As the Formula One circus travels to South America for the annual double-header, there are going to be mixed feelings on the plane. Opinions are divided as to just how dominant Williams are, but one thing can be certain - they won't be down for long. What the Australian Grand Prix proved, however, is that the remaining teams are going to be fighting tooth and nail for the last points positions.

McLaren's victory was half skill, but also half luck - the team deserved the win, but would they have got it if Heinz-Harald Frentzen hadn't had 'that' brake failure? Ferrari did better than many expected by finishing second, and the car has been quick in testing last week - could the scarlet chargers be back at the front in Brazil?

Not likely, but more likely than Benetton who had, by their standards, a disastrous weekend. Beaten by Sauber and Prost in qualifying, the team regained form for the race that was promptly thrown away when Jean Alesi failed to return to the pits for fuel and tyres. The Benetton management claim that all is well, but no-one was looking too happy on Sunday afternoon.

In the midfield, Stewart had a most impressive debut, with Rubens Barrichello nearly making the top-ten in qualifying and both drivers running strongly in the race. Arrows, on the other hand, had a nightmare, with Damon Hill struggling to qualify then coming to a halt on the formation lap. Pedro Diniz finished, though, which was some comfort for the team. Better luck in Brazil, boys.

Who's going to take pole and race win at Brazil? Only time will tell - see you there...

Lap Guide

From the steep, downhill first chicane to the flat-out kinks at the end of the lap, Interlagos is a blast. Tight hairpins; fast, off-camber turns; two long straights and a bumpy surface mean this is a challenge for drivers and engineers alike. The weather plays a vital factor, as the afternoon downpour often coincides with the race - remember last year's atrocious conditions? With two realistic overtaking opportunities, expect the action to be non-stop from green flag to chequer. Circuit length: 2.687 miles / 4.325 km Race length: 71 laps (190.777 miles / 307.075 km)

What happened last year?

Optimistic lunges by Rubens Barrichello and Jacques Villeneuve into the first corner was about as close as any of Damon Hill's rivals came to beating him last year. Using his Williams' superiority to the full, Hill made a brilliant getaway and held his nerve in atrocious conditions to consolidate his championship lead. Jean Alesi was the only other driver to lead the race - albeit for just three laps whilst Hill pitted - and eventually finished second. Villeneuve's lack of F1 experience was highlighted, however, as he slid off a damp track whilst battling with Alesi in the early part of the race. The battle for the remaining podium place was intense - Michael Schumacher pressuring Barrichello for third, until the Brazilian's spun off late in the race.

The Field

Arrows-Yamaha

After an appalling 1997 debut for the restructured and supposedly revitalised team, things can only get better. Lack of reliability, the teams bugbear, is said to be fixed after extensive testing at Paul Ricard where they were 2 seconds a lap off the pace of the Williams cars. Still, the Bridgestone tyres could be a big equaliser and see them well up the midfield if things go right.

Damon Hill could be forgiven from feeling like he is having a nightmare of comic proportions. The car has promise and Damons relatively quick pace in the practice sessions in Australia show that there is hope. I expect Hill to be running faster than the Tyrrells and the Minardis and racing with the Stewart pair.

Pedro Diniz had big hopes for this season, and while I think he will qualify for every race, I don't see much hope for points having seen the standard of the opposition this year. Pedro races better than he qualifies, but with the others around I think he will be one of the backmarkers.

Williams - Renault

The Williams-Renault FW19 was proved to be as fast as the preseason hype in the qualifying and practice sessions of the last GP. Williams usually do well at Interlagos, having a car that handles the bumps better than anyone else's and the Renault engine providing the necessary pulling power for the hilly circuit. Whilst recent tests have proved little (testing at Paul Ricard attended only by Williams and Arrows) the odds are that one of the blue cars will take pole and win.

Jacques Villeneuve was the man of the moment in Australia. A dominant qualifying session and an early exit from the race ensured that he emerged smelling of roses, the moral, but not the actual, winner. Jacques is comfortable in the team and the car and should be at the top of any list of potential winners.

Heinz Harald Frentzen while not doing a great deal to confirm his reputation, didn't leave Melbourne looking too bad, if only for the fact that he is the only real danger to his team mate. Frentzen seems to qualify well here, and is a very good prospect for race honours.

Scuderia Ferrari

The Scuderia had a promising debut with the F310b and this with the old spec engine. Whether or not the new engine will be online for the race is doubtful, but with two fired up drivers and their new found reliability, a good points haul looks likely. Pole may be out of either drivers hands, but a win or podium is not.

Michael Schumacher is the driver that most expect to challenge the supremacy of Williams-Renault, and should well be. He has no flaws in his armour and can be relied upon to get the most from his car. As said above, don't hold your breath for pole, but cross your fingers for a win.

Eddie Irvine was the man with most column inches devoted to him after Melbourne (rightly or wrongly) mainly down to his brilliant start. Eddie probably doesn't expect to outqualify his team mate, but if he gets in front, don't expect him to give way. Consequently a win is not out of the question.

Benetton-Renault

The team from Enstone apparently know why their performance was so dismal (the mistake by Alesi aside), and have taken steps to remedy this. Traditionally the team do not qualify well, but do a lot better in the race. A win is possible, but as both Ferrari and McLaren appear to be better placed, it is unlikely.

Jean Alesi followed Irvine as the most talked about driver in Australia for obvious reasons. Whilst fast, this problem only underlines the lack of concentration that some feel mars his racing. Qualifying should see him ahead of his team mate, but in the race I expect him to be behind him (if he stays on the track). If the heavens do open, he will be one to watch.

Gerhard Berger had a good, if not especially exciting 1997 race debut and should build on this in Brazil, where he usually runs well. Qualifying is usually not as good as it could be for the Austrian, but his experience and racecraft more than make up for this. While probably not capable of a win yet, he is almost certain to get into the points.

McLaren-Mercedes

McLaren started their season in the best possible way, but are quick to say that they do not expect things to go as well the second time out. The car seems to have none of the handling problems of the 1996 car and Mercedes have produced yet another superb power plant. Qualification behind the Williams cars is as good as can be expected, but podium finishes or another win are not out of the question.

Mika Hakkinen is one of the fastest drivers in contemporary F1, but somehow never seems to be able to match his promise with performance. This said, Mika is reliable in the races and you can be sure that the silver and grey car will reach the end, and probably be in the points.

David Coulthard arrives at Interlagos to start his first race as championship leader, and can expect to leave in the same way. While there are faster cars on the track, the Scotsman (when on form) is usually very fast in the race and when this is combined with his brilliant starts should bring him a handful of points. However, if he is off form…

Jordan-Peugeot

For once, the preseason hype seems to be more fact than fiction, the new 197 chassis apparently handling as well as it is supposed to. Peugeot seem to have done their job, and the Silverstone based team are keen to stay with the French manufacturer. The new team structure seems to be able to help the young drivers get their cars right. Points are almost a certainly if the cars can get to the end, but only a fluke will see them win.

Ralf Schumacher ended his race through no fault of his own last time round, having shown great speed and maturity in the pre-race sessions. Surprisingly, Ralf was faster than his team mate and looks to have taken a big boost from this. If he can repeat his fourth fastest time when it comes to qualifying, he should be in with a shot of a podium slot.

Giancarlo Fisichella, unlike his team mate, retired from the first Grand Prix due to his own inexperience, spinning off when trying to overtake. Despite this, his performance was encouraging and bodes well for the coming race (even though he has never raced there). As with his team mate, if he can get it right in qualifying, he could be standing on the podium by the end of Sunday.

Prost-Mugen Honda

More top test times, this time at Silverstone, show that both Bridgestone and Prost are taking this "new" team seriously. The team worked well at Melbourne, and number one driver Panis was the top Bridgestone runner for entire weekend. This is another team that could do well if things fall right, yet will be out of look if the "Big 4" don't fall out of the race.

Olivier Panis, while optimistic for 1997 cannot be expecting too much from Brazil. The Bridgestone rubber, while good, isn't the advantage it promised to be and the Frenchman is again likely to be eclipsed by the top teams. If things go right (wet race or Bridgestone make the correct choice with the dry tyres) Panis could be looking at the podium or maybe even a win (though the latter is unlikely).

Shinji Nakano acquitted himself respectably in his first race (even though his name was spelt wrong in the program), and made few serious mistakes. Regardless, his relative lack of pace will condemn him to the lower end of the grid and leave him almost out of contention for points.

Sauber-Petronas

Sauber have always promised much, yet delivered little, but 1997 could end this.habit. The Petronas badged Ferrari engine is doing wonderful things for the chassis and the team look like genuine contenders for the first time. Whether the chassis and engine can keep match with the bigger fish at the sharp end of the grid remains to be seen, but they are definitely capable of a podium if things fall right.

Johnny Herbert enjoyed his most encouraging start to the season for many years in Melbourne and could repeat it at a track he has raced on many times before. If the car can do it, Johnny will be there, pushing as hard as possible. Of the two Sauber drivers Johnny stands the best chance of getting onto the podium.

Nicola Larini showed that the Sauber was reliable straight out of the box, and that he is capable of holding his own in F1. His debut was as good as could have been expected for someone so long out of F1 races, but this race should see a revitalised Nicola.

Tyrrell-Ford

Tyrrell were one of the more disappointing facets of the first Grand Prix. Much was expected, but little delivered, despite the two young drivers and neat chassis. The team are clearly struggling and need luck to get decent results from the next race. On the plus side, the car seems to be relatively reliable and the engine almost bullet proof.

Jos Verstappen lost the first round of the intra-team qualifying battle and only just scraped the 107% margin required to race, which was worse than this time last year. If the car was better he might stand a chance, but as things stand, he has only an outside chance for a point.

Mika Salo also needs luck to get his car into the points, but looks to be faster than his Dutch team mate. Both drivers evoke strong feelings from many fans, but I feel that if anyone is going to do it for Tyrrell it will be the Finn. An outside chance of points, but that is about it.

Minardi-Hart

Minardi managed to qualify better in Australia than they did in most of 1996 and ran very well in the race, keeping pace with much better funded cars. Even so, the Italian team stand little more than a slight chance of scoring any points in Brazil.

Ukyo Katayama managed to overcome his lack of testing and hauled his M197 ahead of the much fancied Jan Magnussen and even though he didn't manage to complete the race, he ran with cars that wouldn't have expected to be racing a Minardi.

Jarno Trulli showed in Melbourne why many see him as the best Italian driver this decade, putting in a remarkably mature drive to get his car home in one piece. While he cannot expect to be faster than his team mate, he seems to be in with a better chance of getting it home in one piece.

Stewart-Ford

Stewart left Melbourne, feeling justifiably happy with the performance that both team and drivers put in. While they weren't able to fight with Williams, they weren't down with Lola and Barrichello even managed to get amongst the established midfield teams over the weekend. Based on this, points are not unlikely in the right circumstances, but only if their reliability improves.

Rubens Barrichello set about rebuilding his reputation in the best way, by thrashing his team mate and dragging the new Stewart SF1 onto the 6th row of the grid. In the race, things were even better until a mechanical problem forced him to retire. His home GP should see him fired up and a good qualifying spot is possible.

Jan Magnussen arrived on the scene for his second F1 race with little more than a fizzle, qualifying well down on his team mate and running well down until mechanical problems claimed him as well. This could all be put down to inexperience, but he has a lot to prove in Brazil.

Lola-Ford¹

Little can be said about Lola apart from the obvious. Qualification with the 1995 works Ford and an undeveloped chassis looks unlikely and both drivers will probably be sitting out this race as well.

Vincenzo Sospiri although fast has no chance to show it in a car that was 11 seconds off the pace in Australia. Qualification should be seen as a success for Sospiri.

Ricardo Rosset was slower than Sospiri but is in much the same boat. Qualification will be a miracle.

¹Preview was written before news of Lola's pull-out of the Brazilian GP was released.