The Australian Grand Prix, the first race of the 2000 season, took place on 12 March. The big guns of qualifying were the McLarens, who monopolised the front row of the grid, relegating Ferrari to the second row. The two F1-2000 cars of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello were separated by just 27 thousandths of a second while the gap to pole man Mika Hakkinen was more than half a second.
Things were different in the race, however. After 20 minutes of action David Coulthard’s car stopped and the white smoke coming out of the back of his MP4/15 left no doubt that the engine had exploded. Ten minutes later it was Hakkinen’s turn for the same fate. For Ferrari it was party time: Schumacher and Barrichello took over with only the Williams of Ralf Schumacher able to keep up.
For Michael it was the dream podium alongside his team-mate and brother but the whole season was a joyous one for the German. He ended up taking his third world championship and his first as a Ferrari driver, ending a drought that had lasted for the team since 1979.
Race highlights
Podium celebration
—- see video above —
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