Schumacher had misjudged the braking distance for turn one, while Coulthard believed Barrichello caused the accident by braking earlier than usual. Whiting's decision not to stop the race after the eight-car crash was criticised. The technical director of the Jordan team Gary Anderson called it "the most absurd thing I've seen in my life". Fisichella believing not stopping the race was "ridiculous", and Michael Schumacher agreed it should have been stopped. Coulthard defended the decision, saying "I've always felt that to deprive the spectators of a number of cars as a result of an incident at the first corner isn't really good for the business. But this isn't Hollywood. You don't cut out the bits you don't like. This is real. This is racing." Ralf Schumacher also backed Whiting's ruling, noting "Charlie Whiting took the right decision by not stopping the race. He had made it quite clear to us that he would not stop a race unless it was for safety reasons and that wasn't the case." Because this was the first race of the season, Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with ten points. Montoya was second with six points and Räikkönen was third with four. Irvine was fourth with three points and Webber was fifth with two points. Ferrari took the lead of the World Constructors' Championship with ten points. Williams were second with six points and McLaren followed in third with four points. With three points, Jaguar were fourth and Minardi fifth with two points with sixteen races left in the season. Race classification Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold. Notes – Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Enrique Bernoldi were disqualified for passing the red light at the exit of the pit lane and changing to the team's spare car after the commencement of the formation lap, respectively. Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings Constructors' Championship standings Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. References Grand Prix Australian Grand Prix Australian Grand Prix Australian Grand Prix