David Coulthard once fumed at F1’s ‘farcical’ Australian Grand Prix rule change on his Red Bull debut

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The Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park has been the host of the season-opening Formula 1 race on 22 separate occasions.

This year, after a six-year absence, the Australian Grand Prix returns to host the first race of the season Down Under.

Most years there are rule changes and tweaks by the FIA to the regulations which bring some sort of reaction from the teams and drivers. The 2026 F1 regulations are ones to watch out for in the future, they’re going to be very important.

For all Red Bull have been one of the most dominant Formula 1 teams of the last 15 years, they have always struggled in Australia.

Max Verstappen bemonaed a ‘crazy’ issue in Australia last year before suffering his first mechanical retirement for two years during the race.

Ferrari and McLaren do well at the Australian Grand Prix with 23 collective victories, but the event always brings something special to the calendar.

READ MORE: Which F1 drivers do well at the Australian Grand Prix with Michael Schumacher successful in Melbourne

David Coulthard called F1’s Australian Grand Prix rule change ‘farcical’ in 2005

Back in 2005, the sport was eager to find a way of making the racing more exciting. Ferrari had just won five consecutive drivers’ championships with Michael Schumacher after all.

They decided to change the qualifying format, with an aggregate system deciding the grid. One lap on Saturday afternoon and one on Sunday morning would produce an average time.

It lasted just six races, but played havoc with the grid when the weather changed. Red Bull’s first ever race in the sport started well when both cars qualified inside the top five. It was a massive shock.

Speaking about the new rules, David Coulthard was upset with them despite benefitting from the result of them.

“It totally benefited us, the qualifying system,” he told Rediff. “But it’s not really what we’re here to see.

“Maybe I’m wrong, maybe you just want to see a race whatever happens. But it was kind of farcical.”

READ MORE: How Ferrari expect Lewis Hamilton to perform on his debut for the team at the Australian Grand Prix

How did Red Bull perform throughout the rest of their debut F1 season in 2005?

Although it was a major shock for both Red Bull cars to score points on debut in 2005, picking up seven points (Coulthard 4th, Christian Klien 7th), it would be one of their highlights of the year.

The following race in Malaysia would see Coulthard finish sixth and Klien eighth, thus securing a second consecutive double points finish.

Across the following 17 rounds, they would only score points with both cars on two more occasions and ended the year seventh in the constructors’ championship out of 10 teams.

It was a marked improvement over the year prior when they were known as Jaguar, and in 2006 they would secure their first podium courtesy of Coulthard at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Coulthard predicted after the 2005 Australian Grand Prix that the team would become world champions in the future.

After Adrian Newey joined the team and began to develop the car in a more positive direction, he turned out to be quite right.