By BAR F1
March 6 2005

Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda drivers Jenson Button and Takuma Sato will line up eighth and 19th on the grid for the start of today’s 58-lap Australian Grand Prix, after getting their first taste of the new for 2005 system of conducting final qualifying just three hours before the start of the race. Jenson posted the eighth fastest time in yesterday’s first qualifying session when intermittent downpours played havoc with the timesheets. Aggregated together with his time from this morning’s decisive run, he will line up on the fourth row for the 2.00pm local time race start.

After the rain caused Takuma to aquaplane off the track yesterday, he was unable to register a timed lap in the first session. Under the new parc ferme rules, the team only had until 6.30pm last night and from 7.00am this morning to repair the extensive damage to his car. The mechanics worked well in the limited time to ensure Takuma is able to race with the same chassis and he completed a single lap this morning to conduct a final systems check before he lines up on the last row of the grid.

Final Qualifying:

1. FISICHELLA (Renault) 3:01.460
2. TRULLI ( Toyota) 3:04.429
3. WEBBER (Williams) 3:04.996
4. VILLENEUVE ( Sauber) 3:06.846
5. COULTHARD ( Red Bull Racing) 3:07.212
6. KLIEN ( Red Bull Racing) 3:07.477
7. HEIDFELD ( Williams) 3:09.130
8. BUTTON ( B.A.R Honda) 3:12.128
9. MONTOYA ( McLaren) 3:14.645
10. RÄIKKÖNEN ( McLaren) 3:15.558
19. SATO (B.A.R Honda) no time