After a slightly wet start to race day here in Melbourne, the weather conditions brightened for the start of the season opening race. The drivers took to the grid for their warm-up lap and although the sky remained overcast, the rain stayed away as the cars waited in anticipation for the lights to go off and signal the start of the Australian Grand Prix! Jenson Button has a last minute problem with his B200 and is forced to change to the spare, however he is now under investigation due to the incident.

Michael Schumacher takes off from his first ever pole position down under and it's a magnificent start from the German! He takes to the lead as teammate Rubens Barrichello has a poor start and drops back to fifth place, Mika Hakkinen takes second, followed by Heinz- Harald Frentzen in the Jordan. David Coulthard attempts to pass Frentzen and they touch slightly while Juan Montoya takes a slight detour. Kimi Raikkonen is flying through the field as Eddie Irvine takes to the gravel.

Rubens Barrichello is charging back up through the field attempting to regain his second place, he attempts to pass Heinz-Harald Frentzen and the two touch with the Jordan taking to the grass, he recovers however he loses his third place and rejoins in 16th.

Enrique Bernoldi hits the wall and it's an early retirement for the Brazilian from his debut race, however there is a massive coming together between Ralf Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve where the BAR becomes airborne and slams into the wall! A terrifying moment for all concerned but the 1997 champion is okay, however both drivers are out of the race.

"Yes I am okay," Villeneuve said after the event. "Ralf was in the middle of the track and I didn't know if he would let me overtake him on the left or the right and he braked late."
"I just saw Jacques coming up behind me and then him crashing," added Ralf Schumacher.

The safety car is on track while they clean up the debris and we have lost five drivers, Ralf Schumacher, Jacques Villeneuve, Gaston Mazzacane, Tarso Marques and Enrique Bernoldi. The safety car continues to circulate as the ambulance attends to an injured photographer near the scene of Villeneuve's accident. Lap 16 and the safety car has pulled off the circuit and the race is back on. However while it was still under yellow, Jos Verstappen took advantage of the situation and comes in for a pit stop.

Jenson Button is given a ten second stop and go penalty, presumably from his earlier infringement. Heinz-Harald Frentzen is clawing his way back up the grid, passing Jean Alesi's Prost on the inside as Michael Schumacher sets the fastest lap of the race. Eddie Irvine works his way through the field from dead last to 14th. Lap 20 and Michael Schumacher has a 1.9 second lead over his Finnish rival, Mika Hakkinen increasing it with every lap. Frentzen passes Giancarlo Fisichella, moving up into 9th.

Mika Hakkinen goes through the corner backwards and straight into the tyre barrier after his rear suspension failed and retires from the Australian Grand Prix! It was reported that the Finn had some marks on his helmet and he was slightly concussed. Ferrari are now running first and second again with David Coulthard in third. Kimi Raikkonen is up into eighth place, a fantastic run so far for the Sauber rookie! Michael Schumacher has some sort of a problem, waving his hand in the air, however it was only momentarily as he soon gets back up to speed after slowing down somewhat, allowing Rubens Barrichello to close the gap between them slightly.

Olivier Panis moves ahead of Jarno Trulli as dark clouds loom above the racetrack. Nick Heidfeld also passes Trulli, as does Montoya, knocking the Jordan driver back to seventh place, and he appears to have some sort of a problem David Coulthard is gaining on Rubens Barrichello and the Scot edges closer and closer, finally taking second place from the Brazilian however he is still 15 seconds behind Schumacher. The German comes in for his first and only pit stop, 10.7 seconds with several other drivers following suit.

David Coulthard comes in for his pit stop, giving the lead back to Schumacher as Juan Montoya retires from third place after his BMW engine blows up. David begins to eat into Michael's 10-second lead bringing it down slowly. Meanwhile, Kimi Raikkonen is up into seventh place, two spots behind his teammate, Nick Heidfeld, a brilliant debut for the Finn. Jarno Trulli has also retired from the race, his teammate, Heinz-Harald Frentzen now in sixth place.

Frentzen is trying hard to pass Nick Heidfeld's Sauber, closing in more and more, lap after lap. Meanwhile further down the field, Minardi driver, Fernando Alonso is still running, he is down in twelfth behind Jean Alesi's Prost and ahead of both Benettons, who are the last two runners. The laps tick down and it appears as if the top positions are set to remain as they are, Ferrari's reliability proved to be strong throughout the race, the one concern Michael may have had, as he knew the speed was ever present. Jenson Button retires his Benetton two laps from the end.

The chequered flag falls and it's Michael Schumacher who takes it for the second year in a row and five successive wins in a row! Victory for Ferrari down under!

The top three from today's season opener were Michael Schumacher, David Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello.