Australian GP circuit guide

Round 1, 12 March

Melbourne is now established as the home of the Australian GP following its 1996 debut when it replaced Adelaide.

At that stage Albert Park hosted the race at the end of the season but since 1998 it has been the series opener.

Circuit facts

Lap length: 3.274m (5.269km)

Race length: 58 laps

Total distance: 189.89 miles

While the old Adelaide circuit was a true Monaco-style street circuit, Melbourne's facility is located inside a public park.

The Albert Park leisure complex is also reminiscent of the home of the Canadian GP in Montreal.

Long straights allow the cars to approach top speed but are frequently broken up by slow chicanes.

Form guide

Fond memories: Irvine's first GP win last year

Must do better: Schumacher has never won in Melbourne

Look out for: New cars and colours

Those characteristics lead to the brakes having a hard time, while cars also need plenty of traction to accelerate away.

After Damon Hill's repeat Australian win in the first Melbourne race the venue has provided a new winner every year.

David Coulthard won at the end of 1997 and would have repeated it at the start of 1998 had he not handed the lead on the last lap to team-mate Mika Hakkinen.

The dominant McLaren pair had agreed that whoever was first into the opening corner of the race would take the cheqeuered flag first.

But the collusion created a storm in Formula One with many fans objecting to such an obvious display of collusion.

Roll of honour

1995 (Adelaide): Damon Hill, Williams

1996: Damon Hill, Williams

1997: David Coulthard, McLaren

1998: Mika Hakkinen, McLaren

1999: Eddie Irvine, Ferrari

Last year there was no such controversy as Eddie Irvine set himself up for what would be a surprising year with his first GP win at the 82nd attempt.

Irvine's team-mate Michael Schumacher had been forced to start from the back of the grid after he stalled his Ferrari.

It summed up the season to follow, with Irvine forced to lead Ferrari's effort due to Schumacher's bad luck.

Despite leading the race in the early stages McLaren's Hakkinen and Coulthard were denied a repeat of their 1998 one-two finish by mechanical failures.

1999 result

1. Eddie Irvine, Ferrari

2. Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Jordan

3. Ralf Schumacher, Williams

4. Giancarlo Fisichella, Benetton

5. Rubens Barrichello, Stewart

6. Pedro de la Rosa, Arrows

If there is to be a new Australian winner again in 2000 then it will probably be a German.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen will hope to show the world that Jordan have a car capable of competing with the best from day one of the new season.

But Michael Schumacher is a more likely winner with Ferrari and their German driver is also determined to be at the front from the first lap.