FORMULA 1: So much for the pre-season indicators. So much for the wishful thinking. Welcome back to the reality. Race one and the traditional triple-threat of Ferrari, Bridgestone and Michael Schumacher stood fast against the predicted assaults of Williams, Renault and BAR to take an effortless victory in Melbourne yesterday.
The indicators were there as early as the Friday morning before this opening Grand Prix of the season, Schumacher and team-mate Rubens Barrichello brushing aside impressive times from Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya, BAR's Jenson Button and Renault's wonderkid Fernando Alonso.
And McLaren, many pundits' tip for glory? They were blown into the weeds.
Having locked out the front row, Schumacher and Barrichello rolled away from the start line, held their one-two slots through turn one and waved a dismissive farewell to all left bobbing in their wake.
Barrichello, allegedly freed from his servitude as Schumacher's bulwark, tussled with his former master for a decent period, but eventually was forced onto the defensive by a lengthening brake pedal, which he claimed would have sent him off track if he had pushed as hard as he had in his early laps.
So by the time the 58 laps were clicked off, Schumacher found himself cruising past his pit crew in his customary first position. His team dutifully climbed the barriers to proclaim him hero, but it was a joyless, faintly insulting party. The superiority was too overwhelming. Best to simply offer a handshake and slip into the night to feast in private.
Twenty seconds later Barrichello slipped past to seal another one-two and the podium was completed a half minute afterwards by Alonso.
Behind them languished Ralf Schumacher, Montoya, Button, Jarno Trulli and David Coulthard. Half of them had been lapped by the world champion. McLaren had collapsed utterly, Coulthard taking just a point, Kimi Raikkonen departing as early as lap nine with a blown engine, a major concern in a season in which a single engine must be hardy enough to withstand an entire weekend.
But is this the shape of things to come? Another year of utter domination by Ferrari? Schumacher, at least, had the good grace to insist not.
"I really don't see it," he said of the possibility of another 2002, the year in which Ferrari dominated to the extent of winning 15 of the 17 races.
And to press his belief he quoted the outcome of this event last year, when despite locking out the front row, Barrichello failed to finished and Schumacher was relegated to fourth after mechanical problems dropped him out to contention.
"If it had been a normal race last year we would have had the same result as we had today," he said of their qualifying dominance that should have led to comprehensive victory. "And you would have been left thinking we would be completely dominant for the season. But it (the season) turned out a bit differently. didn't it.
"It's why I keep saying, wait until Malaysia," he said of a race at which Ferrari have consistently under-performed. "That will be a much truer picture of where we are. If we can be competitive there, then we will be very strong. If not we'll have some work to do."
But despite the caution, Schumacher couldn't disguise a certain amount of glee at the easy of yesterday's victory.
"I knew we would be very competitive, based on how the last test went at Imola, I knew we would be strong," and then the smile broke out, "This strong? I didn't anticipate that."
Despite the crushing nature of yesterday's victory, Schumacher's point is valid. Melbourne's unseasonably low temperatures hampered any Ferrari rival shod with Michelin tyres, which meant all of the serious contenders. Albert Park is traditionally a Bridgestone track as evidenced by Ferrari block-booking the front row for the past four races.
The fiery temperatures of Malaysia and those anticipated for Bahrain will likely alter the power structure. The return to Europe, late next month, will begin the real work of the season, a period in which last season Williams staged a remarkable fightback and in which Renault began the march to being the force they now truly are.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the struggle to be competitive, Jordan had a mixed race yesterday. After qualifying 15th, Nick Heidfeld climbed to 12th in the race, before his car stuck in first gear as he came in for his third stop, causing the German to run into his crew, who fortunately escape uninjured. The gearbox problem caused Heidfeld's retirement however, on lap 46.
"I struggled with tyre graining throughout the race," lamented Heidfeld. "But we definitely have a good basis to improve the package and find the performance level for the next couple of races."
Heidfeld's team-mate, rookie Giorgio Pantano, managed to finish his maiden Grand Prix, bringing his EJ14 home in 14th, last of the surviving runners.
Melbourne Results
58 laps: 1 M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1hr 24mins 15.757secs, 2 R Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 1:24:29.362, 3 F Alonso (Spn) Renault 1:24:50.369, 4 R Schumacher (Ger) Williams BMW 1:25:16.201, 5 JP Montoya (Col) Williams BMW 1:25:24.347, 6 J Button (Brit) BAR Honda 1:25:26.277, 7 J Trulli (Ita) Renault at 1 lap, 8 D Coulthard (Brit) McLaren Mercedes at 1 lap, 9 T Sato (Jpn) BAR Honda at 2 laps, 10 G Fisichella (Ita) Sauber Petronas at 2 laps, 11 C Klein (Aut) Jaguar at 3 laps, 12 C Da Matta (Bra) Toyota at 3 laps, 13 O Panis (Fra) Toyota at 3 laps, 14 G Pantano (Ita) Jordan Cosworth at 4 laps. Did Not Finish: F Massa (Bra) Sauber Petronas 44 laps completed, N Heidfeld (Ger) Jordan Cosworth 43 laps completed, G Bruni (Ita) Minardi Cosworth 43 laps completed, M Webber (Aus) Jaguar 32 laps completed, Z Baumgartner (Hun) Minardi Cosworth 13 laps completed, K Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren Mercedes 9 laps completed. Fastest Lap: M Schumacher, 1min 24.125secs on lap 29.
Drivers' Championship: 1 M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 10pts, 2 R Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 8, 3 F Alonso (Spa) Renault 6, 4 R Schumacher (Ger) Williams BMW 5, 5 J Montoya (Col) Williams BMW 4, 6 J Button (Brit) BAR-Honda 3, 7 J Trulli (Ita) Renault 2, 8 D Coulthard (Brit) McLaren Mercedes 1
Manufacturers' Championship: 1 Ferrari 18pts, 2 Williams BMW 9, 3 Renault 8, 4 BAR Honda 3, 5 McLaren Mercedes 1
