By Nick Sparkes
April 2 2006

Fernando Alonso took a pretty convincing victory in todays Australian Grand Prix, passing pole sitter Jenson Button after the first Safety Car period. Behind, chaos loomed, with many of the front runners ending up in the wall. But there was joy for Toyota, as the team collected an unexpected podium. Before the race had even started, Juan Pablo Montoya spun his McLaren on the warm-up lap, falling to the tail of the grid. Then, Giancarlo Fisichella stalled his Renault, ablating the start, this allowed Montoya to regain his position near the front as the cars completed another warm-up lap. When the race finally got underway, an accident at the first corner eliminated Felipe Massa and Nico Rosberg, and then Toyota’s Jarno Trulli, who after an excellent start damaged his rear suspension after a touch with Red Bull Racing’s David Coulthard, the Toyota driver retired on the spot. The first of four Safety Car periods then took place, with Jenson Button losing the lead after the first, and then moving down a further place when Kimi Raikkonen overtook him after the second. Jenson would struggle to generate enough heat when the tyres needed to be at their maximum throughout the race, falling further back. His disastrous weekend was compounded with a spectacular engine blow up meters from the chequered flag.

Red Bull Racing’s Christian Klien, Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher and Toro Rosso’s Tonio Liuzzi caused the next bulk of Safety Car periods, in what was starting to become a pretty crazy Grand Prix. With Jarno long gone, the job of scoring some decent points was left to Ralf Schumacher, who pretty much reminded in the points throughout the race. A drive thru penalty for speeding in the pit lane didn’t hamper the German’s determination to make up places, and Ralf’s superb judgment after the Safety Car periods allowed the Toyota driver to work his way onto the podium. A late challenge by Juan Pablo Montoya saw the McLaren drive throw his car into the wall, allowing Ralf to coast his way to the teams first podium finish of the year.