Ferrari, Briatore, Davidson and ButtonOne of the first men to congratulate
Kimi Raikkonen after he won his first race in a Ferrari was not even in Australia. Team boss Jean Todt handed Raikkonen a mobile phone shortly after he emerged from the car and took off his racing
helmet and mask.
"It was Michael (Schumacher)," Raikkonen confirmed in Australia, "but the line was not very good, so I could not understand."
Renault chief Flavio Briatore admitted on Sunday to missing World Champion
Fernando Alonso who witched to McLaren over the winter. Alonso today finished 7.2 seconds behind winner
Kimi Raikkonen.
The best Renault runner, Alonso's former team-mate
Giancarlo Fisichella, crossed the chequered flag one minute later, leading Briatore to recall 1996 when back to back world champion
Michael Schumacher switched from Benetton to Ferrari.
"In the same way that I missed Michael then, now I miss Fernando," the Italian Team Principal said. To the newspaper Welt, he admitted that the loss of the Spaniard has cost Renault about half a second per lap.
Super Aguri Honda debutant Anthony Davidson has been taken to Melbourne's nearby Alfred hospital for checks after struggling through the Australian Grand Prix. It is understood that the Briton strained his back when his flying Honda-powered car landed following a coming together with Spyker's Adrian Sutil.
Apparently in some pain, Davidson finished the race 16th.
Jenson Button branded Honda's Australian Grand Prix 'all rubbish' after finishing the 2007 season opener a lap down and nearly dead last. The Japanese giant has been shockingly off the pace in Melbourne and Button confirmed that he needs 'every second' of test time prior to Malaysia to prevent another embarrassing display in round two of the new season.
"Hopefully it was all rubbish here and will be all right in Malaysia," said the Briton, who thinks the problem may be a specific aerodynamic one at the front of his car.
He even held up his team-mate
Rubens Barrichello in the early stages at Albert Park and confirmed: "There was massive understeer. I pitted early because the car was so bad."
Button suggested that he thought the front wing was 'not working' or 'stalling' because making changes to the bodywork had little effect.
Source GMM
