Coulthard cashes in
Ferrari's run of 53 consecutive podiums came to an end yesterday when Michael Schumacher could only finish fourth with a damaged car and Rubens Barrichello crashed out of second place early on.
"It was a very strange race and not really because of the new rules," said Todt. "Five points is not exactly a great tally, given that we started with an all-red front row. It was a shame for Rubens, but, as usual, Michael never gave up.
It was David Coulthard in a McLaren who broke Ferrari's Formula One stranglehold to win at Albert Park.
The Scot started from the sixth row of the grid after a disastrous 11th in qualifying to beat Colombia's Juan Pablo Montoya in a BMW-Williams and McLaren teammate Kimi Raikkonen .
Ferrari's five-times world champion Michael Schumacher, bidding for his fourth consecutive Australian GP victory, chased home the leading trio to finish fourth.
Schumacher, who made three trips to the pits during an eventful 58-lap 307-kilometre race, missed out on a podium finish after a stellar 2002 season where he won 11 of the 17 GPs and was placed in the other six.
It was the first time since the Italian GP at Monza in 2001 19 races ago that the titan of the sport had failed to make the podium.
Ferrari dwarfed their rivals, romping away to a massive 129-point win in last year's constructors' title over BMW-Williams and McLaren, but it was McLaren's day in the first race of the new season.
It was 31-year-old Coulthard's 13th win in his 142nd GP and his second Australian GP after winning in 1997. He would have won the following year as well but was forced to obey team orders to allow team-mate Mika Hakkinen to take the checkered flag in McLaren's last win here in 1998.
"This is in stark contrast to how we felt yesterday afternoon (after qualifying), it's a great result, I'm extremely happy," Coulthard said.
"I don't think any of us are going to presume that Ferrari are suddenly not competitive, they certainly are, but we did have the race strategy and an element of good fortune.
"It was encouraging for us, Ferrari clearly have a quick car, but under pressure they can make mistakes and the conditions were a little unusual today.
"It was tricky conditions early in the race, I thought I made the wrong decision initially by going in with the wet tyres from the start, so I pitted early to get on my slicks."
Schumacher was in front 13 laps from the chequered flag but was forced to make an unscheduled third pit stop on lap 46 to remove a dangling carbon fibre from beneath the car while leading Montoya.
"The changing weather made for a chaotic race today," Schumacher said. "At one point I hit the kerbs, damaged the car quite badly and lost a lot of time because of it.
"So all things considered we can be happy with fourth place today and these five points will be important later in the year."
Barrichello's race was over on lap six after his car swiped a wall and sheared off the rear wing and right front wheel.
He also failed to finish last year's race after starting off the pole.
"A disappointing day, but it's not a case of Australia being unlucky for me. It was just one of those things and there is no need to panic about this result," Barrichello said.
Raikkonen, the 23-year-old Finn, had a memorable moment on the 37th lap when he held his nerve and line to force Schumacher on to the grass when the Ferrari ace was attempting to squeeze underneath him under brakes on a turn.
Raikkonen handed over his chance for a first race win when he was hit by a drive-through penalty 18 laps from home for speeding in pit lane.
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