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=2001 Australian Grand Prix=

Qualifying
World Champion Michael Schumacher started the defence of his title in style, with a dominant pole position, over half a second ahead of anyone else. David Coulthard edged Ralf Schumacher to take second. Rubens Barrichello, Schumacher's teammate looked lacklustre in fourth but was still ahead of debutant Juan Pablo Montoya and Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Mika Häkkinen, whose engine blew up on his first run and got blocked by traffic on his last two runs still managed to set a time on his second run which was enough to beat Jarno Trulli in the battle for seventh.

Race
From pole position, Michael Schumacher was unchallenged into the first corner but there was action behind, with Mika Häkkinen charging up and Ralf Schumacher pushing David Coulthard wide to take second. Rubens Barrichello dropped backwards, losing three places while Häkkinen made a superb pass on the outside of Juan Pablo Montoya into Turn 6. Schumacher was leading from Ralf, Coulthard, Häkkinen, Montoya, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Barrichello and Jarno Trulli. Coulthard waved teammate Häkkinen through at the first corner and he went after Ralf, making another superb overtaking manoeuvre, again on the outside of Turn 6. This put him right behind Schumacher, and he completed his charge by taking the lead by going up the inside of Schumacher at the start of lap 4. With a clear track, he set the fastest lap on lap 8, a time in which no one could beat at the end of the race but still Schumacher started to reel him back in. On lap 13, Schumacher retook the lead by passing up the inside on Turn 3.

The two stayed together and pitted on lap 17, but Häkkinen was slow and Schumacher rejoined a second ahead. Montoya pitted later than Coulthard and was ahead of him after the stops. Barrichello and Frentzen pitted together on lap 19 and Barrichello was shortfueled in order to get ahead. The plan worked. Schumacher and Häkkinen were first and second, with the gap stabilizing at a second until Häkkinen retired with transmission troubles on lap 24. Schumacher then increased his lead to 15 seconds but he coasted to a halt on the start-finish straight at the end of lap 37 with a hydraulic failure. The main interest was now in the form of Barrichello closing up on Coulthard. He was right on Coulthard's tail with 2 laps to go but was unable to pass. Ralf won with Montoya a fine second to have a Williams 1-2 to start the season. Coulthard held of Barrichello with Frentzen, Trulli, Jenson Button and Olivier Panis rounding off the point scorers.

After the race, Barrichello was given a 25-second time penalty for ignoring yellow flags in the race (he set his personal fastest lap on a lap in which there were yellow flags at Turn 11). This meant that he dropped from fourth to sixth, with Frentzen and Trulli promoted to fourth and fifth.

Standings after Grand Prix
Drivers
 * 1. Ralf Schumacher - 10
 * 2. Juan Pablo Montoya - 8
 * 3. David Coulthard - 6
 * 4. Heinz-Harald Frentzen - 5
 * 5. Jarno Trulli - 4
 * 6. Rubens Barrichello - 3
 * 7. Jenson Button - 2
 * 8. Olivier Panis - 1

Constructors
 * 1. Williams-BMW - 18
 * 2. Jordan-Honda - 9
 * 3. McLaren-Mercedes - 6
 * 4. Ferrari - 3