The first round of the championship was in Australia and unsurprisingly, the two McLarens of Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard started 1–2 ahead of Ferrari's Michael Schumacher. Schumacher, for the second consecutive race (after last year's final race), stalled on the parade lap and started at the back. The McLarens were first and second into the first corner, and then pulled away until both broke down, Coulthard when his gearbox failed and Häkkinen with electrical trouble. This left Eddie Irvine in the second Ferrari to take his first ever career win ahead of Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Ralf Schumacher in the Williams.