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  • 7 months ago
Qualifying for Round 1 of the 2004 F1 season at Melbourne.
Transcript
00:00:00To determine where you will finish, the drivers must push their cars and themselves to the limit.
00:00:06But just one mistake, one slip, one momentary lapse in concentration,
00:00:13and your race could be over before it begins.
00:00:16Qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix is next.
00:00:30For the ninth consecutive year, Albert Park in Melbourne is the site of the opening race of the Formula One World Driving Championship.
00:00:48But before you can race the Grand Prix of Australia, you must qualify.
00:00:53Hello and welcome to Speed Channel's coverage of qualifying for the opening round of the 2004 Formula One World Championship.
00:00:58I'm Bob Varsha. Joining me are David Hobbs and Steve Matchett, ready for final qualifying.
00:01:05Now under new rules this year, two sets of single car qualifying are run back-to-back on Saturday.
00:01:11The first round has already taken place. Let's take a look at the highlights.
00:01:16Second man on track because he finished runner-up in last year's final race, the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
00:01:21Kimi Raikkonen went out and set fast time, bumping Ferrari's Rubens Botticello, the Japanese GP winner, from provisional pole position.
00:01:30The eighth car on the track, six-time and defending world champion Michael Schumacher, who went out and knocked Kimi off of P1.
00:01:39And that's the way it stayed until the 15th car took to the track.
00:01:44That was Juan Pablo Montoya from Williams BMW, who by the closest of margins, 75 thousandths of a second, took provisional pole position.
00:01:56That means in the inverted order of the second round of single car qualifying, Montoya will be the last car on track.
00:02:03As you can see, it's a beautiful day in Albert Park in Melbourne.
00:02:10After a light morning rain and two 45-minute practice sessions, qualifying began.
00:02:15This is Jolt Baumgartner of Hungary driving for the Minardi team.
00:02:20A new title sponsorship from Willux Benelux, a Dutch home products firm.
00:02:26He was the slowest man in the opening round of single car, so he is the first man on track now.
00:02:31Seven and a half seconds off the pace, Baumgartner.
00:02:35And by virtue of going last in that session, the Minardi mechanics had to refuel the car in the pit lane to the new 2004 regulations.
00:02:45They can refuel the car in the pit lane to get ready for this final qualifying run before the car goes into park for me.
00:02:52The guys, the mechanics in the pit lane have to wear all their fire protective equipment just to top the tank up.
00:02:58They use those FIA refueling rigs because it's much quicker than using the normal refueling rigs that they would have in the car.
00:03:05But problems for the other car there for Bruni's Minardi not firing up.
00:03:09They would have sent that car out onto the track now to begin its warm-up lap.
00:03:12Yeah, he looked pretty frustrated there, didn't he, shaking his head and it's just one of those nasty things when you're driving.
00:03:17You get so pumped up for something like qualifying and for the car not to fire up.
00:03:23Absolutely disastrous.
00:03:24Well, it would be if you were one of the top cars, I think, but, I mean, if they have to change the lump in the Minardi and start at the back of the grid, well, no loss because they ain't going to be anywhere else.
00:03:34Anyway.
00:03:34Anyway.
00:03:35So for them, not so bad.
00:03:36They changed tyres and they did put fuel into the car and a little bit of a front wing adjustment to the right-hand flap of Zolt Baumgartner's car.
00:03:45But really, I don't know, these guys don't need to do an awful lot of work on the car.
00:03:50Just keep the thing reliable, keep the sponsors happy.
00:03:52Notice all the leaves on the track.
00:03:54It is late summer in Australia and those leaves have been there since the beginning of the first round of single car qualifying.
00:04:02Here's a look at our weather conditions.
00:04:0473 degrees and warming up rapidly once the clouds that dropped a little rain on the track this morning moved off.
00:04:11But beautiful conditions, however, cold comfort for that man.
00:04:14Excuse me, Bob.
00:04:15Just to say, there is Bruni climbing out of the Minardi chassis.
00:04:18See, look at Paul Stoddard there, the team owner, who's obviously not very happy with that.
00:04:25Fighting the good fight as one of the two last privateer teams in Formula One.
00:04:31Jordan being the other.
00:04:32The vast majority of the drivers during that first qualifying run did look very smooth indeed until you come right down the bottom end.
00:04:41Both the Minardi cars look very nervous.
00:04:43A lot of steering input going into the cars.
00:04:46So Baumgartner has posted his time while he's on his cool down lap and his teammate will not be going out.
00:04:53Let's take a look at our Porsche track map, David.
00:04:55Well, the track at Albert Park is just a hair under 3.3 miles long.
00:04:59It's got 16 corners, some of which are pretty tight.
00:05:02You're going to turn one and two there.
00:05:03That's a pretty good overtaking spot.
00:05:06Quick run down to three where we saw Martin Brundle, the very first race here, have a huge barrel roll.
00:05:10Then you weed through the park there, a succession of Esses and Chicanes.
00:05:15And that long turn from 9 to 12 is very, very fast left-hander.
00:05:20Flat out through there, you've got to really get through 12 to launch yourself down to a sky.
00:05:24Then you've got that last complex in the sky to Stuart.
00:05:27Stuart to turn 15, where we saw a lot of spins yesterday.
00:05:30And, of course, 16, as always, is a very important turn because it launches you onto the pit straight, the fastest part of the track.
00:05:36About 195 miles an hour down there.
00:05:38And average speed around about 137, 138 miles an hour.
00:05:42So it's a fast track.
00:05:46And now on that track, the final driver to be confirmed for the 2004 season, 25-year-old Giorgio Pantano of Italy.
00:05:56And it is getting hot out there.
00:05:57It's 39 degrees Celsius.
00:05:59That's about 102 degrees Fahrenheit track temperature.
00:06:0275.2 air temperature.
00:06:05So it's very warm.
00:06:06The warmest it's been all weekend, which obviously will play into the hands of the Michelin-shod cars.
00:06:12The Ferraris have been quickest all weekend until that very last session when Juan Pablo Montoya was fastest.
00:06:19Just acing out Michael Schumacher.
00:06:21But the track temperature in particular playing into the hands now of the Michelin-shod cars.
00:06:29Pantano looked very nervous on his laps just at his last laps a few moments ago in the first part of the qualifying session.
00:06:36Looked to be struggling a bit with the car.
00:06:38Of course, Pantano had never been here before to this track.
00:06:41Never driven a Formula One car and had very limited time in the Formula One car before they came to Melbourne.
00:06:47And as his drive wasn't confirmed until right beforehand.
00:06:51That's right along.
00:06:55He's done some limited testing for Willem to be better than before.
00:06:57Here's that turn one and two complex.
00:07:01Fast exit.
00:07:11That's a little harsh.
00:07:12Light, difficult for the drivers that go through those trees.
00:07:27Tremendous oscillating effect from those shadows.
00:07:30acağız.
00:07:43Yes, sir.
00:07:44Yes, sir.
00:07:46Yes.
00:07:46Yes.
00:07:47Yes.
00:07:47Yes.
00:07:47Yes.
00:07:47Yes.
00:07:48Yes.
00:07:50Yes.
00:07:52Yes.
00:07:57Yes.
00:07:58Very policemen yakit.
00:07:59And on to provisional pole
00:08:26goes Giorgio Pontano.
00:08:28Very experienced in the junior formula.
00:08:32A former world champion in junior karting.
00:08:36There's his car owner, Eddie Jordan.
00:08:38Heading out onto track now.
00:08:40Former kart champion Cristiano DiMotta
00:08:42will be back in a moment for his hot lap.
00:08:49Welcome back to final qualifying
00:08:50for the opening round of the Formula One World Championship in 2004.
00:08:54The Australian Grand Prix, now on track in the Toyota,
00:08:57is Cristiano DiMotta of Brazil.
00:08:59Boy, he used to be up a lot of the road there
00:09:01as he went through that quick left-handed
00:09:03and into that curb in the middle of that long left-hand sweep.
00:09:07Toyota's a little bit disappointing so far this weekend.
00:09:12He's not going to catch up Pantano too soon.
00:09:15He must have left the pit lane rather early
00:09:28because there's no way he should be on his hot lap right now,
00:09:30but there he is.
00:09:31Mark Webber.
00:09:38The only Australian in the event.
00:09:40The busiest man in Australia over the last week.
00:09:45He has been everywhere.
00:09:46A very personal coach guy.
00:09:51Very much a man of the future too.
00:09:53Yeah.
00:09:54Very quick driver.
00:09:56More or less got the pick of the crop for next year, I think.
00:09:58By two seconds, Cristiano DiMotta puts himself on provision of pull.
00:10:07But remember, we're going backwards.
00:10:09The fastest guys will be last on track.
00:10:12Stay with us.
00:10:12Speed Channel's coverage of the FIA Formula One World Championship
00:10:20is brought to you by the all-new BMW X3 Sports Activity Vehicle.
00:10:24BMW, the ultimate driving machine.
00:10:30Welcome back to qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix
00:10:32from Albert Park in Melbourne.
00:10:34I'm Bob Varsha along with Steve Matchett and David Hobbs.
00:10:37There you see the skyline of one of Australia's biggest
00:10:39and most cosmopolitan cities.
00:10:41But right now, all eyes are on track
00:10:44watching German Nick Heidfeld in the Jordan Ford.
00:10:49Nick Heidfeld's his first time he's been driving a car
00:10:52where he has not been contracted to McLaren.
00:10:55They picked him up many years ago
00:10:56when he was a Formula 3 prospect
00:10:58and nurtured him through Formula 3, Formula 3000
00:11:01where he won the championship.
00:11:03And he was really peeved a couple of years ago
00:11:05when Kimi Reikkonen got the drive at McLaren
00:11:07and he didn't.
00:11:09But as we've seen, Kimi Reikkonen is somebody
00:11:11rather special
00:11:12and poor old Nick Heidfeld's Formula 1 career
00:11:15has not gone the way he was hoping.
00:11:19Very lucky to get this Jordan drive
00:11:22which is certainly not the pick of the crop
00:11:23right at the end of the winter season.
00:11:26A lot of that, of course, was all down to sponsorship, wasn't it?
00:11:29The amount of money that these guys can bring.
00:11:33Very difficult to get a handle on these two qualifying sessions at the moment.
00:11:37Remember that we're now watching the second qualifying session.
00:11:40All the drivers have gone out and posted one lap already.
00:11:43The times from that first qualifying session in no way play a part in forming the grid.
00:11:49It's only the time from the second session.
00:11:52So quite whether or not the cars and the teams will be running fuel in that first session
00:11:57in comparison to the second is difficult.
00:12:00I think it would be better to get a balance on full tanks.
00:12:02Basically, it was that first session as a practice for this second qualifying lap.
00:12:08Heidfeld lost all kinds of time in the third sector
00:12:10and does not dislodge Cristiano DiMato from provisional pole
00:12:14as Fernando Alonso looks on and wonders
00:12:16Why did I leave this little bit of hair on my chin?
00:12:22It's his teammate, Jarno Trulli.
00:12:26Jarno Trulli, another man who's somewhat under the cloud
00:12:28as Christian Klain is the new teammate for Mark Webber.
00:12:32Again, another man who came in ostensibly on merit
00:12:36but undoubtedly the £6 million he brought with him
00:12:38were a big part of the package.
00:12:40A big part of that merit.
00:12:41Yeah, yeah, exactly.
00:12:43Very much, Jarno Trulli.
00:12:45A small break in the action here.
00:12:47So from here, the cars after this second qualifying lap,
00:12:51of course, go into Parc Ferme.
00:12:53So it was exactly the same as last year.
00:12:57So the cars that we're seeing now in the second qualifying session
00:12:59are set for race trim.
00:13:01Changes that we've seen going off
00:13:02in between first and second qualifying session,
00:13:04a little bit of wing adjustment and new tyres, of course,
00:13:07and topping the fuel tank up.
00:13:09But not much.
00:13:11Not much.
00:13:11Could change springs and roll bars,
00:13:13but they're doing very little.
00:13:14Look at the crowd here in Australia.
00:13:1750,000 on the first day
00:13:19before the Formula One cars even turned the wheel.
00:13:22They'll have a huge number on qualifying day.
00:13:27The long winter's cold is over.
00:13:32It is time to start the 2003 Formula One season.
00:13:37Rubens Barrichello has hit the wall.
00:13:40Michael going around on the outside.
00:13:43Kimi Raikkonen is going to get a drive-through penalty
00:13:46for speeding on pit lane.
00:13:50There's some damage there or something caught up to me yet.
00:13:53There's a degree that he's picked up.
00:13:53Oh, Montoya!
00:13:54Montoya, who's lost it, and he's into the wall.
00:13:58David Coltart comes around the last turn.
00:14:00He's going to go across the start-finish line,
00:14:02get the checkered flag,
00:14:03and he has the victory in Australia.
00:14:05As with some of the highlights of last year's Australian Grand Prix.
00:14:13Be sure to join us tomorrow for live coverage
00:14:18of the opening round of the World Championship.
00:14:20The fun begins at 9.30 p.m. Eastern
00:14:22with the Acura Free Race Show.
00:14:24As always, Peter Windsor will bring us all the latest news
00:14:26and gossip for the paddock.
00:14:28Then at 10 p.m. Eastern,
00:14:29the cars will roll off for the start of the Australian Grand Prix.
00:14:32It all starts at 9.30 p.m. Eastern,
00:14:34live, only here on speed,
00:14:36though it is subject to blackout.
00:14:41Now on track, Yarno Trulli.
00:14:43It was one of the big disappointments
00:14:44in the first round of single car
00:14:46because the Renaults have been on the pace
00:14:48or near it through yesterday's practice,
00:14:51then again this morning,
00:14:52but Trulli somehow fell off the table.
00:14:55I wonder whether or not Bollas was saying earlier on
00:14:57if they were running more fuel in that first qualifying session.
00:15:00There's a little bit of chassis imbalance.
00:15:02Last year, the Renaults,
00:15:04early on in the season,
00:15:06especially at Malaysia,
00:15:07were accused of running really light in qualifying
00:15:09and would have to stop more frequently for fuel.
00:15:12In actual fact,
00:15:13they didn't seem to be running all that light
00:15:15and ran some quite long stints in the race.
00:15:18And maybe Yarno Trulli is playing it really cautiously this year
00:15:21and making sure he's going for a two-stop
00:15:25as opposed to a three-stop strategy tomorrow.
00:15:28Strategy tomorrow has been slightly changed this year
00:15:30because the pit in and out is quicker than it was.
00:15:32Ooh, just clipping the edge of that curb there.
00:15:36Quicker.
00:15:36Eight-tenths.
00:15:38Yeah, you're right, Davey,
00:15:39what you're saying.
00:15:40The chicane in the pit lane is gone
00:15:41and the pit lane speed limit has been increased
00:15:44on race day up to 100 kilometers an hour.
00:15:45A lot of teams are thinking
00:15:47that'll probably push the strategy more towards a three-stop race,
00:15:51which would mean the cars are going to be running
00:15:52a little bit lighter in each stint of course,
00:15:54but they're going to be seeing a lot more action in the pit lane
00:15:57as a result of that.
00:15:59It has a funny knock-on effect, too,
00:16:01because if you're going to do an extra pit stop,
00:16:03your tires don't need to be as concerned about longevity.
00:16:05They can be stickier and softer.
00:16:08You carry less fuel,
00:16:09so you change the balance of the car.
00:16:11And in the winter testing,
00:16:12the Renaults seem to be very good on tire longevity.
00:16:16Yeah.
00:16:17They've got that brand-new 72-degree RS-24 engine
00:16:21in the back of the thing.
00:16:22Big changes as well at Renault.
00:16:24Mike Gascoigne, the aerodynamic genius,
00:16:26who is technical director, of course,
00:16:27has quit and gone off to work with Toyota.
00:16:30So now we've got Bob Bell,
00:16:31who was assistant technical director,
00:16:33has taken over that post.
00:16:34Bob Bell used to work at McLaren a long while ago.
00:16:36He was in charge of the land speed record project,
00:16:38which never happened.
00:16:38And there it is, truly, P1 so far in the session.
00:16:42So, well, that ain't bad, is it?
00:16:45We'll have to see if he can hold on to it.
00:16:47A one-and-a-half-second improvement
00:16:49over Cristiano DiMato's performance.
00:16:51The best qualifying ever for Jarno Trulli here
00:16:53was in a Jordan, a sixth-place start.
00:17:00Here comes the first of the Jaguars.
00:17:02I don't think the 26 and a 26-3
00:17:06is going to get it done to him somehow.
00:17:08But, again, it depends how much field...
00:17:10Oh, Christian Kleen is bailing.
00:17:13Hmm.
00:17:18Jaguar driver who brought
00:17:19Red Bull sponsorship to the team.
00:17:21He'll be taken in and weighed.
00:17:27The car will be weighed.
00:17:29And the car will go into Park Firm 8.
00:17:31There's no escaping that now.
00:17:35Oh.
00:17:35That may have had something to do with it.
00:17:37That's right, yeah.
00:17:39Oh, wow.
00:17:39Oh, my gosh.
00:17:45That was just a warm on that.
00:17:47You wanted to make sure he got it right.
00:17:50Yeah, well, it was warming up.
00:17:53Okay, I can check off that corner.
00:17:54I don't want to use that one.
00:17:55So, not with a sign when you see
00:17:56the Jaguars mechanic with a fire extinguisher,
00:17:58he's hand-jogging up the pit lane as well, isn't it?
00:18:02There he is.
00:18:04Mechanics looking decidedly
00:18:06glum paced, as well, they might.
00:18:12A lot of winter testing,
00:18:14a lot of effort,
00:18:15a lot of concentration,
00:18:16an awful lot of work,
00:18:17and effort has gone into
00:18:18getting these cars ready for the Grand Prix.
00:18:20You don't want to see that
00:18:21in your first lap of Qualipun.
00:18:23While we have a pause in the schedule,
00:18:25let's take a look at some of the highlights
00:18:27of yesterday's opening round of practice.
00:18:30The world champion sat blissfully
00:18:32in the Ferrari garage
00:18:33while the others went out
00:18:34to sweep the track clean.
00:18:35He didn't get much help from Felipe Massa,
00:18:37who Sauber ground to a halt
00:18:38with a fuel pressure problem
00:18:39before completing a lap,
00:18:40but the good news is
00:18:41the team's scooter worked flawlessly.
00:18:44When Schumacher finally took to the track
00:18:45around the midway point of the session,
00:18:47he immediately went to the top
00:18:48of the timesheets,
00:18:49broke the lap record
00:18:50on his first hot lap,
00:18:52and then stayed there
00:18:53with teammate Rubens Barrichella
00:18:54second quick.
00:18:55Session two saw plenty of lapping
00:18:57and a few spins,
00:18:58such as this one authored by
00:18:59Takuma Sato in the VAR Honda.
00:19:01No damage.
00:19:03Even Michael overstepped the line.
00:19:05Sliding off track in the final corner,
00:19:07bounding through the grass.
00:19:08Car shed a few bits
00:19:10and picked up some turf,
00:19:11but by that point,
00:19:12Schumacher was once again
00:19:13at the top of the field.
00:19:15Juan Pablo Montoya found himself
00:19:17in the lower half of the top ten,
00:19:18thanks in part to this gentle spin
00:19:19in the next-to-last corner.
00:19:20We'll do you from onboard,
00:19:23showing you just how easy it is
00:19:24to get 900 horsepower,
00:19:25plus sideways under braking
00:19:27on this very slippery circuit.
00:19:29Tough first day for Cristiano DiMato.
00:19:31Finally burst a tire
00:19:32and stopped on course,
00:19:34finishing the day 16th.
00:19:36Questions about the BAR Honda's true speed
00:19:38were partially answered.
00:19:39Jensen Button left up to fourth on the day
00:19:41before mechanical problems stranded him,
00:19:44but there was no touching Michael Schumacher
00:19:46who finished the day on top,
00:19:47up a tenth on Barrichello
00:19:48and a full second clear of the field.
00:19:55I'm sure you read all about it this morning
00:19:57in your local newspaper.
00:19:58Now, there's more drama in the Toyota garage.
00:20:01Olivier Panis has climbed out.
00:20:04I wonder what brought that up.
00:20:05Well, Olivier Panis, here they are.
00:20:07He got out that far
00:20:08and then obviously stalled
00:20:10or some sort of electrical glitch
00:20:12has shut the engine down.
00:20:14This was moments ago,
00:20:15Panis in the car.
00:20:17Trying to get it.
00:20:18Seems to have stalled in gear.
00:20:19You can see they've got the car jacked up.
00:20:22Boy, that's three out of the top.
00:20:23That's three out of the six people
00:20:25who tried to qualify so far.
00:20:27We've had a problem.
00:20:28Bruni never made it out of the track.
00:20:30Clean went around and spun
00:20:31and now we've got the Toyota there.
00:20:34There's Peter Sauber looking on.
00:20:36His man, Felipe Massa,
00:20:37is scheduled to be next on track.
00:20:42Well, that's not going to go down
00:20:43at all well in the Toyota garage.
00:20:46Here's DeMotta.
00:20:48Talking it over with the engineers.
00:20:51He doesn't look convinced.
00:20:54Here's what happened to Christian Clean.
00:20:58Boy, he really got wide there, didn't he?
00:21:00He just missed that.
00:21:01Whoa.
00:21:04Whoo!
00:21:06There's Massa heading out.
00:21:16Well, we have a moment.
00:21:18We'll take a quick break
00:21:19and return with more of final qualifying
00:21:22for the Formula One Grand Prix of Australia.
00:21:24Stay with us.
00:21:25We'll be right back here on Speed.
00:21:27Welcome back to qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix.
00:21:43After three abortive attempts to get a car on track,
00:21:46Felipe Massa is out in the Sauber
00:21:49that bears a striking resemblance to last year's Ferrari.
00:21:52Of course, the drivetrain, engine, and transmission
00:21:56are state-of-the-art Maranello products.
00:22:01Yeah, unfortunately, the car can't be quite that much
00:22:03that last year's Ferrari,
00:22:04because it's certainly not going as quick as last year's Ferrari.
00:22:07Felipe Massa, of course, now a test driver for Ferrari,
00:22:10so the rumour being that he's been groomed for that job
00:22:15to replace maybe Barrichello or even Schumacher
00:22:18if and when those two go away.
00:22:20195 down the straight for Massa.
00:22:25Yeah, I mean, the car does look an awful lot
00:22:27like last year's F2003 GA Ferrari.
00:22:32And there's a lot of speculation
00:22:33that probably it looked a little bit too much like
00:22:35and then there was an absolute direct copy.
00:22:38Charlie Whiting with the FIA
00:22:40have said no, absolutely not.
00:22:43But really, it's very, very difficult to ever say
00:22:46that one car is an absolute precise record.
00:22:48You only have to change so little on the car
00:22:50for it not to be the same.
00:22:52You could change the size of the threads,
00:22:53the pitch of the threads,
00:22:54or a couple of degrees on the rads of the corners.
00:22:58Massa, a couple of tenths quicker than De Mata at this point,
00:23:01so we're projecting him P2
00:23:04if he doesn't lose too much time in this third segment.
00:23:07And it's been the problematic segment of the racetrack
00:23:09for just about everyone.
00:23:16There you go.
00:23:19That ain't about time.
00:23:24But lots of other fast runners to come yet,
00:23:26so a nice time there for Felipe Massa.
00:23:29Currently lying in second, Jano Trulli.
00:23:32Jano Trulli's been pretty quick most of the weekend.
00:23:35Alonso as well.
00:23:36Alonso generally slightly quicker than Jano Trulli,
00:23:39which was basically the story last year.
00:23:41Takumisato comes around,
00:23:44and the BAR Honda about to begin his flyer.
00:23:49He's had a few spins.
00:23:50It was one of his problems the year before last
00:23:52when he was driving for Jordan,
00:23:54and he had probably a few more spins
00:23:56than he should have done.
00:23:57He also had more mechanical breakdowns
00:23:59than was very helpful for him.
00:24:02Didn't get a lot of practice.
00:24:06That's a nice touch that the guys have been putting
00:24:08on the graphics for Rizzotto in Australia.
00:24:10He had to give the telemetry readout
00:24:12the revs of the Honda engine.
00:24:14Seen two or three manufacturers have allowed
00:24:16the telemetry figures to be used.
00:24:20Can you believe how quickly they accelerate
00:24:22from like 13,000 to 16,000?
00:24:24I mean, it is instantaneous almost.
00:24:27Haven't seen any yet tick over the 19,000 mark.
00:24:30We've had them very close,
00:24:32but not yet have gone over.
00:24:33As they get up into like fourth, fifth, and sixth gear,
00:24:39obviously the revs climb a lot slower,
00:24:41but by that time they're doing very nearly 190 miles an hour.
00:24:45And remember that these engines are long alive.
00:24:49They've got to last the entire duration of the race weekend now,
00:24:52so the fact that they are ticking over
00:24:54or revving up to 19,000 is pretty impressive
00:24:57without stepping over it.
00:24:59If Sato could go quicker than truly,
00:25:00that would be the first time he's done that this weekend.
00:25:02And he is currently quicker.
00:25:04That last sector that's given so many people the trouble, though.
00:25:10Can he maintain it?
00:25:14There it is.
00:25:15By four-tenths plus.
00:25:18Best time for Takuma Sato for the weekend by far.
00:25:23It was Jensen Button, his teammate.
00:25:27A lot of weight on his shoulders this year,
00:25:31taking over his team leader from Jack Villeneuve.
00:25:33We'll be back to Melbourne in a moment.
00:25:48Welcome back to qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix.
00:25:51The show goes on here in Australia,
00:25:53no matter whether there are cars on track or not.
00:25:56It's a little choppy out there on Victoria Bay.
00:25:59Well, we have a moment before the next car takes to the track.
00:26:02We're at an FIA-mandated hold.
00:26:04Let's take a look at some of the highlights
00:26:06of one of the more bizarre races in Melbourne history, 2002.
00:26:09And they are off.
00:26:14What a great start by Russell.
00:26:16Oh!
00:26:17Back flying over Ruben Barrichello.
00:26:18Oh!
00:26:19Boom!
00:26:20Oh, Yarno truly spins!
00:26:21Oh, no!
00:26:23Oh, we've got a problem.
00:26:24Cool charge off the road with David.
00:26:26Michael Schumacher, I think, was passed by Montoya.
00:26:29Juan Montoya goes by going into the first turn, a perfect pass.
00:26:33He's done it.
00:26:34That was a...
00:26:34What a pass!
00:26:36Michael Schumacher swings by the pitch, waves at the crew.
00:26:41He's going to take the checkered flag.
00:26:43And this is the guy I want to see come across the finish line, I must say.
00:26:47Mark Webber is stoked!
00:26:51That he was.
00:26:52Two runner-up finishes in the last two years in this race for Juan Pablo Montoya.
00:26:57He'll want to break that string in Sunday's race.
00:27:00And, of course, you'll see it live here on Speed Channel.
00:27:05Giancarlo Fisichella comes up to speed.
00:27:07We'll take a quick break and be right back to show you his hot lap.
00:27:11His car owner, Peter Salver, looking on.
00:27:13Stay with us.
00:27:17Welcome back.
00:27:18Giancarlo Fisichella coming around to start his hot lap.
00:27:21Be sure to check out Speed Channel tomorrow at 7 p.m. Eastern for Speed News.
00:27:25Join me and the newest member of Team Speed, Connie Legrand, as we bring you all the latest news and highlights from across the world of motorsports.
00:27:32Again, that's tomorrow at 7 p.m. Eastern time.
00:27:34Speed News, only on Speed.
00:27:41Swinging through turn 16 with that little cleft right there at the end that gives the car a bounce onto the front straightaway.
00:27:47This is Giancarlo Fisichella, who's been campaigning openly for a drive at Ferrari.
00:27:52That's not how to do it.
00:27:53He's running with the junior varsity, you might say, here at Sauber.
00:27:57And he's made a dog's breakfast out of the beginning of his hot lap.
00:28:02Giancarlo Fisichella absolutely desperate to drive a Ferrari, a real Ferrari, before he retires.
00:28:08But I fear the clock has ticked too far, and I don't see it happening for him.
00:28:13But he's going to put his heart into this Sauber this year to try and make it happen.
00:28:18Somehow Giancarlo Fisichella is 31 years old.
00:28:22Hard to believe.
00:28:23Well, 2004 specification Ferrari 053 engine in the back of a thing, and 2004 specification transmission as well.
00:28:33Also, two-thirds of the car is current Ferrari spec.
00:28:40And again, as we said before, that chassis, not a million miles off last year's chassis.
00:28:45Well, he could end up fourth here.
00:28:50He's picked up a little, he's lost a lot of time in that terrible error at Turn 1 and 2, but has picked up some of it in the, uh, through the Jimmy Clark section.
00:29:01Oh, he might have lost a little bit more there, though.
00:29:10Obviously trying very hard.
00:29:15Fifth.
00:29:15Fifth.
00:29:15But nearly two full seconds off the provisional pull time set by Takuma Saho.
00:29:22He's down into Turn 1.
00:29:27Yeah, that's where it went wrong.
00:29:29Oh, yes.
00:29:30These cars are very sensitive to aerodynamic change.
00:29:36When Michael Schumacher was going off yesterday in practice two or three times, we saw it with that very big shunt, nearly a colossal accident from Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari.
00:29:44He put it down to wind change across the track, which has such a big effect on the aerodynamics of these modern cars.
00:29:51Whether or not it's the, uh, same situation with Fisi Keller there.
00:29:55Man of the moment, Mark Webber.
00:29:57Every eye in Australia will be glued to this man now.
00:30:03All 13 million of them, or whatever it is, population of New York in a country about twice the size of the United States.
00:30:10I think the, uh, graphic is wrong.
00:30:40Did I detect a note of sarcasm?
00:30:42Just shows what the locals will do to get their boy out front, doesn't it?
00:30:47Home cooking?
00:30:49I don't think so.
00:30:50Okay, mate, let's give him a good time here.
00:30:54Okay, how fast he goes.
00:30:55Give him a poll.
00:31:05That Jaguar engine's definitely got a slight Australian accent to it, don't you think?
00:31:10A bit of a twang, put it over here.
00:31:15Well, it's not a bad time coming to the straight there, 19 is the exit to the corner.
00:31:18Well, Webber's second sector time is the fastest second sector time of the day.
00:31:22Look at that, 22.8.
00:31:24Yeah, and there it is.
00:31:25Yeah.
00:31:25Well, you're saying you wanted a good time out of him.
00:31:32Well, that's certainly given the crowd something to cheer about.
00:31:36Yeah, 22.8.
00:31:39Fastest second sector time of the day.
00:31:42Fastest lap so far.
00:31:43Jaguar has a treasure there.
00:31:46We'll see whether they can make the most of it before one of the rich teams plucks Mark Webber away.
00:31:52That's a story to play out later on this year.
00:31:54For now, he is provisional pole sitter for his home Grand Prix.
00:31:58We'll be back.
00:31:59Welcome back to the streets of Albert Park, a temporary racing circuit that's among the longest and certainly one of the fastest temporary circuits anywhere.
00:32:11Albert Park, site of the opening round of the 2004 Formula One World Championship.
00:32:14This is final qualifying with Bob Barsha with David Hobbs and Steve Matchett, and this is Rubens Barrichello of Ferrari.
00:32:22Rubens Barrichello has not had a lot of luck here in the last couple of years, to say the least.
00:32:29Count the laps he's completed on the fingers of one hand.
00:32:34Barrichello's track speed, 197.4, 317.9 kph.
00:32:39So far about the best he's done is he qualified, he qualified on the pole here in 0-2, finished second, qualified second last year in the year before that in 0-1, but unfortunately the results haven't looked too good.
00:32:55Seconds his best result in 2000.
00:32:59Retired, 2002-2003.
00:33:02Here's a guy who's gone through a maturing process, came into the sport as a teenager, now in his 30s, and he says he has never been better.
00:33:16Well, tomorrow night before the Formula One Grand Prix from Australia, you'll see him in the Brazilian Grand Prix of 1994, where he came fourth, and that remains to this day his best result in his home Grand Prix.
00:33:29Rubens Barrichello obviously going to take pole position here for Mark Webber right now.
00:33:34Significantly quicker all around the track.
00:33:38Bingo.
00:33:39Yes, by 1.3.
00:33:42Nothing trivial.
00:33:42First man into 24s this weekend, I believe, 24-4.
00:33:46That is a...
00:33:47He is indeed.
00:33:48...newsly fast time.
00:33:4928.2, sector 1, 22.6, sector 2, both fastest second time of the day.
00:33:55There's Jean Toad.
00:33:57JT, it says on the muffs of his headset.
00:34:02In the previous eight runnings of this race, each year, the front row of the starting grid has been dominated by a single team.
00:34:09The first two years, it was Williams.
00:34:11The next three, it was McLaren.
00:34:12The most recent three, it has been Ferrari.
00:34:15And five out of the last six times of the last season, Rubens out-qualified his teammate, Michael Schumacher.
00:34:24Schumacher's going to have to really get on with it to beat that time.
00:34:27There's another man with pole experience.
00:34:29Two poles last year, Malaysia and Hungary, for young Fernando Alonso of Spain.
00:34:33And also, the youngest ever victory for a Grand Prix driver in Hungary last year.
00:34:43A lot of people thought the Renault, as good as the chassis might be, might not be everything they need in the engine department.
00:34:51They have changed the engine configuration from their wide-angle V10 last year to a 72-degree layout.
00:34:57So they weren't expected to be quick out of the box, but they were very good in practice yesterday, finishing the day third and fifth on the timesheets.
00:35:06Well, I'll tell you what, Bob, I was talking to the Renault engineers during the winter season, how the development of that 72-degree engine was going.
00:35:14And they said, well, no problem with it all.
00:35:16It's running fine on the dyno.
00:35:19It's an old tried-and-tested thing from old Supertech days.
00:35:22They've just revamped it and reworked it.
00:35:24And it's only Renault and I think Minardi's progress engine, which is reduced down to 72 degrees.
00:35:32But what this is enabled to do by running a very narrow-angle engine is to close that bodywork up at the back.
00:35:37You know how fanatical Renault have become about aerodynamics?
00:35:40Well, they all have, but certainly.
00:35:41Look, I mean, look at the chassis speaks for itself.
00:35:43Look at the side parts on this thing.
00:35:45Yeah.
00:35:46Second, but 1.2 seconds off of Barrichello's time in the Ferrari.
00:35:51A lot of pressure now on Mr. Schumacher.
00:35:58Got Jenson Button in the Honda coming up.
00:36:00David Coulthard, Kivi Reitkinen, Raoul Schumacher, then Michael Schumacher.
00:36:05And finally, the quickest man this morning, or just a few moments ago, Juan Pablo Montoya.
00:36:11Here is Jenson Button.
00:36:13He'll be very anxious to be quicker than his teammate, Sato, who set a really good time.
00:36:19Yeah.
00:36:20And Jenson Button's eyes when Sato crossed the line.
00:36:23At the moment, Sato's sitting in P3.
00:36:25He did look a little bit concerned about the pace of his teammate.
00:36:29You're only team leader, providing you're quicker than your teammate.
00:36:33That's the man you want to beat, is your teammate.
00:36:39Stroke effect going under those trees.
00:36:41Just a little bit more.
00:36:51Oh, it's so close to 19.
00:36:53Give us 19.
00:36:57That's good enough to give him second, if he can maintain that to the gap.
00:37:28very calm hands on the wheel looking very smooth and very controlled on the
00:37:37on board there the engine rev going to just right this is that crucial last
00:37:41couple of corners he should snag p2 here
00:37:47was he he does yes within a half second of barrakello now that is a very good
00:37:53time that's uh his best time of the weekend but
00:37:56quite a long way a lot of discussion as to whether honda would stay in formula one
00:38:00supposedly they had a decision to make it midsummer but several members of the bar team as you see
00:38:06dave richard's there the team manager who has simply remade this team in recent years several
00:38:12members of the team have gone to japan to begin work on next year's engine which would seem to
00:38:16bode well for honda's future in the sport visibly very thrilled with that and so they should it
00:38:24look like they've got the engine rest said about 18.5 as we're saying in yesterday's show they had
00:38:30some colossal engine explosions in testing had to stop testing and ship all the engines back to japan so
00:38:36they could really look and find out what had gone wrong with the things but they seem to have got it
00:38:40together today well he certainly had a very smooth run there jansen button i mean we didn't see the car
00:38:45bubble once i mean we didn't see one tire lock up we didn't see any puffs of smoke off any tires car
00:38:51looking uh pretty smooth all the way around that very fast lap we talked about this yesterday in
00:38:56the practice show jensen button was very candid this winter about this his fourth year in the sport
00:39:01finds him a very different man than he was when he began it he was the wild child he says that's all
00:39:07behind me now in fact i wish williams hadn't put me in their car but stuck me in one of the minor series
00:39:12to work my way up and learn what it takes to be a formula one driver polite round of applause from
00:39:19the australian crowd jensen button is p2 having completed job one beating his teammate in qualifying
00:39:28welcome back coming up to speed on the racetrack and qualifying for the 2004 australian grand prix
00:39:33a man with a lot of pressure on him david coultard in the mclaren mercedes speed channel is your home for
00:39:38the ama superbike series tomorrow the biggest race of the year the daytona 200 presented by arai helmets
00:39:44comes your way live coverage begins at 1 30 p.m eastern we'll be on the air for three hours of
00:39:49excitement once again it begins at 1 30 in the afternoon tomorrow live only here on speed
00:39:58david coulthard knows he does not have a seat at mclaren next year what does he do in 2004
00:40:06he simply races for his career he admits that single car qualifying was not
00:40:12a part of his arsenal last year in fact it probably helped contribute to the end of his mclaren career
00:40:19so now we'll see if david can race himself into a top seat in 2005 beginning here in australia
00:40:26whoa we're a little bit wide there i think we missed went that in on board but i think he just
00:40:32clipped that corner of course david coulthard winner here last year 94.2 down the straight and in 97 so
00:40:40david coulthard no stranger to win a circle here in australia
00:40:44three mile an hour slower than rubens barichello and we believe that the mercedes ilmore
00:40:53engine is about 860 brake horsepower about 20 brake down on the specification they had in japan 03 and
00:41:01that again is because of reliability issues over the increased duty cycle that all these engines
00:41:06must now endure it's a beautiful beautiful sleek looking car i have to say but the mclaren engineers
00:41:14and the drivers are all a little mystified how to get the thing to work he's way off it's not going
00:41:19well yeah a second off boy that's good now that's going to put him down in uh fifth six or seven spot but
00:41:26of course we don't know what fuel load is now we have to factor that in and of course we can't tell
00:41:32you what fuel loads these guys are running purely because we don't know and the teams are not telling
00:41:37anybody it's a bit of the king of the one stuffer race or a two-star oh no no did he reach the wall oh
00:41:46he's so close
00:41:51and he has to take the lap because he's past the pit entrance and that will put him dead stinking last
00:42:03well i can't say that there are some no timers in this group as well
00:42:08see how close it gets boy i'll tell you what it didn't want to come off the grass did it there
00:42:12no it is not much as you can see there's not much room
00:42:17this is just what was whoa wow boy that nearly went over there and that got a lot of
00:42:21a lot of air under the front that's where michael schumacher had that incredible
00:42:27similar experience yesterday afternoon look how far the front goes up well that's where that
00:42:32depression is in the racetrack and obviously it's even more pronounced on the turf as he goes
00:42:36bouncing in the air now if he has an awful lap the question is with the potential for engine
00:42:43unreliability we've just been talking about that problem remember if McLaren will take that chance
00:42:48of stick a fresh engine in and start from the back of the grid which is where they're going to be
00:42:53almost anywhere probably where they're going to be anyway i lost my mind let me correct myself that lap by
00:42:59david cool part is still in the top 10. now of course he started here 11th last year don't
00:43:05be it when he won the race he started in 11th so he's no stranger for coming through the field here
00:43:09the reds on the uh mercedes engine just a little bit lower than the uh honda only just a tad over
00:43:2218 000. honda was about 18 18 4 18 4 and a half right now looking like uh third row potential grid spot for kimia raikkonen
00:43:41boom boom switch there ah yeah lost all kinds of times slowed him up into 15.
00:43:56and he goes got all that grass and dirt there that david kooltag kicked out
00:44:01seventh well he really only lost a place we were projecting him sixth ahead
00:44:06of yarno truly instead he will start one place behind him pending the last three drivers on track
00:44:14michael schumacher will go out next to last followed by juan pablo montoya will be back
00:44:20to melbourne for more in a moment now on track for his hot lap to determine where he will start
00:44:29in the australian grand prix this is ralph schumacher third quickest in the first round
00:44:35of single car qualifying so he goes out third from last in this second and final round with only his
00:44:42brother michael in the ferrari and his teammate juan pablo montoya and the williams bmw to follow
00:44:48his best qualifying here third in 19 in 2002 and he finished third in 99 and 2000 slightly off the
00:44:55pace in the first intermediate six tenths ribbons baracchello in the ferrari is the provisional
00:45:00bowl sitter jensen button is second
00:45:08apologize for a little break up in our audio there that's from the world feed coming from melbourne
00:45:13he's got a long way to go you know it's going to be good
00:45:16he's right around his teammate's time kimi raikkonen is currently seventh
00:45:26this should put ralph schumacher probably around about third
00:45:35now looking pretty smoothly there this seems to be the complex that's getting them all this weekend
00:45:39it is yeah keep saying fuel loads you know fuel loads could be so deceptive
00:45:481.4 seconds now that's interesting i'm guessing a pretty good fuel load on the williams
00:45:54there's the man who knows patrick head knows exactly
00:45:58what the setup is on the car there's mario thiesen from bmw
00:46:02face saying nothing there that was a basic poker face wasn't the basic poker face
00:46:11track temperature dropped just a couple of degrees in between those last two runs
00:46:15not really enough to affect anything here comes michael schumacher second to last running now
00:46:21a big bold step w26 for williams and this car the f2004 a natural evolution of what has gone before
00:46:40really didn't williams and mclaren desperately trying to catch up 197 the speed trap
00:46:45marco already has 55 poles to his name which is uh vastly more than anybody else in the field
00:46:56second all time to ayat and center with 65 so
00:47:04so this this concept this ferrari concept we're seeing now
00:47:08started in 2002 an extremely dominant season for ferrari the 2003 ga a natural evolution of that
00:47:16and this car the 2004 a natural evolution again and that's why we're seeing williams and mclaren come
00:47:22out with these revolutionary looking cars it's really a throwback to 2002 they're desperately trying
00:47:27to get on pace with what ferrari certainly heading to the pole at the moment he's slightly quicker on
00:47:31those first two sectors can he maintain that in this last all important sector and take away
00:47:37poll from his teammate ruben barragello and of course yet to come is uh one pablo montoya who went quicker
00:47:43than him just about an hour ago just when you think michael schumacher had no further milestones to reach
00:47:49there are a bunch he is three podiums away from 125 in his career he is 68 laps away from being the first
00:47:56man to lead 4 000 laps in his career nobody else in history has led and he takes the pole by 7 000
00:48:05he takes the provisional pole by yes that eyelash one vital man to run that is one pablo montoya
00:48:1428.1 sector one and 22.5 both biggest times of the day but michael schumacher
00:48:21pulls more rubber down in the session this is montoya the radical new williams fw 26 this is
00:48:30the first twin-keel car and you can see that very distinctive nose on the thing look how open it is
00:48:37right in the middle of the car to try and increase airflow over that middle section of the plane and
00:48:41increase the downforce they're not saying it's an overnight cure but it gives them new avenues to explore
00:48:47what an incredible amount of pressure on these drivers this single lap qualifying which doesn't
00:48:52seem to see doesn't seem to suit david koulthard today being a classic example making two or three
00:48:58horrendous mistakes can uh one pablo let's have a look at this first sector just coming up now
00:49:05he was quicker than michael in the first round he is dead even with a second slower call it dead even
00:49:12montoya hit formula one like an explosion a masterful qualifier even michael schumacher had to give him
00:49:23that
00:49:26but there is some question whether or not juan pablo montoya is fully on his game this weekend he stomped
00:49:35out of a press conference earlier in the weekend oh when he was ambushed by some comedians
00:49:41who insisted on asking silly questions and leaving the room he stomped right past some important
00:49:47team sponsors who were there specifically to meet him he could end up on the front row still he could
00:49:53just beat one pablo let's see if he can channel that anger come on looks clean
00:50:01no no
00:50:06third wow ferrari front row ferrari front row for the fourth consecutive year
00:50:12wow all ferrari front row patrick head cannot believe it impassive i think patrick head can believe it and uh
00:50:20that's part of the reason he's looking like he's looking is because he can't exactly believe it
00:50:26got him right where you want him third well i'll tell you what for something that's a brand new
00:50:30concept car that wings have come out with this is the first race the first qualifying session that ain't
00:50:35bad that ain't bad at all that's true i would say this ferrari concept is now three years old
00:50:42williams is probably less than three months very lukewarm uh press coverage in the british press they
00:50:50said it was a bit of a ho-hum they said it doesn't look much different to the 2003 car and really
00:50:56thought that uh people like williams and mcclaren would be very buoyed by it but in fact
00:51:01the old fox there um ross braun has really uh again outfoxed everybody for this first race anyway
00:51:10but of course we've got the race tomorrow which is the key well on launching the car ross braun's
00:51:16response was you know you think the car looks very conservative now wait till you see it in australia
00:51:21well really the biggest difference is those little winglets that they put on to try and get a little
00:51:25bit more downforce it didn't look that much more radical than the car that we saw at launch but
00:51:30the thing is it doesn't need to be it doesn't need what you want is consistency now here's something
00:51:35interesting looking down the timing chart juan pablo montoya and jensen but have times that are
00:51:42identical to the thousandth of a second 124.998 i believe that means that but having set the time
00:51:53earlier gains the position but that's not the way it's shown montoya is currently shown p3 but p4
00:52:03but they'll be side by side on the second row got it got it they're going back to the first session
00:52:09and montoya was quicker that'd be my guess of course these qualifying rules are new but i'm guessing that
00:52:15because montoya was quicker in the first session that he gets the position once again it's gridstone
00:52:22first and second michelin shot cars third through tenth of course you got to remember that the uh that
00:52:30the bar cars of course went to michelin over the winter which obviously probably looks like has helped
00:52:35their performance on the other hand you couldn't say that with the two ferrari's on first and second
00:52:40at the bridgestones aren't performing pretty pretty well well we know that very close interlinked relationship
00:52:46with bridgestone and ferrari continues on and i think you're absolutely right what you say the switch
00:52:52to michelin has helped enormously flatter the bar honda package nothing wrong with that of course but
00:52:59there's no doubt that bridgestone have very closely linked to ferrari more than any other team
00:53:05so it's an all ferrari front row for the fourth straight year and they have a half second
00:53:10on third place one pablo montoya and jensen but who will start on row two we'll be back with more
00:53:18from qualifying in melbourne in just a moment so stay with us welcome back to melbourne now we have
00:53:25checked the rule as we mentioned before going to break jensen button and one pablo montoya set exactly
00:53:31the same time good for third place on the starting grid but because montoya was quicker in the first of
00:53:37two rounds of single car qualifying under the new qualifying rules he takes third spot and heads for
00:53:44the interview room while we have a moment let's take a look back at what turns out to be the pole lap
00:53:49from michael schumacher well comes in with sublime perfection into turn one just clipping the curb there
00:53:57exits right up to the edge of the road a lot of people put a wheel over there over the weekend through
00:54:02the leaves down to this very tight corner number three and then swoops out of there as he as he exits
00:54:09as he just clips that curb on the right really really looking just as smooth as silk we come up to
00:54:15first intermediate and look at this just sixty six hundredths of a second quicker than his teammate
00:54:22barichello who's already on the pole manages to take fastest first sector time of the day and the second
00:54:28second sector time was also fastest for michael schumacher didn't manage to clinch the third but
00:54:33nevertheless a beautifully he was saying a sublime so smooth run from the driver the chassis and those
00:54:41wonderful bridgestone tires david just two tenths quicker than his teammate there and of course yet to
00:54:47come as well pablo montoya had been quicker than him in the first part of the single car qualifying and
00:54:52there was always the doubt that von pablo would um would erase his pole time but of course he didn't
00:54:58he was half a second slower but as you can see he just uses every middle of the road
00:55:04to perfection coming out of that 15 gives himself plenty of route to the left so he can really exit this
00:55:09right-hander here and get the most out of the car down the straight to launch it across the line
00:55:14a 124-4 303 kilometers an hour
00:55:22and jean tote absolutely beside himself with excitement at his performance now coming up
00:55:28tomorrow speech formula one coverage begins with the first round of the 1994 formula one season
00:55:33the brazilian grand prix as we start a new season of formula one decade that starts at 8 30 p.m eastern
00:55:39time then at 9 30 eastern the 2004 formula one season gets underway with live coverage of the
00:55:45australian grand prix as always peter windsor will bring us all the news and gossip from the paddock
00:55:51now we hope to bring you the top three interview from the press room but we're having a few technical
00:55:56difficulties we'll ask you to bear with us while we try to unsnarl those right now here's steve match
00:56:02it with a look at last season's highlights of the australian grand prix an eventful race to be sure
00:56:09the 2003 season started under damped drying conditions in melbourne kimmy raikkonen seeing
00:56:19the condition drying decided to start the race from pit lane on dry tires and a full tank of fuel
00:56:24when the race was declared wet meaning you could change to slower wet weather tires some teams did
00:56:29including the front row sitting ferraris of michael schumacher and rubens barichello it's a bad idea
00:56:35pit stops with dry rubber started immediately not soon enough for rubens
00:56:39barichello rubens barichello has hit the wall it was game over rubens barichello christiana de marta's
00:56:47first formula one race lasted but seven laps however that was one more than ralph firmans mark webber
00:56:53couldn't duplicate his 2002 fifth place finish at melbourne succumbing as he did to suspension
00:56:58problems and bringing out the second safety car of the day when they began racing again it was michael
00:57:04schumacher putting the pressure on kimmy raikkonen who drove from the back to the front on a one-stop
00:57:08strategy and was determined to stay there forcing the world champion y now we're hearing that kimmy
00:57:14raikkonen is going to get a drive-through penalty raikkonen would have to give up the lead after being
00:57:20assessed a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pits with raikkonen out of the picture schumacher
00:57:26looked to have an easy win in his sights until a trip over the curbs resulted in damage to schumacher's
00:57:31barge ball schumacher would be forced to pit for the third time handing the lead over to juan pablo
00:57:36montoya but only temporarily montoya who's lost it and he's into the wall the only man left standing
00:57:45was david courtard he's gonna go across the start finish line get the checkered flag and he has the
00:57:50victory in australia talk us through those last few laps your emotions and your feelings now
00:57:55yeah you know i do all the usual things when you're in that comfortable position uh short shifting
00:58:00being kind to the engine uh rolling on the brakes a little bit earlier and just making sure you don't
00:58:05do it in montoya you know basically happens as i said an eventful race and so david coulthard put
00:58:16himself on the winner's rolls at the australian grand prix for the second time joining michael schumacher
00:58:22ending schumacher's stretch of three straight victories in melbourne eddie irvine put ferrari up
00:58:29there for the first time in 1999 and with that stop michael schumacher ceased a 19 run podium
00:58:37stretch that was the first time he had been on the podium for 19 races damon hill won a couple of
00:58:42times in melbourne 95 and 96 94 i see nigel manser when he was drafted back in to help williams out at the
00:58:52final race which clinched them the constructors championship of course the formula one australian
00:58:58grand prix began in adelaide australia a great great party in a great race it used to end the
00:59:04formula one season and all the teams were anxious to go there because it is such a fine stop on tour
00:59:12we'll be back with four from qualifying we will have the press conference for you and that's good
00:59:17news so stay with us we'll be right back to melbourne
00:59:22welcome back to melbourne qualifying for the australian grand prix is now complete we are proud
00:59:27to say we've managed to pluck the top three interview from the ether so let's go right
00:59:31to speed channels peter windsor
00:59:36from the 2004 fosters australian grand prix a warm welcome to our fastest three qualifiers in third
00:59:41place for bmw williams one pablo montoya second for skateria ferrari marlborough rubens barichello
00:59:47and on the pole six times world champion michael schumacher michael it looks from the outside as if
00:59:53it's been an amazing weekend for you so far brilliantly quick yesterday and what a great
00:59:57qualifying session that was yeah definitely i mean the guys have done a fantastic job i mean
01:00:04straight out of the box when the car was shown the first time onto the circuit it showed a great
01:00:10potential and here again i mean you go out and you can do the lap times you can work on the car
01:00:15we have a very good feeling with it but the tough times will come to my view did it feel like a pole
01:00:22winning car a couple of weeks ago when you're still testing in europe it did to be honest for australia
01:00:28in particular because if you look statistically we have always been very strong here in australia
01:00:33then it's coming malaysia which traditionally is a little bit more difficult for us so it did feel good
01:00:39for for the first race rubens great performance from you obviously you did your time earlier in
01:00:44the afternoon what were the track conditions like then well the first session when i was first out
01:00:49it was very dusty so you know it was just carrying the car around pretty much but i knew the potential
01:00:57was there and on the second qualifier pushes as as much as i could i don't know if the track was any
01:01:03better but i don't care i think it was just a great lap uh unfortunately or unfortunately michael did
01:01:09beat for a little bit so it was just uh uh you know disappointed not to get that little bit but um
01:01:17you know i'm i'm a happy guy i push as much as i could one public looked as if you're in a bit of
01:01:22trouble yesterday what was the car like today um a lot better i think you know it's been in a bit of
01:01:28tradition in williams to always you know get to a circuit and take a bit of time to get you know
01:01:33everything working and you know it seems our tires always on friday struggle a little bit as you know
01:01:39track rovers in you know it gets better and better and better and you know i wasn't surprised and i was
01:01:45a bit surprised in the first qualifying and i was amazed at their lap time so i knew from you know from
01:01:51the first qualifying i could go a bit quicker and i just tried a bit too hard through you know how fast you
01:01:56can you know just went in too fast and then in the right hand they just understood you off to get
01:02:00out of the throttle so it was a bit of a shame but you know we're just trying michael this year we
01:02:06have a new rule effectively 800 kilometers per engine what's it been like so far running with that
01:02:12new rule with that over your shoulders i have to say it initially sounds very impressive to go from
01:02:19300 to 800 with an engine but we worked very hard on that and we didn't face actually too much
01:02:26of a trouble and it's down to preparation and our guys have done a great job in that they have
01:02:32worked well to to sort of get the rules into account and do the kilometers and not lose too much
01:02:40on the power side probably actually gain on the power side and we're quite happy on on this 56th
01:02:47career pole for michael schumacher moving in within nine of the all-time record held by the late
01:02:52ayrton senna he'll lead them off with tomorrow's grand prix and of course we'll be there we'll be
01:02:58back in a moment to wrap things up
01:03:02welcome back to melbourne qualifying is now complete for the opening round of the championship
01:03:07let's take a look now at the final results of today's qualifying well there you see michael schumacher
01:03:13the 124.4 that's a qualifying record here at melbourne that's his uh 56th pole
01:03:22we've been doing a good job the jack yeah and that's sarto in seventh that's not bad at all look
01:03:26is it ahead of ralph schumacher in the williams in eighth spot and uh look at how mclaren are doing david
01:03:33i know davy kooltard down there and uh and kimi reichden having a bad run and an interesting
01:03:40session it was so the stage is set for the opening round of the longest championship in formula one
01:03:46history what's going to happen well here's a quick preview it will be an interesting season we we out
01:03:55there to try to beat the best race try to win and this year we're very close to win the championship we're
01:04:01up to the challenge i'm confident we are confident that we can do it there's a different feeling
01:04:07heading into melbourne australia for the start of the 2004 formula one season for one thing ferrari
01:04:13isn't a runaway favorite for the championship we know our riders are strong but we will be strong
01:04:18too thanks to the new one engine rule last year's championship winning car is not an option
01:04:23so ferrari will open the season with their new car for the first time in three years
01:04:28the f2004 has been quick in testing and their new longer life v10 has been reliable but that won't
01:04:35help world champion michael schumacher and teammate rubens baracchello if their bridgestone tires can't
01:04:40match the pace of rival michelin williams bmw is the popular choice to end big red's five-year reign in
01:04:47the constructors championship but there are questions about the british team's chemistry i'm 100
01:04:52committed as a williams driver still you know as long as i have a williams who don't drive a williams
01:04:57car i consider myself a williams driver it's a shame that he leaves the team and that's honest i'm not
01:05:02lying here juan pablo montoya has signed to drive for mclaren in 2005 while contract talks have broken
01:05:09down with ralph schumacher and rumors swirl that the german will jump to toyota but the radical new fw26
01:05:16began testing a month earlier than last year's car the bmw remains the best engine in the pit lane
01:05:22and the new combination has been quick everywhere over at mclaren mercedes both the engine and chassis
01:05:28have been question marks and the team has admitted they're already working on a new car for mid-season
01:05:332003 was a breakthrough season for renault but victory could be hard to come by for the anglo-french team
01:05:40after 10 engine failures in 2003 renault scrapped their wide-angle v10 in favor of an updated version of
01:05:47the four-year-old supertech engine yarno truly and fernando alonso could be down on power in the early
01:05:53rounds as a result bar honda have dropped jack villeneuve and bridgestone replacing them with
01:05:59takuma sato and michelin and their lap time sizzled in winter testing another big budget team toyota
01:06:06claims more than 900 horsepower with reliability from their new engine and now that olivier pennis and
01:06:12cristiano damata have spent a season together look for a big improvement jaguar's chances rest on the
01:06:18performance of mark weber who showed last year the potential to run up front on a consistent basis
01:06:24if the car is good meanwhile the privateers are getting creative in an effort to bridge the gap
01:06:30to the factory-backed team as the cost of formula one continues to rise sauber will use not only the
01:06:36new ferrari engine and gearbox but a knockoff of last year's winning chassis jordan and minardi will
01:06:42be cosworth powered once again and together provide four of the six new faces on the grid
01:06:48i think it's safe to say that it's going to be extremely competitive when we get to melbourne
01:06:52all in all i think we're ready for the game
01:06:58and that wraps up qualifying for the australian grand prix michael schumacher will start from pole
01:07:03position be sure to join us at 9 30 p.m eastern time for the australian grand prix featuring the
01:07:08accurate pre-race show with reports from peter windsor until then for david hobbs and steve matchit
01:07:14i'm bob barsha see you tomorrow in melbourne
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