With two weeks 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!

Between 1995 and 2000 Pedro Diniz started in 99 races and scored 10 points. Diniz made his debut in the 1995 Brazilian Grand Prix driving for Forti. He did not score any points in his debut year. In 1996 he joined the French Ligier team with which he finished in sixth position twice for a total of two points. In 1997 he joined Damon Hill at Arrows and with a fifth place in the Luxembourg Grand Prix he scored two points.

For 1998 he stayed at Arrows, this time partnered by Mika Salo. With a sixth place in Monaco and a fifth place in Belgium Diniz had one of his best seasons in Formula One. In 1999 Diniz also scored three points, this time by finishing sixth three times, in the Canadian, British and Austrian Grands Prix.

His point finish in the Austrian Grand Prix was the last time Diniz scored a point in Formula One. In 2000 he continued to drive for Sauber but failed to score any points.

In his three years in Formula One, Juan Pablo Montoya has collected eleven pole positions. Only Ayrton Senna (15) and Jacques Villeneuve (13) have achieved more pole positions in the first three years of the careers.

In his debut year, the Colombian put his Williams on pole three times. In Germany, Belgium and Italy he qualified fastest. The first two times a blown engine prevent him from taking profit from his qualifying result, but at Monza the Williams driver went on to score his maiden win.

The next year qualifying saw an exciting duel between Montoya and Michael Schumacher in qualifying. Both drivers collected seven pole positions, while Schumacher's teammate Rubens Barrichello collected the remaining three. Especially in the middle of the season Montoya was unbeatable in qualifying. Between Monaco and France the Colombian put his Williams on pole five times in a row. Unfortunately, he never turned his poles into race wins. His pole position in the Italian Grand Prix was the fastest lap ever at an average speed of 259.8 km/h.

The new qualifying format in 2003 saw Montoya take a step back, with only a pole position in the German Grand Prix. However, this had more to do with the tactical implications of the new rules than a sudden lack of speed for Montoya. With no refueling before the race start, the Sunday strategy was now far more important than the top position on Saturday.

For three seasons the Ilmor company supplied engines in Formula One that wore their name and in those seasons they collected 12 points. Ilmor started it's Formula One career with the Leyton House March team in 1991. In the Hungarian Grand Prix the first success came, when Ivan Capelli finished sixth. It was the only point for the Japanese backed team.

The next season Ilmor supplied two teams. In addition to March, which now went on without the Leyton House name, they supplied Tyrrell. While things at March stayed on a similar level as the year before, with a fourth place by Karl Wendlinger in Canada as only success, the Tyrrell team provided Ilmor with more results. With a less than reliable engine, Andrea de Cesaris managed to finish in the points on several occasions. In Mexico and Canada the Italian finished fifth and in Italy he came sixth. However, the best result for Tyrrell was a fourth place for de Cesaris in Suzuka. However, the Ilmor engine was far from top notch. In the 32 times a Tyrrell started in 1992, it retired ten times with a blown engine as the cause.

In 1993 Ilmor supplied Sauber, but not under the Ilmor name. This was the start of a successful cooperation with Mercedes, which eventually ended to great success with the McLaren team. In 1994 the Ilmor name returned once more. The Pacific team, very successful in the lower ranks, made the step to Formula One. However, the project became a complete failure. Only seven of the 32 attempts resulted in a race start and all of them ended before the chequered flag was in sight.

Since his debut in the 1994 Spanish Grand Prix David Coulhard has won 13 races. Twelve races were won for McLaren and one race for Williams. In the 1995 Portugese Grand Prix Coulthard won his first race and also his only one for Williams. For the 1996 season David Coulthard joined McLaren but it would take until the first race of 1997 before he won a race for them.

In every year following 1996 Coulthard won at least one race. After one win in 1998 and two wins in 1999 the Scot would have his best season victory wise in 2000, when he won the British, Monaco and French Grands Prix, which gave him third place in the Drivers' Championship. The following year he won two races and in 2002 he was one of two drivers to win a Grand Prix while not driving for Ferrari.

In last year's Australian Grand Prix, Coulthard achieved his 13th and so far last Grand Prix win.

The heavy rain coming down in Adelaide on 3 November 1991 meant the Australian Grand Prix was red flagged after just 14 laps, making it the shortest Grand Prix in Formula One history.

As the race got underway, it was immediately apparent that the circumstances didn't allow for a normal race. While the drivers in front had reasonable vision and were able to lap 35 to 40 seconds slower than in dry conditions, the drivers at the back had to use extreme caution and completed the first lap another 30 seconds slower than the leaders. Ayrton Senna showed his mastership in the rain and opened a gap of over three seconds in the opening lap.

Satoru Nakajima became the first victim of the rain after four laps. The next lap Michael Schumacher and Jean Alesi collided and Nicola Larini and Thierry Boutsen also retired. Three laps later Pierluigi Martini became the sixth driver to retire.

Conditions got worse quickly and driver after driver disappeared off the circuit. After 15 laps leader Ayrton Senna had enough and in his 16th lap he started waving his arm out of the cockpit to indicate to the other drivers that the race had to be stopped. As he crossed the line, the race was red flagged. In that final lap, Nigel Mansell crashed into a wall, injuring his ankle, but his second place was safe. The standing after 14 laps was declared final.

In its years as engine supplier, Alfa Romeo collected 15 pole positions. Most of those came in the first two years of the World Championship, when Alfa Romeo dominated the sport. In 1950 an Alfa powered car was on pole for six of the seven races with the seventh race being the Indianapolis 500. Juan Manuel Fangio started from the front four times, while Nino Farina had pole in the other two races. The next year things weren't much different. Fangio started from pole in four races and went on to win his first World Championship.

After 1951, Alfa Romeo pulled out of Formula One and it took until 1977 for the Italian make to set another pole. In the back of the Brabham, the Alfa Romeo engine helped John Watson to pole position in the Monaco Grand Prix. The next year two more poles followed. Niki Lauda started from the front in South Africa, while John Watson secured his second Alfa powered pole in France.

In 1979 Alfa Romeo returned as a team, but the successes of the fifties never returned. In 1980 Bruno Giacomelli put his car on pole in the US Grand Prix and two years later Andrea de Cesaris gave Alfa its final pole at Long Beach, for the US-West Grand Prix. The Alfa Romeo team continued until 1985, while engines were supplied to Osella until 1987. However, they never came near the front of the grid again.

Stirling Moss started from pole position in 16 races between 1955 and 1961. Moss first achieved pole position in his home Grand Prix in 1955, driving for Mercedes. He went on to win the race, also scoring his maiden win. At the next British Grand Prix, Moss was again fastest in qualifying, this time in a Maserati. In the following two years, Moss made it four consecutive British Grand Prix pole positions. In between he collected his first pole on foreign soil when he qualified fastest for the 1957 Argentine Grand Prix.

Towards the end of 1958 Moss achieved two more poles for the Vanwall team, in Italy and Portugal. However, things went even better in the next two years. In 1959 the Briton switched to Rob Walker Racing with the Cooper chassis and started from the front of the grid four times. The first two races of 1960 meant two more poles for Moss, the first in the old Cooper and the second in the new Lotus. In Holland he made it three poles in four races, but it would take until the end of the season before a fourth pole was added.

Moss collected his final pole position in the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix, before retiring at the end of the season.

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