Twenty-two cars participated with reserve drivers Pedro de la Rosa for McLaren, Ricardo Zonta for Toyota, Robert Doornbos for Jordan and Liuzzi for Red Bull.

Pedro de la Rosa and Kimi Räikkönen put their McLarens fastest in the second session just ahead of Nick Heidfeld and Michael Schumacher.

After the overnight rain in Australia the track was wet for the start of the third practice session with the Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello leading the way ahead of Kimi Räikkönen in the McLaren.

The final session got underway and the dampness of the track led to times all over the place but Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso did well to fight for fastest with the Finn coming out best.

The session was run the reverse order of the 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix as Christijan Albers shaded teammate Patrick Friesacher to set fastest time.

When the red lights did finally go out, front row starters Fisichella and Jarno Trulli protected their positions and led the rest of the field through the first lap.

Rubens Barrichello and Fernando Alonso each moved up three spots on the first lap, showing more of their cars' true potential than what was seen in the rain-soaked qualifying.

As Fisichella and Trulli raced away at the front, Coulthard began to gradually fall back, holding up Webber, Nick Heidfeld (also making his Williams debut), Christian Klien, Juan Pablo Montoya and Barrichello.

Several seconds further back was Villeneuve, struggling to hold off a charging Alonso, who was himself just ahead of Jenson Button and Ralf Schumacher (in his first start for Toyota).

The four rookies were a little further back: the two Jordans of Tiago Monteiro and Narain Karthikeyan led the Minardi duo of Patrick Friesacher and Christijan Albers.

However, Trulli's Toyota slowly began dropping back, getting passed again and again; it would later turn out to be a blistered rear tyre, which would affect him for the remainder of the race.

Schumacher, who momentarily lost sight of Heidfeld's Williams in his mirrors, closed the door on his fellow German, forcing him onto the grass.

Montoya went onto the grass briefly at Turn Eight as he prepared to make his second pit stop; this, plus another off-track excursion while tangling with a backmarking rookie, cost him valuable time.

Teammate Räikkönen also lost a significant portion of his deflector, which became embedded under his side barge board; mechanics were later seen removing it during a pit stop.

Both BARs pulled into the pits on the final lap of the race; by not officially finishing the event, they effectively exempted themselves from the new two-race engine rule.