Australia brings with it a set of new challenges this week, in part because Albert Park is so strikingly different from Bahrain.
Not only is the circuit half a world away from Bahrain, it's about a kilometer shorter as well. And much of the course is constructed off of public roads, similar to Circuit de la Sarthe, which hosts the 24 Hours of Le Mans annually. Driver sight lines are much more open in Australia, whereas in the desert, there are very few available driver references in regards to braking points.
Slower cars will be in trouble here, as the quicker teams will likely put them a lap down considerably earlier in the race. What was alarming about the Grand Prix of Bahrain was that there were only five cars -- aside from the top four strongest teams -- that finished on the lead lap. Bahrain is the second-longest course on the schedule, so it will be much easier for the leader to put slower cars a lap down on the shorter tracks.
Albert Park is likely the track that Michael Schumacher most wanted to see early on in his return.
He has four race wins at this venue, while no other active driver has more than one. During his dominant run between 2000 and 2004, Schumacher won there four times. But times have changed, and Australia has yielded to variety recently, starting with David Coulthard's victory at Albert Park in 2003, the event has produced seven different winners in a row, tied for the longest active streak of any venue on the 2010 calendar.
That streak could continue this year, as Ferrari pilot Felipe Massa and Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel have not been a part of that wins list.
Most consecutive different race winners (active streaks)
Track -- different winners
Australia -- 7
Great Britain -- 7
China -- 6
Italy -- 5
Canada -- 5
Essentially, tab the polesitter as the race winner, as this race has recently played out like an event at Monaco. For three years in a row and five of the past six seasons overall, the pole winner has gone on to win the event. Fernando Alonso in 2006 is the only exception during that span, as he started third. Coulthard has the distinction of the worst starting position by a winner at Albert Park; he started 11th after running nearly two seconds off the pace in qualifying in 2003. It was the 13th and final win of his Grand Prix career.
The city of Melbourne provides a striking background for this beautiful circuit, which has a unique mix of fast and slow corners. One of those slower corners is the first turn, which has created some harrowing accidents over the years.
The most notable took place at the start in 2002, when Ralf Schumacher went airborne after running into the back of Rubens Barrichello's Ferrari heading into the first bend. The accident took an astounding eight cars out of the race.
Just last season, several cars touched heading into that same turn on the opening lap. It's a tricky corner, especially at the start of a race, and it seems as though so many tracks now have that quick right-to-left hander at the end of the front straight.
True to form, last year was not without its controversy as well. Lewis Hamilton and McLaren were disqualified following the race for misleading officials regarding his overtaking of Jarno Trulli during a yellow-flag period.
Certainly not what the team needed to start the season, already fighting the faster competition that made use of an enhanced double diffuser. This season, the playing field appears to be considerably more even up front, and therefore, Hamilton has real hopes of repeating his 2008 winning drive at Albert Park.
