Tragedy overshadows Schumacher victory in Australia

publiziert: Sonntag, 4. Mrz 2001 / 18:11 Uhr

Melbourne - Reigning Formula One champion Michael Schumacher coasted to victory in Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix, but the Ferrari win was overshadowed by the tragic death of an Albert Park track marshal and injuries to at least seven spectators.

The three-time world champion Schumacher notched his fifth straight Grand Prix victory after winning last season's final four races on the way to ending Ferrari's 21-year-old drivers title drought.

But the German driver refrained from celebrations Sunday after learning of the marshal's death before going to the winners' podium with second-placed David Coulthard of McLaren-Mercedes and teammate Rubens Barrichello.

"This is a shock. I don't even want to think about the race," Schumacher said at the post-race press conference. "We have to look and see what we can do."

The tragic accident happened on the fifth lap as the 1997 drivers champion Jacques Villeneuve rammed his BAR-Honda into Ralf Schumacher's braking Williams-BMW, flew over the German's car, somersaulted and smashed into a retaining wall. The Canadian Villeneuve slid along the wall for some 200 metres.

Neither driver was injured, but the marshal, who was standing at the patrolling point at turn three, was struck by a wheel which had gone through a photographer's hole in the fence, eyewitnesses said.

The race was cautioned for 15 laps as the man, a Queenslander in his early 50s, received medical attention on the edge of the track before being taken to local hospital, where he died a short time later.

"Our thoughts are with his family and we have to look at what we can do for the safety of these people who give their time for us to go racing," Coulthard said.

"The six points (for his second-placed finish) are pretty insignificant when there is a loss of life involved," Coulthard added.

Ralf Schumacher echoed his brother's concern: "I'm fine. What's a lot worse is that another marshal was struck."

The marshal's death follows a similar tragedy in Monza last September when official Paolo Ghislimberti was killed during a major crash at the start of the Italian Grand Prix.

Ghislimberti's death was the first fatality at a Formula One circuit since the death of Brazilian world champion Ayrton Senna at Imola in 1994.

The Confederation of Australian Motorsport confirmed later that seven spectators had been treated for minor injuries and discharged from local hospital. Confederation boss Ronald Walker said his body would investigate the accident.

In the season's first race, Schumacher easily broke away from the pack on his fifth straight pole position, and opened a 10-second lead on Mika Hakkinen before the race was cautioned following the fatal accident.

Schumacher retained his lead after the safety car left the track and lost his chief rival on lap 25 when Hakkinen crashed out with front suspension problems leaving Barrichello in second place.

The two-time drivers champion from Finland continued his miserable series in Melbourne, failing to finish for the third straight year. With Hakkinen out, McLaren's hopes were left in the hands of Coulthard, who split the Ferraris when he passed Barrichello on the 34th lap.

Coulthard, who won in Melbourne in 1997, took the lead three laps later when Schumacher left for new tyres but had to give up the lead when he came into the pits with 18 laps remaining.

Coulthard rejoined the race about 10.5 seconds behind Schumacher and was able to cut it to 1.7 seconds at the finish line, but it was not enough to break Schumacher's winning streak.

"It's a positive start to the season. We saw today that we had a stronger car than the McLarens, but the season just started," said Schumacher, who notched his 45th career Grand Prix to move to within six of all-time leader Alain Prost.

Frenchman Oliver Panis was originally placed fourth in his BAR- Honda but a 25-second time penalty pushed him back to seventh place. The decision moved Nick Heidfeld in a Sauber-Petronas and German compatriot Heinz-Harald Frentzen in a Jordan-Honda up to fourth and fifth respectively.

Heidfeld's Sauber team lodged a protest against Panis because he had overtaken the 23-year-old German while a yellow flag was showing. The jury's finding in favour of Heidfeld meant another Sauber driver, Finnish newcomer Kimi Raikkonen, also moved ahead of Panis into sixth place.

In the first battle of tyremakers, Bridgestone clearly got the better of Formula One re-entrants Michelin as eight of the top 10 cars used tyres from the Japanese manufacturers. Jordan's Luciano Burti was the top finisher for the French team in eighth place while Prost's Jean Alesi finished 10th.

The season continues March 18 with the Malaysian Grand Prix.

(kil/dpa)

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