A lot of teams and drivers were predicting good fortune for themselves ahead of the Oz GP. Ross Brawn shrugged off any negative effects of the bendy wing saga and indeed suggested that the flexing had all been an error and that the new, firmer wings would improve performance.....! In the McLaren camp Ron Dennis was being more smug than usual, suggesting a strong race performance from his two drivers was on the cards, whilst of course local hero Mark Webber was being touted as a possible winner given Williams' recent quick lap times.

Qualifying brought the usual exciting spectacle, with the frantic activity of the various knock-out sessions and the threatening weather. When Yudi Ide spun his Arrows Honda three times in the first session we got the clear idea that there was little grip on the track and that the unwary would be spat off at regular intervals. Ferrari were troubled more than most, having not chosen the colder weather tyres the other Bridgestone runners had. Unfortunately, Felipe Massa, who never looked likely to stay on the road as he reverted to his old and untidy driving style crashed out in the second session, his car was a mess with a rear wheel off.

Michael Schumacher fared only a little better. His gripless car was hovering just outside of the top ten mark when a sudden rain shower put paid to his chances of moving through to the final qualifying session. He remained in 11th place, which became tenth when Villeneuve took a ten place penalty for an engine change. Button drove ever-so smoothly and cleanly to take a last minute pole from the two Renaults and the two McLarens. Interesting that both Toyotas qualified in the top ten, not quite sure where that came from, but maybe it was just the quirky nature of this track. Rubens Barrichello had another torrid time with his Honda, just couldn't get to grips with it at all and ended up 16th on the grid, nearly five seconds behind his team-mate. If he doesn't pick things up quickly he could end up an Indycar driver next season.

The lack of grip was the dominant influence affecting the outcome of the race. Low temperatures and cold tyres precipitated a lot of accidents and brought the Safety Car out on no less than four occasions, which exacerbated an already difficult situation and proved critical to the outcome of the race.

The hapless Montoya spun his McLaren on the warm-up lap whilst warming his tyres. Fisi stalled, thus preventing one of the fast-starting Renaults from threatening Button. Button managed to keep Alonso behind at the start and resisted massive pressure for the remainder of the opening lap until the Safety Car was deployed for the first time. Massa was in the wall again after an incident involving Klien and Rosberg, and another between Coulthard and Trulli. Another 248 F1 was reduced to rubble and we were denied seeing what Nico would have done. His team mate Webber was running a solid fifth and was actually leading in the first pit stop window until there was a transmission-related non-ongoing forward motion situation which was leveraged into a parking-it solution [the gearbox broke and it stopped - Ed.].

At the re-start Jenson nailed it, got into a wiggle, had to lift off and Alonso was up the inside and through and that was that. The Spaniard showed his imperious command of every situation throughout the race, though he was aided by having the MFIs bumbling along between him and the rest of the pack in the last two Safety Car periods. A couple of laps from the end he was able to report on Radio Regie that he was "very relaxed".

Button gradually fell back throughout the field. He defended vigorously when he was able but his Honda was simply useless when the tyre temperature fell either behind the Safety Car or after a pit-stop. I'll have to warn my Mum not to boot her Jazz out of Sainsbury's car park. He looked to be coming home fifth when his engine grenaded within sight of the flag, the team choosing to stop him so he can take a fresh engine in San Marino without penalty. Tyre temperature problems seem to give Jenson a valid excuse but why is there always an excuse? Regular readers will know I'm not a Button fan, he seems to lack that certain something which the true greats have - they seem to take advantage of uncertainty as Alonso did yet again in Australia.

Raikkonen came home a solid second. Him and his team mate had the most "robust" of opening laps. He barged his way past Button after the second Safety Car session and the way he kept it on the track simply defied belief. He was generally secure in second for most of the race though was troubled when a front wing end plate fell off as a result of tyre vibration caused by a flat-spotted tyre. The nose was changed in his final pit stop, it took longer than anticipated and held up his team-mate. Pablo regained full "hapless" status. His opening lap stunt was the start and the end came about by his understeering over the kerb where the subsequent rattling upset the McLaren so much it shut itself off. In between he drove like a lunatic. After the race he proceeded to slag his team mate and team off, so another happy season is in progress down Woking way.

Ralf Schumacher recovered from a drive-through penalty to secure the final podium spot. Toyota later celebrated by suspending their jet-commuting Technical Director Mike Gascoyne due to "a fundamental difference of opinion". Strange are the ways of F1, wonder where he'll resurface? Prodrive .......?

Heidfeld raced hard and well for BMW-Sauber to finish fourth ahead of Fisichella who received a very public rollocking from his engineer and Flav on Radio Regie for not going fast enough - I'm really tempted to sample those transmissions. Pat Symonds later said he'd actually done a good job as the car was beset by all sorts of problems. Rubens was lucky enough to scrape home in the points after another poor performance, for many laps he ran behind Sato and could seemingly do nothing about the re-fletched Arrows.

Coulthud scored the final point for Dead Bull after their 'B' team man Scott Speed was penalised 25 seconds for ignoring the yellow flags when getting past him as DC slowed to avoid Vitantonio Liuzzi's spinning TR. Liuzzi's car was another to end up in the wall, but not after he'd caused consternation by passing Schuey!! The Tori Rossi were going well all weekend, both threatening to score points which caused a massive outbreak of whingeing from MFI and Super Aguri calling for their V-10s to be banned. Maybe the former should concentrate on fitting kitchens and the latter should keep their heads down, keep plugging away and stay humble before they lose the race fans' affection which they've so far accrued..

In gracious contrast Schuey said that he did not think the TR's Cossie V10 gave them an unfair advantage, he said the 248 F1 was just too slow. His was a totally frustrating race as he struggled with his gripless Ferrari frequently locking wheels, running wide and taking to the grass in totally uncharacteristic fashion until, on lap 32 he understeered wide, clipped a kerb and planted it in the wall. We have the consolation that Jean Todt admitted that they'd cocked up on the tyre choice, Schuey never gave up, despite having no grip for much of the race and his 248 was the third quickest chassis in the race once its Bridgestones were up to their correct operating temperature, although still a second adrift of the Renault and McLaren. As he said "It's clear we have a lot of work to do".

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The cold weather caught everyone out

Those PHR boys get everywhere!

Massa trashes his second Fazza of the weekend

The pace car was the start of Button's problems...

...it caused this...

...and this to happen

Rubens struggled to get past Sato's Arrows

The perfect end to a perfect day for Button

Heidfeld did well for Team Bimmer

The Tori Rossi embarrassed lots of people, including Coulthud

Lack of grip really caused Schuey to struggle

The lads look suitably glum...

...wheareas these two look positively perplexed

Alonso deserved his fizz

Click for FIA lap chart

pics by Ferrari Media, FIA, Reuters, XPB, LAT & Sutton