What happened the last time the qualifying procedures changed in Formula One? Which race in Melbourne is remembered as the most spectacular? And what does 2003 bode for the new four rookies? Marcel Schot brings the answers and more anecdotes on the season-opening GP

The Australian Grand Prix opens the 54th Formula One World Championship this weekend, as Melbourne hosts the opening round for the eighth consecutive season.

The most spectacular race held in Melbourne was by far the first held in the city, in 1996. After Eddie Irvine had left Jordan to become Michael Schumacher's teammate at Ferrari, Jordan hired the experienced Martin Brundle to partner Rubens Barrichello. During the weekend Barrichello had been quite a bit faster than Brundle, which resulted in the Brazilian qualifying eighth, while his teammate only managed 19th on the grid, leaving only Ligier driver Pedro Diniz and both Fortis behind him.

In the sprint to the first corner, Ligier's Olivier Panis was considerably faster than Barrichello. However, the Jordan driver was succesfully able to fend off his opponent by forcing him towards the wall. The result was that Panis had to brake hard, blocking David Coulthard. Unfortunately, Martin Brundle had just entered the gap between Johnny Herbert and Coulthard after a superb start.

As Coulthard moved away from Panis to avoid a crash, Brundle was squeezed between the rear tyres of Coulthard and Herbert. The friction of the wheels launched the Jordan up into the air and over the McLaren and Sauber into the gravel-trap. The yellow car spun end over end, and on its final landing appeared to have completely disintegrated.

Obviously the worst was feared, but when the dust had risen, the monocoque was intact and separated from the rest of the car. Much to everyone's surprise, Brundle climbed out of the car and unbelievably made his way back to the pits on a run. But, to be able to take part in the restart of the race, Brundle needed the permission of Formula One's medical director, Prof. Sid Watkins. So Brundle, still wearing his helmet, ran through the pitlane and then back again, looking for Watkins. And, as Watkins saw Brundle running full speed towards him - helmet and all - the professor was convinced the Briton was in excellent shape and allowed him to board the spare car for the restart.

2003 brings with it several rule changes, perhaps the most radical is the new qualifying format. The last time qualifying was changed was in 1996, when qualifying changed from two sessions to just one. The basic thought was about the same as it is now: to give the driver less time to achieve a result. However, looking at the 12 drivers who participated in both seasons, it's hard to tell a difference - half of them improved and half didn't. Besides, many of the drivers switched teams, which is likely to be a major performance factor.

Of those drivers who stayed with the same team for both 1995 and 1996, Rubens Barrichello, Damon Hill and Mika Salo improved, while Olivier Panis and Heinz Harald Frentzen didn't. However, the overall impact was rather minimal. Salo made the biggest improvement, with an improvement of 1.1 grid positions, whereas Panis lost out the most, with an average position 0.8 positions back. Pedro Diniz obviously moved further up the grid, but that was clearly due to his move from the failing Forti team to Ligier.

                     1995              |        1996             
              Avg. Best Worst Team     | Avg. Best Worst Team    
Alesi          5.1   2    10  Ferrari  |  4.9   3     9  Benetton
Berger         4.2   1     8  Ferrari  |  5.8   2     8  Benetton
Barrichello    9.5   5    16  Jordan   |  8.1   2    13  Jordan  
Irvine         7.6   4    12  Jordan   |  7.9   3    22  Ferrari 
Coulthard      2.6   1     6  Williams |  8.3   4    14  McLaren 
Hill           2.5   1     8  Williams |  1.4   1     2  Williams
Diniz         22.8  20    26  Forti    | 16.4  11    22  Ligier  
Frentzen      10.4   5    14  Sauber   | 10.6   7    13  Sauber  
Herbert        7.4   4    11  Benetton | 12.9   8    17  Sauber  
M.Schumacher   2.9   1    16  Benetton |  2.6   1     4  Ferrari 
Panis         11.6   6    18  Ligier   | 12.4   8    16  Ligier  
Salo          14.4   7    23  Tyrrell  | 13.3   8    17  Tyrrell 

So with new rules and new drivers, 2003 already promises to be a truly unique season.