Two great engine-building names return to the Formula One scene at the 2000 Qantas Australian Grand Prix.The first big name making a Grand Prix comeback in Melbourne is BMW, who will power the Williams team of Ralf Schumacher and Alex Zanardi. The man heading up the BMW effort is Austrian Gerhard Berger - the driver who gave Benetton its first-ever Grand Prix victory in 1986 in Mexico with a BMW turbo engine. That was the last of BMW's nine Grand Prix victories in its first 91-race stint in Formula One from 1982 to 1987.
The other is Honda, the Japanese giants who have been in Grand Prix racing twice before. From 1964 to 1968, building their own car, they won two of the 35 Grands Prix they contested. At various times between 1983 and 1992, Honda supplied engines to Spirit, Lotus, Williams and McLaren, winning a staggering 69 of the 151 races they took part in. For 2000 they have chosen to supply their all-new V10 exclusively to the BAR team, which failed to score a World Championship point in its debut 1999 season.
There's a new look to the 2000 FIA Formula One World Championship calendar. As ever, the Qantas Australian Grand Prix is the opening round of the 17-race season. But the British Grand Prix, traditionally staged in mid-July, moves to an April date, with former springtime fixture Monaco switching to the first weekend in June. All race fans will be eagerly looking forward to the first Grand Prix at Indianapolis, the home of North American racing, on Spetember 24, while Malaysia, which made such a great impact on its World Championship debut in 1999, stages the final round of 2000 on October 22.
On the team front, one name disappears from the entry list at the 2000 Qantas Australian Grand Prix. But don't worry, Stewart fans: Stewart Grand Prix has simply been rebadged as Jaguar following Ford's buy-out of the team from three-time World Champion Jackie Stewart, who stays at the helm for the immediate future. Jaguar, owned by Ford, is expected to dress the 2000 cars in the famous British Racing Green with which it earned its international reputation at great events like the Le Mans 24-Hour classic.
The driver line-ups remain relatively stable, with McLaren, Williams, Benetton and BAR all unchanged. The major move sees Eddie Irvine quit Ferrari after four years to become number one at Jaguar, while Rubens Barrichello makes the journey in the opposite direction to join Ferrari. Jarno Trulli leaves Prost to join Jordan; Prost has an all-new pairing of veteran Jean Alesi and German newcomer Nick Heidfeld; Mika Salo, who shone as a stand-in for Schumacher at Ferrari, goes to Sauber; in Minardi, Marc Gené remains and as newcomer the Argentinian Gaston Mazzacane; and in Arrows, Pedro Martinez de la Rosa remains as the first pilot of the British team and Jos Verstappen joins to Arrows.
