NEVER mind four seasons in one day, Melbourne served up all four in just 60 minutes during the first qualifying session of the 2005 Australian Formula One Grand Prix.

Wife Patricia and I attempt to combat the notorious Melbourne weather

One minute we were sweltering in brilliant March sunshine in a city notorious for its quick weather changes ... and cowering under waterproofs the next as Mother Nature lashed us with sleet and heavy rain.

Then our seats literally shook as high winds ripped through the Fangio stand opposite Pit Lane.

Our teeth chattered as temperatures nosedived to single figures. Certainly not a place for brass monkeys! It was an astonishing experience, even for locals who joke about Melbourne's topsy-turvy weather sometimes bringing all four seasons within 24-hours.

David Coulthard chats with Patricia

But some good did come out of it all, with the wind and rain affecting drivers' qualifying times and resulting in an interesting line-up at the start of the next day's race.

Even seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher found himself at the tail-end of the starting grid and behind the Minardi cars ... usually unheard of.

Coulthard's personal autograph in Patricia's program

We turned up for Sunday's race with extra layers of warm clothing and full length waterproof ponchos ... but the weather cleared to perfect conditions for the 57-lap 1hr 24min race.

Our grandstand seats afforded us great views of Pit Lane and the team garages. It was fascinating to watch all the pre-race preparations and frantic activity as cars lined up on the grid in front of us.

We saw all the action as teams of mechanics and technicians swarmed around the multi-million dollar speed machines during pits stops.

Michael Schumacher greets the crowd during the drivers' parade

And during the race a huge screen and public address system kept us fully informed with what was happening on the other side of the circuit.

We were able to see Michael Schumacher and Nick Heidfeld crash on turn 3 which put both out of the race, won by Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella with Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello second and Renault's Fernando Alonso third.

Fans in the Fangio stand enjoy pre-race entertainment

David Coulthard (Red Bull) finished fourth, just over a second in front of Australia's Mark Webber in his Williams car.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable event, made even more memorable for us when we rubbed shoulders with, and were able to photograph, most of the drivers after the race. My wife, Patricia, even got to meet and chat with her longtime idol David Coulthard!

She reminded him how his McLaren became airborne last year and thudded down onto the grass just metres away from us, showering us with dust and grass clippings! It brought a smile to his face. He seems a thoroughly nice guy.

Patricia with Minardi driver Nicolas Kiesa

We stayed at a 4-star Melbourne city centre hotel for our four-day F1 sojourn and were undoubtedly ripped off for the privilege! We paid sky high prices for a room little more than four metres square. A case of supply and demand, I suppose ... but there should be some law preventing blatant overcharging during international events.

Getting to and from the circuit was again simplicity in itself and Melbourne is to be congratulated on its highly efficient free tram shuttle to and from the city centre. Well done Melbourne!

Up close and personal with the drivers
(A selection of my photographs)

Nick Heidfeld (Williams)	Felipe Massa (Sauber)	Juan Pablo Montoya (McLaren)	Vitantonio Liuzzi (Red Bull)	Jacques Villeneuve (Sauber)
Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren)	Fernando Alonso (Renault)	Jarno Trulli (Toyota)	Tiago Monteiro (Jordan)	Narain Karthikeyan (Jordan)