The race got off to a bad start for the team when Jarno Trulli was taken out in a first lap collision with David Coulthard’s Red Bull.

“I’m happy for the team that Ralf did so well but this race has been one to forget for me,” Trulli said. “It’s always particularly frustrating to be out on the first lap. I was behind Coulthard, who was going slowly and making his car pretty wide on the straight. I took a run down the inside of him and was ahead going into Turn 6 but he just closed the door and hit the back of my car. The rear suspension was broken and so that was it. We had decent pace here in Australia and I thought that we could score strong points. I just hope that is the end of my misfortunes for a while and that my luck changes when we get back to Imola for the start of the European season.”

Schumacher, meanwhile, ran with the leading pack in the early laps but then received a Drive Through penalty for speeding in the pits at his first stop on lap 19 of the 57. He therefore lost track position when he pitted again on lap 23 to serve his penalty. But, with accidents to Michael Schumacher and Vitantonio Liuzzi prompting two more Safety Car periods before the end of the race – making four in all! – a combination of slick team strategy and aggressive driving from Schumacher gave the team its podium.

“We are all very happy with what we achieved today,” smiled a satisfied Ralf. “I double-hit the limiter button coming into the pits the first time but due to the later Safety Car periods we were able to get more out of the race than we expected. We have previously suffered with an inability to get heat into the tyres this season but a lot of our rivals also had that problem today after the tyres lost temperature during the Safety Car periods. There was a lot of sliding around out there, a lot of locked wheels and it was pretty hectic. There was not a lot of grip at that time and I was able to take advantage when Nick Heidfeld and Jenson Button went off. Today was a great result for us but we still need to work hard to get on terms with the pace of the top teams.”

World Champion Fernando Alonso scored his second win in three starts this year for the Mild Seven Renault F1 Team, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen’s McLaren-Mercedes and Ralf’s Toyota TF106. Nick Heidfeld finished fourth for the BMW Sauber F1 Team, for whom Jacques Villeneuve also made it into the top six as the pair sandwiched Giancarlo Fisichella’s Renault. Rubens Barrichello was seventh for Lucky Strike Honda after Jenson Button blew an engine within sight of the finish line.

For Toyota’s Technical Director, Chassis, Mike Gascoyne, Ralf’s podium finish was a timely birthday present. “Ralf did a superb job today, as did the whole team after a difficult start for us,” he said. “Jarno had no luck in either qualifying or the race and after Ralf got a Drive Through penalty it looked as if we could be going home empty-handed. Certainly it seemed that any chance of a podium had gone but some opportunist driving from Ralf and excellent team work, as usual, from the boys allowed us to recover it. We now look ahead to a couple of tests before the start of the European season at Imola.”

After the first three ‘flyaway’ races of the season, Ralf Schumacher lies seventh in the drivers’ championship with 7 points and Panasonic Toyota Racing is sixth in the constructors’ championship.