With two months gone since the end of the 2003 season and less than three months left before the 2004 season begins, the countdown to the Australian Grand Prix is running strong. However, this is Formula One, and behind every number there is always a story - so every day until the race in Melbourne, Atlas F1 will bring the numbers and the story behind them... Don't forget to check this page for a new addition every day!

After having proven his qualities in three years with Tyrrell, Michele Alboreto was signed by Ferrari in 1984. In the five years that followed with the Scuderia, Alboreto drove a total of 80 Grands Prix.

In only the third of those races, Alboreto brought victory to Maranello, becoming the first Italian to do so since Ludovico Scarfiotti won the 1966 Italian Grand Prix. Michele led the Belgian Grand Prix from start to finish, partly helped by fuel problems for many of the other competitors. The rest of the season was a mixture of engine failures and a few points-finishes, until the car finally started to work from the Italian Grand Prix onwards.

The reliability remained good in the first half of the 1985 season, bringing two more victories in Canada and Germany, but the season ended on a low with five consecutive retirements. For the next year there were no wins at all and it was clear that Ferrari was heading into a crisis. The crisis reached its climax in 1987, when Alboreto was forced to retire from no less than ten consecutive races.

1988 was Alboreto's last year at Ferrari. The only highlight in the McLaren dominated season was the Italian Grand Prix, where Berger and Alboreto scored a one-two, to give proper homage to Enzo Ferrari, who had died a month earlier. After that year, Nigel Mansell replaced Alboreto and Michele moved back to Tyrrell.

Between 1987 and 1991, the Coloni team participated in a total of 81 Formula One Grands Prix. In 67 out of these 81 participations, the team failed to qualify or even pre-qualify for the race. The team, led by Enzo Coloni, was a one car team for the 1987 and 1988 season with Nicola Larini and Gabriele Tarquini driving. In 1989 the team became a two car operation with Pierre-Henri Raphanel and F3000 champion Roberto Moreno driving.

The 1989 Monaco Grand Prix was the highlight of the year for Coloni, with both cars qualifying for the race. Both cars failed to finished the race but it was the only time ever there were two Coloni cars on the grid.

In 1991 Coloni joined forces with Subaru who made a V12 engine for them. The engine however was too heavy and low on horsepower to make any difference, and so after eight races the team was already back to a customer Ford V8 engine. At the end of the 1991 season the remains of the team were sold to Andrea Sassetti who renamed it to Andrea Moda.

In 1997 the Coloni name returned to racing, this time not in Formula One but in F3000. In 2003 the Coloni team won two races with Ricardo Sperafico.

The 82 season contained enough drama for a lifetime. It started right at the beginning of the season, when the drivers went on strike in South Africa. They were very unpleased with the new arrangements for superlicenses, which meant that their license was only valid with the current team. The drivers locked themselves in a hotel room for 24 hours until it was agreed that the terms would be renegotiated in the near future.

Another issue erupted when the FIA disqualified Nelson Piquet and Keke Rosberg from the Brazilian Grand Prix for having run underweight. This led to the FOCA teams boycotting the race in Imola. This gave Ferrari an easy ride in that race. Gilles Villeneuve led the race in the final lap and expected to be allowed the win per a prior team agreement, but his teammate Didier Pironi overtook him to grab the win, igniting fierce acrimony between the two.

Two weeks later, in Belgium, Gilles was behind his teammate in qualifying and in a final frantic attempt overlooked the slow driving Jochen Mass, launching himself over the back of the German's March. That evening Villeneuve died of his injuries.

Pironi went on to lead the Championship for Ferrari until the German Grand Prix, where a heavy crash left him badly injured and ended his career. From there on the season was limping towards the end. Keke Rosberg took the lead in the Championship when he won the Swiss Grand Prix, which was held in the French city of Dijon. This single victory proved to be enough for the Finn to win the 1982 Championship, just three points ahead of Pironi.

The short and twisty, 3.7km-long TI-Aida track in the south of Japan was the home of the Pacific Grand Prix, which was run over 83 laps in 1994 and 1995.

Although the race was only held twice it has some historic significance. The race in 1994 was Ayrton Senna's last Grand Prix before his death in the San Marino Grand Prix. In the first corner of the first lap of the race, he was hit by Ferrari's Nicola Larini and retired. Fellow Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello finished third in the race, giving himself and the Jordan team their first ever podium finish. Michael Schumacher won the race almost an entire lap ahead of number two Gerhard Berger. Retirements for many of the top drivers gave Footwork, Sauber and Larrousse the remaining three points positions, making it six different teams in the top six.

The 1995 race was delayed for six months after the devastating Kobe earthquake hit the surroundings of the circuit. Once again the race was won by Michael Schumacher, leading a podium of Renault powered drivers. With a 33 points gap to Damon Hill and only two races left in the Championship, Michael Schumacher was crowned 1995 World Champion, becoming the youngest ever double Champion.

Alain Prost led no less than 84 races in his career, placing him third behind Michael Schumacher (110) and Ayrton Senna (86). The Frenchman led his first race in his home Grand Prix in 1981, which he also won. Prost led in six more races that year - retiring from three, winning two and coming second in the other.

In 1982 Prost also led seven races, but he only won one of them, the South African Grand Prix. The next year he led only four races. However, he won all of them. This also happened in the next three races Prost led, but in the Dallas Grand Prix the Frenchman spun off while leading.

Having switched from Renault to the more successful McLaren team, Prost started to lead more and more races. By the end of 1987 he had led 46 races. Then came the year of complete McLaren dominance. The team won 15 of the 16 races, but surprisingly Prost led only nine of them against Senna's 12. When Prost left McLaren after the 1989 season, he had led 63 races.

At Ferrari things were less shiny, especially in 1991, when the Frenchman led only in his home Grand Prix. He led only six races while driving for the Maranello team. After a year's break, Prost returned to Formula One and had his most successful season ever while driving for Williams. He scored his fourth World Championship, leading an amazing 15 out of 16 races, winning seven, finishing 12 on the podium.

In 2003, the first Hungarian made his Grand Prix debut. Zsolt Baumgartner drove 85 laps in two Grands Prix for Jordan. Baumgartner had his first taste of Formula One in Germany, where Jordan used a third car in the Friday free practice session for the first time.

For every driver his debut Grand Prix is special, but for Baumgartner it had an extra dimension. The Hungarian made his debut on home soil, after Jordan's Ralph Firman crashed in practice. It was only on Saturday afternoon, just hours before qualifying, that Baumgartner was confirmed as replacement for Firman, so there was little time for Zsolt to get used to the idea.

In qualifying Baumgartner managed a decent lap and ended up between the Minardis to start from 19th. During most of his race, the Jordan driver was able to compete with the Minardi drivers in the back of the field. Unfortunately the dream ended after 34 laps when the engine refused to cooperate any longer.

In Monza Firman still wasn't ready to race, so Baumgartner got a second opportunity. This time he qualified one place higher, because Renault driver Fernando Alonso made a mistake on his qualifying lap. On Sunday his start was good too, climbing from 18th to 13th in the first lap. Soon the more experienced Heinz Harald Frentzen passed the Hungarian, followed by Nick Heidfeld on lap 16. A solid second half of the race meant that Baumgartner saw the chequered flag after 51 laps, two down on winner Michael Schumacher.

Dan Gurney started the first of his 86 races at the 1959 French Grand Prix. Even though his first race ended with a retirement, Gurney managed to leave a good impression in his other three races for Ferrari that season. With second, third and fourth places he managed a final seventh place in the Championship despite driving less than half the races.

For 1960 Gurney obtained a seat with BRM, but this proved to be a disastrous choice. The season was a concatenation of many retirements and a single finish, scoring no points. The next year Dan drove for Porsche, which proved to be a very reliable and rather speedy machine. Three second places helped Gurney to fourth in the Championship. The same Porsche brought the American his first win in the 1962 French Grand Prix.

In 1963 Gurney moved to Brabham, which gave him two more wins in the three years he drove for the team. After that, Gurney started his Eagle Racing project with Carroll Shelby. The first year was difficult, but come 1967, victory arrived. Gurney won the Belgian Grand Prix, but apart from a third in the Canadian Grand Prix, that was his final success. Eagle called it quits after the season and Gurney drove only a few more races in 1970 for McLaren.

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