of lap 17, when the safety car was called out after Canadian Jacques Villeneuve ploughed his BAR-Supertec into the sidings.
As the race resumed, Mika Hakkinen, leading in the sole McLaren after team-mate David Coulthard had quit the race two laps earlier, failed to get the power back on and Irvine gunned the Ferrari into the lead, followed closely by Frentzen's Jordan and Ralf Schumacher in the Williams.
From then on Irvine was always in command, despite a second appearance of the safety car after Alessandro Zanardi's Williams went off and the late hindrance of being held up by the flagging BAR of Formula One debutante Ricardo Zonta.
It was a day of mixed fortunes for Jordan, with Frentzen earning the team six points with a comfortable second place but team-mate Damon Hill's race ended on the first lap. Former Jordan driver Ralf Schumacher, who went to Williams when Frentzen went to Jordan in a direct swap at the end of last season, took the remaining place on the podium.
"I'm very disappointed," said Hill, who had also crashed the Jordan in the morning warm-up. "I made a brilliant start and was banged out of the way by someone who out-braked. I was turning in for the second corner and someone stuck their nose in - there was no way we were both going to get around." Hill was not the first to retire and the casualty rate began to mount even before the real competition started. As the pre-race formation lap was counted down smoke began to billow from the rear of the Stewarts of Rubens Barrichello and Johnny Herbert.
Both cars were removed, the replacement T-car was readied for Barrichello as Herbert sat grim-faced in the garage - a 10-minute wait was ordered before a second formation lap could begin. As the lights winked off to start that lap, Michael Schumacher's Ferrari remained glued to its third-place spot on the grid. It was a scenario eerily reminiscent of his disastrous start to the final race of last season when he stalled on the starting grid in Suzuka after a similar delay.
As the German cruised around to the back of the grid and the race started proper, the sense of deja vu heightened as the twin McLarens of Hakkinen and Coulthard raced into the lead. By the 11th lap Hakkinen had pulled out a 18-second lead over Irvine in third and a repeat of last year's McLaren one-two looked on. But then came the incidents that swung the race in the Ulster-man's favour. At the end of lap 15, David Coulthard swung his McLaren into the pit lane and then straight into the garage and, almost simultaneously, Jacques Villeneuve ploughed his BAR-Supertec into a wall.
One McLaren down with hydraulic problems and the safety car came out on the circuit as debris from Villeneuve's car littered the track.
Under the safety car, Irvine drew right up to Hakkinen and when the race resumed Hakkinen's problems began. The Ferrari driver was able to blast into the lead. Hakkinen, reduced to the tail end of the field, eventually pulled his fatally stricken car into the pits five laps later, his race over thanks to a throttle failure.
It was a cruel end to a weekend in which McLaren's dominance, in practice and qualifying, had been absolute. In the lead for the first time, Irvine pushed to draw out a lead on Frentzen only for it to be eradicated when Zanardi crashed out after 20 laps, necessitating a second intervention of the safety car.
Once the safety vehicle left the track for the second time Irvine was rarely troubled as Frentzen's challenge faded, the only hindrance came as he reeled off his final laps and encountered back markers. Confronted by the flagging Zonta, Irvine attempted to get past only for the 22-year-old Brazilian to repeatedly close the door.
As the BAR's gearbox failed, oil began to spew back towards the Ferrari and as smoke began to pour from the back of Zonta's car Irvine was eventually able to pass. "It was worrying me that Zonta was going to blow up," Irvine admitted. "I don't know whether he didn't see me, or he didn't know what he was doing, or if the team was telling him to keep going." But it was Irvine who kept going, taking the chequered flag to record his first victory since a F3000 win at Suzuka in 1993. The win marks his 15th podium place, all of which have come with Ferrari save for a third-place finish with Jordan in Canada in 1995 when his then team-mate Rubens Barrichello finished second.
Yesterday, the Brazilian Stewart driver turned in a magnificent performance after the oil fire that ruined his start. Beginning from the pit lane in the T-car, Barrichello produced a sensational drive to finish fifth.
Irvine's victory was in stark contrast to the fortunes of his team-mate. After his formation lap stall, Michael Schumacher began to claw his way back into contention, much as he had done at Suzuka last year.
But, after clawing his way up to fourth behind brother Ralf, the former world champion's Suzuka nightmare came back to haunt him as the rear right tyre of his Ferrari suddenly shredded midway through lap 29, flailing rubber ripping off pieces of the bodywork and forcing him into a 20-second pit stop. He never recovered and finished eighth.
For Irvine the victory must have been doubly sweet. The years of hard work had been for the benefit of his favoured team-mate, but for once the understudy outplayed the star of the show.
In Melbourne - 1 E Irvine (N Ire) Ferrari, 1 hr 35 mins 01.659 secs (average speed 190.852 kph): 2 H-H Frentzen (Ger) Jordan 1.026 secs behind; 3 R Schumacher (Ger) Williams 7.012; 4 G Fisichella (Ita) Benetton 33.418; 5 R Barrichello (Bra) Stewart 54.697; 6 P de la Rosa (Spa) Arrows 1:24.316; 7 T Takagi (Jap) Arrows 1:26.288; 8 M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1 lap. Did not finish (not classfied): 9 R Zonta (Bra) BAR 48 laps completed; 10 L Badoer (Ita) Minardi 42 laps; 11 A Wurz (Aut) Benetton 28 laps; 12 P Diniz (Bra) Sauber 27 laps; 13 M Gene (Spa) Minardi 25 laps; 14 J Trulli (Ita) Prost 25 laps; 15 O Panis (Fra) Prost 23 laps; 16 M Hakkinen (Fin) McLaren 21 laps; 17 A Zanardi (Ita) Williams 20 laps; 18 D Coulthard (Brit) McLaren 13 laps; 19 J Villeneuve (Can) BAR 13 laps; 20 D Hill (Brit) Jordan 0 laps. Did not start (failed to complete opening lap): 21 J Alesi (Fra) Sauber; 22 J Herbert (Brit) Stewart. Fastest lap: M Schumacher 1:32.112 seconds (average speed 207.256 kph). World drivers' championship: 1 E Irvine (N Ire) Ferrari 10 pts; 2 H-H Frentzen (Ger) Jordan 6 pts; 3 R Schumacher (Ger) Williams 4 pts; 4 G Fisichella (Ita) Benetton 3 pts; 5 R Barrichello (Bra) Stewart 2 pts; 6 P de la Rosa (Spa) Arrows 1 pt. World constructors' championship: 1 Ferrari 10 pts; 2 Jordan 6 pts; 3 Williams 4 pts; 4 Benetton 3 pts; 5 Stewart 2 pts; 6 Arrows 1 pt.
