Formula 1 History – Last 10 Season Opening Races

We are a week away from the start of the new season. Here is a look back at the last 10 season openers.

- Two of the 10 drivers who finished the race in 1997 will be on the grid in 2007 (Coulthard, Trulli), one will be in Melbourne as a team owner this year (Berger).
- Last 2 years the cars provedto be reliable right at the start of the season with only 3 (2005) and 4 (2006) cars retiring.
- 2002 offered quite an exciting start to the season with 8 cars crashing out right after the start.
- Six time in last ten years the winner of the opening race won the championship (Hakkinen, M. Schumacher, Alonso)

1997 – Melbourne
1) David Coulthard – McLaren-Mercedes
2) Michael Schumacher – Ferrari
3) Mika Hakkinen – McLaren-Mercedes
4) Gerhard Berger – Benetton-Renault
5) Olivier Panis – Prost-Mugen-Honda
6) Nicola Larini – Sauber-Petronas
7) Shinji Nakano Prost – Mugen-Honda
8)Heinz-Harald Frentzen – Williams-Renault
9) Jarno Trulli – Minardi-Hart
10) Pedro Diniz – Arrows-Yamaha

1998 – Melbourne
1) Mika Hakkinen – McLaren-Mercedes
2) David Coulthard – McLaren-Mercedes
3) Heinz-Harald Frentzen – Williams-Mecachrome
4) Eddie Irvine – Ferrari
5) Jacques Villeneuve – Williams-Mecachrome
6) Johnny Herbert – Sauber-Petronas
7) Alexander Wurz – Benetton-Playlife
8)Damon Hill – Jordan-Mugen-Honda
9) Olivier Panis – Prost-Peugeot

1999 – Melbourne
1) Eddie Irvine – Ferrari
2) Heinz-Harald Frentzen – Jordan-Mugen-Honda
3) Ralf Schumacher – Williams-Supertec
4) Giancarlo Fisichella – Benetton-Playlife
5) Rubens Barrichello – Stewart-Ford
6) Pedro de la Rosa – Arrows
7) Toranosuke Takagi – Arrows
8)Michael Schumacher – Ferrari

2000 – Melbourne
1) Michael Schumacher – Ferrari
2) Rubens Barrichello – Ferrari
3) Ralf Schumacher – Williams-BMW
4) Jacques Villeneuve – BAR-Honda
5) Giancarlo Fisichella – Benetton-Playlife
6) Ricardo Zonta – BAR-Honda
7) Alexander Wurz – Benetton-Playlife
8)Marc Gene – Minardi-Fondmetal
9) Nick Heidfeld – Prost-Peugeot

2001 – Melbourne
1) Michael Schumacher – Ferrari
2) David Coulthard – McLaren-Mercedes
3) Rubens Barrichello – Ferrari
4) Nick Heidfeld – Sauber-Petronas
5) Heinz-Harald Frentzen – Jordan-Honda
6) Kimi Räikkönen – Sauber-Petronas
7) Olivier Panis – BAR-Honda
8)Luciano Burti – Jaguar-Cosworth
9) Jean Alesi – Prost-Acer
10) Jos Verstappen – Arrows-Asiatech
11) Eddie Irvine – Jaguar-Cosworth
12) Fernando Alonso – Minardi-European
13) Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Renault

2002 – Melbourne
1) Michael Schumacher – Ferrari
2) Juan Pablo Montoya – Williams-BMW
3) Kimi Räikkönen – McLaren-Mercedes
4) Eddie Irvine – Jaguar-Cosworth
5) Mark Webber – Minardi-Asiatech
6) Mika Salo – Toyota
7) Alex Yoong – Minardi-Asiatech
8)Pedro de la Rosa – Jaguar-Cosworth

2003 – Melbourne
1) David Coulthard – McLaren-Mercedes
2) Juan Pablo Montoya – Williams-BMW
3) Kimi Räikkönen – McLaren-Mercedes
4) Michael Schumacher – Ferrari
5) Jarno Trulli – Renault
6) Heinz-Harald Frentzen – Sauber-Petronas
7) Fernando Alonso – Renault
8)Ralf Schumacher – Williams-BMW
9) Jacques Villeneuve – BAR-Honda
10) Jenson Button – BAR-Honda
11) Jos Verstappen – Minardi-Cosworth

2004 – Melbourne
1) Michael Schumacher – Ferrari
2) Rubens Barrichello – Ferrari
3) Fernando Alonso – Renault
4) Ralf Schumacher – Williams-BMW
5) Juan Pablo Montoya – Williams-BMW
6) Jenson Button – BAR-Honda
7) Jarno Trulli – Renault
8)David Coulthard – McLaren-Mercedes
9) Takuma Sato – BAR-Honda
10) Giancarlo Fisichella – Sauber-Petronas
11) Christian Klien – Jaguar-Cosworth
12) Cristiano da Matta – Toyota
13) Olivier Panis – Toyota
14) Giorgio Pantano – Jordan-Ford

2005 – Melbourne
1) Giancarlo Fisichella – Renault
2) Rubens Barrichello – Ferrari
3) Fernando Alonso – Renault
4) David Coulthard – RBR-Cosworth
5) Mark Webber – Williams-BMW
6) Juan Pablo Montoya – McLaren-Mercedes
7) Christian Klien – RBR-Cosworth
8)Kimi Räikkönen – McLaren-Mercedes
9) Jarno Trulli – Toyota
10) Felipe Massa – Sauber-Petronas
11) Jenson Button – BAR-Honda
12) Ralf Schumacher – Toyota
13) Jacques Villeneuve – Sauber-Petronas
14) Takuma Sato – BAR-Honda
15) Narain Karthikeyan – Jordan-Toyota
16) Tiago Monteiro – Jordan-Toyota
17) Patrick Friesacher – Minardi-Cosworth

2006 – Bahrain
1) Fernando Alonso – Renault
2) Michael Schumacher – Ferrari
3) Kimi Räikkönen – McLaren-Mercedes
4) Jenson Button – Honda
5) Juan Pablo Montoya – McLaren-Mercedes
6) Mark Webber – Williams-Cosworth
7) Nico Rosberg – Williams-Cosworth
8)Christian Klien – RBR-Ferrari
9) Felipe Massa – Ferrari
10) David Coulthard – RBR-Ferrari
11) Vitantonio Liuzzi – STR-Cosworth
12) Nick Heidfeld – Sauber-BMW
13) Scott Speed – STR-Cosworth
14) Ralf Schumacher – Toyota
15) Rubens Barrichello – Honda
16) Jarno Trulli – Toyota
17) Tiago Monteiro – MF1-Toyota
18) Takuma Sato – Super Aguri-Honda