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The 1st Aggregate Qualifying Session for Round 1 of the 2005 F1 season at Melbourne.
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00:00:00the running order for the second round and the result was cars running at walking pace
00:00:06cars deliberately spinning cars not even leaving the garage all that is about to change
00:00:15this season grid position will be set by a driver's cumulative time over both rounds of qualifying
00:00:20if you want to start up front you have to make both laps as quick as possible
00:00:24qualifying for the 2005 australian grand prix is underway
00:00:55day two of the opening weekend of the 2005 formula one season in melbourne australia
00:01:00featured heavy rain for morning practice and it is still very very wet in albert park
00:01:05as we get set for the all-important first round of qualifying for the australian formula one grand
00:01:11prix hi everybody i'm bob varsha joined once again by david hobbs and steve matchett
00:01:16as you just heard major rule changes in the offseason mean that the qualifying sessions
00:01:21held on both saturday and sunday with each driver completing one flying lap on each day
00:01:26are now more important than ever because the sum of both of these laps will determine grid position
00:01:31so the big question is how will the drivers approach these two sessions and we sent our
00:01:37peter windsor to find out
00:01:40yes big changes to qualifying this year two sessions one on saturday one on sunday a lot
00:01:48today's session low fuel new tires on sunday race tires and race fuel how the various drivers
00:01:54approaching this new aggregate time qualifying session well first one you gotta go as fast as
00:02:00you can in the second you can do the same yeah yeah your second qualifying strategy uh will be
00:02:05very dependent on on your first one which will be without fuel um i don't know what to expect out
00:02:10of that yet same as we had in sezuka obviously worked okay there for me but um going out on
00:02:15the on
00:02:16the the old tires effectively you know the scrub tires with uh your race fuel is different to
00:02:20what we had in tezuka which was fresh tires and uh your race fuel so it is going to be
00:02:25tricky you
00:02:25gotta push as hard as you can in the fresh one because you're in life fuel and you can make
00:02:29a bit
00:02:29of difference and if you have a good qualifying it's going to allow you to carry more fuel for the
00:02:32race
00:02:33you know it's this really depends how how it comes out you kind of know what is best for your
00:02:37race pace
00:02:39but it also depends where you think you'll be on the grid you don't want to be to lose six
00:02:44position
00:02:45because of 110 but if there's a big gap then then it's okay to put a little bit more fuel
00:02:50in and
00:02:50and you're the the qualifying on saturday will will give you an indication of how much of a risk you
00:02:56can take on sunday last year was all about race set up race set up and then because it was
00:03:00you have
00:03:00to qualify on race field as well so i don't think it's going to change much from last year you
00:03:05know
00:03:05everyone's saying oh it's gonna it's gonna no different at all but it will i don't care what the
00:03:09drivers say you know having a qualifying session with low fuel and new tires and then uh going to
00:03:15bed and waking up the next day doing a run with your race fuel and old tires it's going to
00:03:20be a
00:03:20huge difference the weather can be playing more of a role because it's further apart uh qualifying
00:03:25in the past with just sort of one you know two sessions very close to each other so generally
00:03:28the weather of that day would have wouldn't have compromised too much but now we're heading it over
00:03:3214 hours or something like that is much more of a lottery potentially so that's exactly what they want
00:03:37of course and exactly what the drivers don't like i have the opinion that we should first do a couple
00:03:41of grand prix's and digest and then think about it of course last year you could make a small mistake
00:03:46in the first session and sort of get away with it but it wouldn't penalize you anything like as much
00:03:50as it will now yeah i think you will see some big variations in in lap time between teammates and
00:03:56across the grid and obviously that's been a sort of my undoing if you like at mclaren over the last
00:04:02couple of years i've lived too many years of frustration you know beating yourself up over you know one
00:04:07mistake at a certain corner and it's not saying that i'm not taking seriously because i am taking
00:04:11seriously but i'm making a mistake there you go it was because i was trying and it's not because i
00:04:16don't
00:04:16give a i know only one one way to drive and that's 100 all the time hello is the voice
00:04:25of reason michael
00:04:26schumacher now here is the order the cars will go out in starting with rookies christian albers patrick
00:04:32frisacker noreen kardikeyan tiago montero and then jensen button who was the first car out of the most
00:04:39recent race which takes us back to the series finale in brazil last year then we will go to the
00:04:45race
00:04:46winner of that event juan pablo montoya in his new ride with mclaren he'll be the last car on track
00:04:51and
00:04:52as you can see from the clearing skies overhead montoya may well have a dry line by the time he
00:04:57goes out
00:04:57which will be a huge advantage well of course what he just said i mean he just hit the nail
00:05:02right on
00:05:02the head he said you know maybe tomorrow uh that with the weather conditions changing for instance
00:05:08somebody would be able to use more fuel he could be a perfect example of that he could put on
00:05:12a lot
00:05:12more fuel in tomorrow well while we have a moment let's check out our track map david take us around
00:05:18well it's just under 3.3 miles as you can see there's a lot of corners jammed in there 16
00:05:22no elevation
00:05:23changes it's pretty wide for a street circuit it's relatively smooth not too bad obviously it's
00:05:28always green on friday when they get there first stuff like diesel oil out of trucks and buses
00:05:33from the clark chicane through there on the long long left hand and then that quick right-handed weight
00:05:38through hill down to askari very very fast sector not too many overtaking spots into jones is probably
00:05:44the best for a street circuit very fast 140 mile an hour average and with that the first cars on
00:05:51track will be the minorities therein lies a story there is beau derrick on the left one of the
00:05:56many celebrities on hand aging gracefully as you might imagine along with the local favorite mark
00:06:02weber with bmw williams we'll be right back speed channel's coverage of the fia formula one world
00:06:08championship is brought to you by fosters fosters australian for beer and by new high endurance oils from
00:06:14mobile the oil that's changing oil wednesday night on speed build or bust and unique whips first to
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00:07:20mayday mayday oh god
00:07:26come on baby come on
00:07:29this can't be happened gunrunners what the hell are they waiting for target practice now
00:07:37they're in for the fight of their lives we just need more time flight of the phoenix
00:07:46on it on dvd today come on
00:07:50for years the honda odyssey has been considered the best vehicle in its class
00:07:55so what did we do we went back to the drawing board and enhanced its safety features with side
00:08:02curtain airbags for all three rows we made it more functional and quieter than ever before
00:08:12introducing the all-new honda odyssey a great idea made better
00:08:22welcome back to albert park in melbourne australia where the first car is on track
00:08:26for a series of one car one lap qualifying runs that will set the order for tomorrow's second run
00:08:34once again under the new formula one qualifying rules the times over each of those hot laps on
00:08:38saturday and sunday will be added together to determine grid position right now here is christian
00:08:45albers the young dutchman with a lot of experience in the german touring car series
00:08:50making his first formula one qualifying attempt and getting very squirly there on that very wet track
00:08:56as he goes to the jones chicane quite a bit of water lying around had a huge shower just about
00:09:0320 minutes half an hour ago so there's a lot of standing water and this is going to be one
00:09:08of those
00:09:08incredible qualifying sessions where the track by the look of the sky is going to be clearing all the
00:09:14time and by the time montoya gets around from running who won the race in the brazil last year wow
00:09:21he
00:09:21should have a relatively dry line albers meanwhile putting all that saloon car driving experience
00:09:28cars moving around a lot more than expected formula one car to move around but it's very wet and we
00:09:33should say as well that the minardi is in 2005 specification they have put the front wing the rear
00:09:39wing and the reduced diffuser onto the 2004 chassis as we were talking about yesterday they really
00:09:46wanted to run the car in 2004 specification but that didn't happen and of course dollar has agreed
00:09:53and the fya have agreed that if they put the car into 2005 spec they can run and that's what
00:09:57we're
00:09:57seeing right now and i believe i owe an apology to ferrari and to red bull i said then that
00:10:02i thought
00:10:03they were being mean-spirited and unsportsmanlike by trying to force minority to run in the
00:10:07specifications but now it appears not only was the 2005 body work here all along but contrary to
00:10:13what minority principal paul stardard had said this car had been tested in its 2005 aerodynamic setup a
00:10:20couple of days at mugello in italy so here they are running as they should have been all along i
00:10:27would
00:10:27say christian albers of course very little experience on this track never been here before and of course
00:10:32didn't run at all yesterday so very very limited 25 years old from eindhoven in the netherlands once
00:10:38voted the best touring car driver in the world his lap is now complete
00:10:45as a look at our weather conditions heavy rain this morning when the ferraris of michael schumacher and
00:10:51robin's barakello topped the charts lapping at 140 and 141 respectively it dried out for the second 45
00:10:57minute practice and kimmy raikkonen and fernando alonso with mclaren and renault respectively ran in
00:11:03the one minute 27 second zone to top the charts here comes patrick frisacker and these guys i should
00:11:11say they are running on wet weather tires it's very difficult to see from some of these camera shots
00:11:15because they look like the standard dry weather groove tires and until the car slows down then
00:11:20you can see that they've also got the lateral grooves built into them and of course the idea is
00:11:24that the team should run on just one set of tires from this point on for the rest of the
00:11:28weekend but
00:11:29because of the the heavy rain the fya the technical delegate and the race official charlie whiten has
00:11:35displayed the change in climatic conditions board which gives the team's permission to use wet weather
00:11:41tiles the orange or yellow block the middle means he is slower than his teammate to that intermediate
00:11:46point brisacker won a formula 3000 race last year in the final season for that series
00:11:53on a wet day in hungary a track not a whole lot unlike this so he might uh he might
00:11:59flourish a little
00:12:00bit given the equipment because the minardi team one of the few teams on bridgestone which in very
00:12:11wet conditions have still got the best tire but an intermediate and dry is uh seems to be pretty
00:12:17close run thing between them and michelin there you just get a chance to see those lateral grooves
00:12:26almost chevron-like onto the front tires there and of course the same on the rear
00:12:45yellow flag at the top of your screen
00:12:51yellow flag yeah it must indicate that the car that's coming out afterwards which would be car
00:12:56decay and must have spun on his warm-up lap once the driver preceding you crosses the line you are
00:13:01given
00:13:02one minute to leave the pit lane to begin your warm-up lap
00:13:14boy he's uh he's working hard isn't he there absolutely yellow flag is gone so we assume that
00:13:20the next driver naren kartikeyan from india is ready to go
00:13:30so again basically last year's chassis ej15 modified just as the modified the minardi and the ferrari it
00:13:38must be said just with raised front wing the rear wing has been moved forward different end plates and
00:13:44reduced diffuser
00:13:49they sound like huge changes and of course they are technically to make them work well
00:13:53but actually to change the car from 2004 to 2005 spec is not a lot of work the actual physical
00:14:00work changes components is not big look at that two seconds quicker in the first intermediate
00:14:09and this of course bob as you were saying earlier on this is one of the other teams that's
00:14:12running the bridgestone full wets
00:14:18carthikeyan another driver of course who has no experience with this
00:14:21race track at all did a few laps yesterday here's a new twist in formula one the map on
00:14:26the right with the green sections means he is ahead of the leading time to this point in that sector
00:14:33yeah when we talk about split times and we give out the individual sector times it's a nice little
00:14:38map graphic there to show how they split the tracker from the three different sections
00:14:42time to beat at the top of your screen
00:14:49now this is his first real formula one weekend
00:14:53carthikeyan does have pretty good experience in formula one cars he tested as far back as 2001 for jaguar
00:15:02and more recently with minardi a year ago
00:15:07and he takes over provisional pole position by nearly five full seconds we'll take a quick break
00:15:14and return with more from albert park in melbourne welcome back to albert park in melbourne there's
00:15:22jensen button first man out of the most recent race in the formula one world championship in brazil
00:15:27last year he'll be on track shortly right now here is the jordan midland f1 machine in the hands
00:15:33of tiago montero of portugal new champ car fans will remember tiago montero he did one season of the
00:15:40champ cars driving for formula one legend emerson fittipaldi
00:15:50problems there the engine sounds off song
00:15:54traction control
00:15:57making his work a little difficult there
00:16:06along with all the other changes on this car as well remembering
00:16:09his last year's jordan chassis of course they've had a change of engine supplier they're using toyota
00:16:15toyota engines this year so they've had to come up with adapter plates as well between the transmission
00:16:19and the back face of the monocoque to allow that rvx 05 engine the the 2005 toyota lump to bolt
00:16:26into the back
00:16:27so that's probably created the more work than anything else yellow means he's behind
00:16:30in the first two sectors now as you see it's by two seconds plus
00:16:48so the car looks a lot more solid and stable in the wet than it did in the dry yesterday
00:16:52it's
00:16:53twitching about but it's twitching about like it should do in the wet but unfortunately it looks
00:16:56about the same in the dry which is what it's got i suppose yeah definitely starting to dry out but
00:17:04the time all one pablo comes out there's gonna be a nice dry line
00:17:14and he slots into second behind his teammate
00:17:21jordan mechanics looking on they've had an interesting off season wondering whether
00:17:25their team was even going to survive into 2005 pierre du pasquier
00:17:30competition director for michelin watching the skies looking where that rain is going to come from
00:17:36what he should do about his tie choice he is a great great personality sadly he's going to be
00:17:41retiring this year sad for us good for him and we wish him well as you say david the sky
00:17:48is very
00:17:49blue at the moment there doesn't seem to be any rain clouds from what we've seen in the tv pictures
00:17:52there's no rain clouds coming look at that bright blue sky there yeah we've seen some big black clouds
00:17:58lurking about but i think they're the ones that have just been through didn't seem to see what our first
00:18:03real pro hero does with the time up against the four rookies who have just run 149 miles an hour
00:18:12through the speed trap these guys honda have been working flat out on their engine development we're
00:18:19saying yesterday they yes they've been trying to make the engine run for two race distances
00:18:23but that hasn't prevented them at all trying to get absolute maximum performance out of a thing
00:18:28quicker in the first sector this is our first look at michelin's wets in the hands of a driver in
00:18:34jensen button who has never failed to improve his qualifying position year after year here at albert park
00:18:40last year he was fourth see if he can keep that trend going interesting to see that he was only
00:18:47two
00:18:47tenths of a second quicker obviously a vastly more experienced a lot quicker in that sector a lot quicker
00:18:53but a vastly more experienced driver with a very very much better car this shows how good those bridge
00:19:00zones are in a way
00:19:22they put some sort of fisheye cover on the onboard cameras for the rain
00:19:26very odd looking comfortably into provisional pole goes jensen button in the bar honda
00:19:35in nearly three seconds okay mix four jensen uh you've got the break now so there's no rush to come
00:19:41in
00:19:42uh three seconds clear of the next person but hyde felt running after the break we'll see what they do
00:19:48i believe that was nick fry on the radio to team two jensen button boy look how that tracks going
00:19:54out
00:19:54stiff breeze blowing so you've got everything going for a drying track what he said there was you have
00:20:00the break now after the fifth tenth and fifteenth qualifying attempts there's a brief break installed
00:20:06by the fia an extra 60 seconds which button can use to come around and bob in answer to your
00:20:12question
00:20:12about the camera lens if they put some sort of fisheye camera lens on the car if you look at
00:20:16all
00:20:17the camera mounted on top of the roll hoops they put like the perspex cover over the top i guess
00:20:20that's because of the wet weather the additions they have they're all running this clear perspex
00:20:25cover on the top frank dirney yeah with arms crossed and no cup of tea in his hand been doing
00:20:30this a
00:20:30long time you'll notice when the williams drivers get out of their cars the first face they see is frank
00:20:35durney that's his job as an engineer is to go right to the drivers and get their first impressions
00:20:39of the way the car is working mission intermediate tires they're running on now i'm sure that the
00:20:48the bridgestones were full wet you see those brake inlet trumpets for cooling
00:20:55well let's hope they're legal as they were not last year in canada
00:21:01well nick heitfeld will be next on track followed by his new bmw williams teammate mark
00:21:07weber and the crowd will really be paying close attention as their native son takes to the track
00:21:12we'll be back in just a moment welcome back to albert park in melbourne australia first round
00:21:17qualifying for the first event of the formula one world championship for 2005 with steve matchup
00:21:23david hobbs i'm bob varsia we see the wind direction and speed look how quick it's drying
00:21:29as you pointed out earlier david this is nick heitfeld of germany with the best chance he's
00:21:34ever had in formula one there's his teammate mark weber he'll be next on track mark weber of course
00:21:40one of his drivers he for ever since he came fifth here in the minardi he's been reckoned to be
00:21:46one of
00:21:46the top drivers with the wrong car drove for minardi for another year then drove the jag for two and
00:21:51now he's got the sort of car of his dreams it's going to be interesting to see just how quick
00:21:56he is
00:21:56compared to nick heitfeld who's one of those sort of always been a bit of a bridesmaid rather
00:22:00the bride
00:22:02got dropped by mclaren in favor of reikonen and has also driven a pretty motley selective car since
00:22:21please check go menu tyre inter please menu tyre inter
00:22:28menu tyre inter what they're telling me
00:22:35what they want to do is change the electronics on the car change the traction control and the diff
00:22:41settings for the different grip levels between full wet full dry groove and the intermediate tyres
00:22:49not allowed to do that of course from the pit lane now one time the engineers could do that
00:22:54automatically by sending data straight to the car now they have to align the
00:22:57driver to make that switch on that steering wheel
00:23:10180.7 miles an hour for heitfeld out of the bmw engine
00:23:18quickie so far in this session clearly the track is drying we're now up to 71.6 degrees
00:23:25yeah the sun's come out now i mean now they're just really dried up in a heartbeat yeah these times
00:23:29are going to start to tumble
00:23:34it's still a dance with the devil it is bob you're right because there are certain hops on the track
00:23:39where you can try and push the car and lean on those tyres and if you try it where the
00:23:44shade is
00:23:45you'll be off in a heartbeat yeah because you can still see quite a few puddles lurking about
00:23:48that's what it caught him out in that second corner got a little bit wide and got it to the
00:23:52wet
00:23:55of course on this long long left hand you can see quite a bit of spray coming off the tyres
00:23:58still
00:23:59there it is quicker fastest in the first sector
00:24:02well second who will not be fast in the third surely not much grip out there not much grip on
00:24:08the grass no
00:24:14he i think he'll still be quicker than button but uh i think he'll let his teammate now go quicker
00:24:20than him
00:24:22this is obviously what he's desperately trying not to happen
00:24:37yeah he did it pretty substantially wow
00:24:41it was 1.8 under yeah and that shows how quick now we're going to see this off right here
00:24:45guys
00:24:49oh he kept his little foot right yeah he did he did did a great job held it straight yeah
00:24:54didn't
00:24:55try to yank it back on the track as patrick head looks on the technical director emeritus or whatever
00:25:00he's calling himself now and now here comes mark weber local hero mate let a rip boy out wound
00:25:12good rotation there
00:25:18in the town of queenbeam
00:25:22wow the track is drawing that phenomenal level on you can expect almost every lap to be quicker than
00:25:27in the lap before it's just that just drying out that quick do you risk going on to dry weather
00:25:32tires david now well i would say another two or three goes it'd definitely be on drive
00:25:37kind of that second cushion that first section next man out will be christian clean followed by
00:25:43jarno truly in the first of the renos who've gone very well in off-season testing excuse me truly's
00:25:48in the toyota i knew i was going to do that at least once
00:25:56the toyota the toyota have not been going that well right so forget what i said entirely
00:26:03so
00:26:10so
00:26:11so
00:26:12so
00:26:12so
00:26:15so
00:26:41Wow, three seconds.
00:26:47And just like we see from the World Rally Drivers all the time.
00:26:55Why am I saving fuel?
00:26:56Well, no real reason to save fuel. What they do it for is what they call in the team driver
00:27:01training.
00:27:02You have to keep the driver on his toes to save fuel after the lap tomorrow.
00:27:06You want to make sure the drivers do exactly the same routine after every qualifying lap.
00:27:10Now that was a fast warm-up lap for young Christian Klien beginning his sophomore season in Formula One
00:27:15with the ex-Jaguar team, now called Red Bull Racing.
00:27:19Is he going to catch Mark Webber?
00:27:20I was going to say, is he going to catch Mark Webber?
00:27:22He's just been told to go slowly to save fuel.
00:27:28184 miles an hour.
00:27:30Again, Michelin tires.
00:27:31The Red Bull cars were going very well yesterday.
00:27:35David Kiltar has been a huge help to that team.
00:27:38Bring a lot of experience and stability.
00:27:44As well as a lot of facial hair.
00:27:47Slower in the first intermediate.
00:27:51I'm surprised with that.
00:27:53Well, it's especially tricky in that first intermediate, I guess,
00:27:56because you were talking about it when Nick Heidfeld, you know,
00:27:58didn't exactly run off from the rookies.
00:28:03See the fact it's drying out around this long left-hander here.
00:28:07It's still a bit of spray coming up, but I would say the next couple of runners
00:28:11will be going to go to the drives.
00:28:14Take the risk and go on drives.
00:28:15Yeah.
00:28:20Just a big advantage is in this aggregate qualifying session,
00:28:23if you can get a really stonking quick lap in now,
00:28:26tomorrow you can afford to run a little bit more fuel for the race conditions
00:28:29and still end up with a good bridge slot.
00:28:31That's what Montoya was alluding to when he started with Peter Windsor earlier on, wasn't it?
00:28:34Yeah, exactly.
00:28:35I mean, it's a fantastic opportunity for somebody, isn't it?
00:28:40Because you won't get many weekends, aren't you?
00:28:49Nope.
00:28:51Slots into P2 by 7 tenths of a second and change.
00:28:55We'll take a quick break.
00:28:57Next up, Yarno Trulli in the Toyota.
00:28:59Stay with us for more from Melbourne.
00:29:02The first round qualifying for the first round of the 2005 Formula One World Driving Championship,
00:29:07the Australian Grand Prix.
00:29:09Bob Barshett, David Hobbs and Steve Matchett with you on a rapidly drying and sunny day here at Albert Park
00:29:15in Melbourne.
00:29:16And Trulli is out on intermediate tyres.
00:29:19The big clue, you can see this one very prominent groove around the middle of these intermediate tyres from Michelin.
00:29:24And I think, in my opinion, I would have gone out on drys.
00:29:29Well, look at that.
00:29:31Nearly half a second quicker than Webber.
00:29:33Like I say, every lap from now on is going to be quicker than the lap before.
00:29:38Still, that spray is gone, that long right-hander there.
00:29:40That spray is just about dying out.
00:29:42Everybody will be watching the monitors and the TV in the pit complex.
00:29:46A little bit damp there, but it's just not much of a corner,
00:29:49although you need to get your welly down there because it obviously leads on to this long, long, long, virtually
00:29:55straight bit.
00:29:56Well, the track temperature chapter has gone up again, up by 4 degrees, 75.2 now.
00:30:01These are public streets now, not a racetrack.
00:30:04So they'll be crowned in the middle.
00:30:06Hence all the white lines of the road.
00:30:07It's often to get very slippery in the wet too.
00:30:09Yes, they do.
00:30:10My point, though, is that it'll drain probably quicker than a racetrack would because it's not laid flat.
00:30:16Yeah, good point.
00:30:33Bang! Almost a second and a half.
00:30:36He's quick and wonderful for the team, wonderful for the driver.
00:30:40But I kind of feel he could have gone faster still if it had been on the other tyres.
00:30:44Of course, you know, driving the car could very easily end up in the arm car as well.
00:30:52David Bruthard's.
00:30:54Fiancé or wife? Have they married now?
00:30:55Simon.
00:30:56David's still on intermediates too, with that signature groove around the middle.
00:31:01Now, is it starting to cloud over again?
00:31:03Well, it is. Look to the right.
00:31:05Juan Pablo Matoya may find himself with a very different set of conditions.
00:31:09I'm not sure where it's coming from.
00:31:13Just listen.
00:31:19Not the law.
00:31:38Wow, substantially off the pace.
00:31:43Well, we heard Davis say at the top of the show
00:31:45that over the last two years,
00:31:47yeah, this single-act qualifying has not been his fourth.
00:31:49But then here he's showing that.
00:31:51Exactly.
00:31:52I mean, he's not just a little bit off the pace,
00:31:54a lot off the pace.
00:31:55Fourth fastest in that first intermediate.
00:32:11Fourth fastest through two splits.
00:32:20What a miss section of the track that he spun
00:32:22in a single-car qualifying a couple of years ago
00:32:24for McLaren.
00:32:42Fourth quick.
00:32:45Three seconds slower than the pole setter,
00:32:48and perhaps more importantly,
00:32:50slower than his teammate, Christian Kleen.
00:32:52Yeah, and on a track which must be drier
00:32:56and not really being able to blame it on fuel load.
00:32:59I didn't feel right with the car.
00:33:00I felt like I was on the way in tire
00:33:03crabbing and a lot of oversteer
00:33:05because I understand what changed
00:33:07between the last run and now.
00:33:09Very poor balance.
00:33:11Well, there it is.
00:33:12Very poor balance, a lot of oversteer.
00:33:13We need to understand what changes we made
00:33:15on the car between the last run
00:33:17and this run in qualifying.
00:33:19So they made some last-minute adjustments
00:33:21before qualifying,
00:33:22which is kind of a standard thing to do,
00:33:25but the driver not happy with those changes.
00:33:27I always think this, you know,
00:33:28with drivers making changes at the last minute,
00:33:30whether or not they really need to make that change
00:33:32because they will lose confidence in the car so quick.
00:33:35And if the driver loses confidence in the car,
00:33:37it's all over.
00:33:40Some highlights of the drivers
00:33:41who've already completed their qualifying runs.
00:33:45Due on track next,
00:33:47Jacques Villeneuve,
00:33:48the 97 world champion
00:33:49in his debut with the Sauber team.
00:33:52And, of course, Paul Sitter here,
00:33:5396 and 97.
00:33:5596 in his Formula One debut,
00:33:57sat on the pole.
00:33:58I bet he wishes for days like that again.
00:34:00Oh, I bet he does.
00:34:00Might have won that race, too, in the words.
00:34:03Why, it is looking dark on the horizon there.
00:34:06This could get very interesting.
00:34:09There's Villeneuve getting ready.
00:34:10We'll take a quick break and be back
00:34:12and show you his run
00:34:14when we return to Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia
00:34:16for more Formula One qualifying.
00:34:29Now rolling out of the pit lane in Albert Park.
00:34:31Most importantly,
00:34:33on groove dry weather tires.
00:34:35As Peter Sauber looks on,
00:34:36here's his new hire,
00:34:37the 97 world champion,
00:34:39Jacques Villeneuve.
00:34:41One of only three men in history
00:34:43to score a pole in his Grand Prix debut,
00:34:45which happened here in 1996.
00:34:47And as David Hobbs mentioned earlier,
00:34:50he also took pole in 97.
00:34:52Mario Andretti and Carlos Reutemann,
00:34:53the only other two Formula One drivers
00:34:55to take pole in their very first race.
00:34:57Well, there seems to be rain coming.
00:35:00The track temperature's docked down five degrees.
00:35:02We did get up to a high of...
00:35:03Oh!
00:35:07Already missed everything.
00:35:08Oh, yeah.
00:35:09Oh, that's my boy.
00:35:12You jammy little devil.
00:35:16Keep going.
00:35:17Keep going.
00:35:17You've got to get a time.
00:35:18You've got to get a time.
00:35:19Yeah, you're still in qualifying mode.
00:35:21I was just going to say before that,
00:35:23he might hit the track at the perfect time
00:35:25because if it does start to rain
00:35:26and the track temperature's dropping,
00:35:28and this is the first guy out on dry weather tires,
00:35:31he could have been on pole.
00:35:32Okay, here you go.
00:35:33That's your theory of putting up on drys.
00:35:35Yeah, absolutely.
00:35:36But that was his warm-up lap.
00:35:37Now, after that,
00:35:38you've got to get your pulse under control
00:35:39and pull those belts a little tighter
00:35:42and do it for real.
00:35:43That rain is coming in there.
00:35:45It is coming.
00:35:46If he can...
00:35:46Whoa!
00:35:48Okay.
00:35:48It is so easy, isn't it?
00:35:50It's so easy to sit here and say,
00:35:52you know, put your guy out on dry with the tires.
00:35:54He should be able to do it.
00:35:55Here's his manager, Craig Pollock.
00:35:58Note to self.
00:35:59Let's not do that again.
00:36:02Whoo!
00:36:02Yeah, learn by your mistakes.
00:36:04That's right.
00:36:04Slap that one up, Mr. Villanova.
00:36:08Whoo!
00:36:08That guy's attention.
00:36:13Boy, I tell you what,
00:36:14he's jamming to go around there,
00:36:15not hitting anything.
00:36:17All right.
00:36:17Now, let's see what he can do when it counts.
00:36:21There he comes.
00:36:27Good speed down the front straight.
00:36:34181.5 through the speed trucks.
00:36:37They're not the fastest of the day.
00:36:38I don't think it's the slowest.
00:36:39Truloo is the fastest guy through the speed truck today
00:36:41with the Toyota one.
00:36:42That was their specialty a year ago.
00:36:44The Sauber's were always among the fastest cars
00:36:46in a straight line.
00:36:47Yeah.
00:36:49That's where he went off.
00:36:52No problem.
00:36:55And a half second,
00:36:56almost six-tenths of a second down
00:36:57in the first intermediate.
00:36:59You've got to feel it.
00:37:00He's feeling it out on that lap.
00:37:02Oh, that.
00:37:03It might pick up speed in the second section.
00:37:06He's third fastest in that intermediate,
00:37:08so it's not a bad start.
00:37:17He's saying before the season began
00:37:19that the car is not exactly to his liking.
00:37:22It suits his teammate,
00:37:23Felipe Massa's driving style,
00:37:25better than his own.
00:37:26He's had to relearn some of his old techniques.
00:37:30It's surprisingly slow in that section
00:37:32because it didn't look very wet.
00:37:35Oh, well, I guess we're...
00:37:37Of course, the track temperature's pretty cool still.
00:37:40Maybe the intermediates, you know,
00:37:42heat up a bit more
00:37:42and just for that one lap,
00:37:43they're okay.
00:37:44Well, that is one thing we've heard
00:37:45from both tyre suppliers,
00:37:47Bridgestone and Michelin,
00:37:49that the tyres cool off incredibly quickly.
00:37:53You're going to have to be very careful
00:37:55for the first couple of laps
00:37:57to get the heat in,
00:37:57and they're very concerned
00:37:58about the tyres cooling off.
00:38:00Well, P3.
00:38:02You know, P3, it's not smart.
00:38:05Once again, this is only half of the equation.
00:38:08Position three, position three.
00:38:09Driver slow in.
00:38:17Well, I couldn't...
00:38:18I'm afraid I can't translate
00:38:19what Villeneuve said,
00:38:20but it was clear what the engineer was saying.
00:38:22Come in and come in slow.
00:38:26So Giancarlo Fisichella
00:38:28in the Renault,
00:38:29a car that has proven to be very quick
00:38:33in off-season testing.
00:38:34They have been quick.
00:38:35They've been a little bit fragile,
00:38:36but they have been quick.
00:38:38Of course, that won't help them
00:38:39in race conditions
00:38:40if you're going to break
00:38:41after 20-odd laps,
00:38:42but in qualifying,
00:38:44Fisichella came in
00:38:45riding a wave of confidence.
00:38:47He named himself
00:38:48the favourite to win this race on Sunday.
00:38:51And he's ahead
00:38:52by almost half a second,
00:38:53but...
00:38:54Ooh, lurching around
00:38:55out of the brakes.
00:38:55God, he's going to catch Villeneuve.
00:38:57Oh!
00:38:58I hope he stopped wide yet.
00:39:07With Villeneuve creeping in
00:39:08at such a slow rate,
00:39:09it's kind of indicative to me
00:39:11that there's next to no fuel
00:39:12left in that Sauber chassis.
00:39:17Still about a half second up.
00:39:25Now the question is,
00:39:27the shadows have just about gone away.
00:39:28The clouds are back overhead.
00:39:31When will the rain come
00:39:33if it does?
00:39:39Because when it comes,
00:39:40it looks like there's a lot coming.
00:39:42Yeah, it does.
00:39:46Track temperature's dropped again
00:39:47a couple of degrees.
00:39:49This should be P1.
00:39:52And it is by two full seconds.
00:39:55Great run for Giancarlo Fisichella.
00:39:58We'll take a break and return in a moment.
00:40:00Waiting on the rain in Melbourne.
00:40:05Look at the skies opening
00:40:07over the park in Melbourne.
00:40:10We weren't away for 30 seconds.
00:40:14Oh my gosh,
00:40:15Felipe Massa's going on dry tyres.
00:40:17Here he goes down to turn one
00:40:18where he's now absolutely tipping it down.
00:40:20Felipe, just take it very careful, dude.
00:40:24Dry tyres.
00:40:25Whoa!
00:40:28138 miles an hour through the speed trap.
00:40:30Chap, just bring that car in.
00:40:32You will write the chassis off
00:40:33if you continue driving like that.
00:40:35We've got rain on the electric.
00:40:38Felipe, it's raining heavily on the end.
00:40:40It's raining heavily.
00:40:41Be careful.
00:40:42No kidding!
00:40:45No, I won't be careful.
00:40:46I'll try for pole.
00:40:49Yeah, that's...
00:40:49Whoa!
00:40:50That's it.
00:40:51Just take it easy.
00:40:52It's misting down a bit back here too.
00:40:55You'll write that chassis off in a heartbeat
00:40:57if you're not careful.
00:41:00Get the long way around the Melbourne side.
00:41:02What a shame.
00:41:04Yeah, well...
00:41:05You know, because he would have been
00:41:06in fine position
00:41:07if just...
00:41:08Just five more minutes of dry weather.
00:41:11But this again
00:41:12throws up what everybody said
00:41:14like Mark Webber said
00:41:15and of course Jenson Button
00:41:16and Montoya.
00:41:18This is going to be something
00:41:19that could happen again and again
00:41:20through this year
00:41:21when you do one qualifying on one day
00:41:22and now this has happened
00:41:23admittedly all on the same day
00:41:25but the chances of this
00:41:26happening throughout the year
00:41:27are pretty good I should say
00:41:29between the conditions
00:41:30being completely different
00:41:31on one day to the other.
00:41:33Well, it makes it very interesting for us.
00:41:36And our next contestant
00:41:37will be
00:41:39Michael Schumacher.
00:41:44Of course, the deficit
00:41:46these last few guys
00:41:47are going to have to make up
00:41:48on the people who have already run
00:41:49is going to be enormous.
00:41:51It's impossible.
00:41:54Well, Michael Schumacher
00:41:55I would assume
00:41:56will just bolt
00:41:56full wet tyres on
00:41:58and just go out
00:41:59and set a time.
00:42:01It's going to be in the mid-40s.
00:42:03There he goes.
00:42:04It's going to be in the mid-40s
00:42:06which means that...
00:42:07Michael is coming from behind
00:42:08if you see him
00:42:09let him by
00:42:10let him by
00:42:10and comes...
00:42:11OK.
00:42:12A little bit
00:42:12a little bit late.
00:42:14That was the engineer
00:42:14in...
00:42:15Sorry, I couldn't hear you.
00:42:16There was this noise
00:42:17of a Formula One car
00:42:18going by about three feet away.
00:42:20There was a noise
00:42:20of a Formula One car
00:42:20running to the back of me.
00:42:21I didn't quite catch
00:42:22what you said.
00:42:23I haven't seen it yet
00:42:24but I understand
00:42:24that Schumacher
00:42:25is on the intermediate tyres
00:42:26not on the full west.
00:42:28Schumacher is running
00:42:29on intermediate Bridgestones.
00:42:30There's his tracks
00:42:31right there.
00:42:32There we go.
00:42:37I'm amazed at that.
00:42:41Well, we've got bad information.
00:43:03And now the sky is lighting you.
00:43:05I know, it is absolutely bizarre.
00:43:07You look at the track now.
00:43:08So different from just two minutes ago.
00:43:11Great sunshine.
00:43:12Oh, that's sunny water back.
00:43:12Yeah, and now the sun's out again.
00:43:14Wow, of course
00:43:14Michael Schumacher
00:43:16might find himself
00:43:17the odd man out here
00:43:18because there's another
00:43:19one, two, three, four, five,
00:43:20seven cars to go.
00:43:21By the time Montoya runs
00:43:23it could have dried out
00:43:24a bit again.
00:43:26Well, after the first downpour
00:43:28it took what
00:43:2910, 15 minutes
00:43:31before the track
00:43:31was really dry?
00:43:34You're right.
00:43:35Sunlight out again.
00:43:36Yeah.
00:43:37It could well be
00:43:38almost perfect conditions
00:43:40for Montoya.
00:43:41This could be the absolute
00:43:42nadir of the
00:43:43qualifying session today.
00:43:46Woo!
00:43:47Whoa!
00:43:50Nicely solved.
00:44:00Now you're looking
00:44:01at the guy
00:44:01who may be the best
00:44:02in the world
00:44:03in these conditions
00:44:03but it hasn't been
00:44:05the same for everyone
00:44:06in this session.
00:44:12Look at that
00:44:12plus 17.
00:44:15Oh, yellow flags.
00:44:16Not sure what that was for.
00:44:18I think that's yellow.
00:44:19Oh!
00:44:20That's what it's for.
00:44:21Oh, dear.
00:44:22It's a kumasato.
00:44:23So he scratched
00:44:24on his out lap.
00:44:27Yeah, right front
00:44:28suspension damage.
00:44:29Of course, you can see
00:44:30he's on intermediate tyres
00:44:31so you can't blame him
00:44:32on going out
00:44:32on dry weather tyres
00:44:33but again,
00:44:35like you say, guys,
00:44:35you hit that standing water
00:44:36you're just gone.
00:44:37Gone and a half beat.
00:44:39So Sato will not
00:44:40get a time
00:44:41in this first session.
00:44:44I'm surprised
00:44:45Schumacher didn't go out
00:44:46on full wet
00:44:47because it was obviously
00:44:48full wet weather.
00:44:54Thirteenth.
00:44:55Thirteenth.
00:44:56One.
00:44:57But he'll start ahead
00:44:58of Takuma Sato.
00:45:01The mechanic's just glad
00:45:02that the car's likely
00:45:03to come back in one piece,
00:45:04I think.
00:45:04I don't think that's a good position.
00:45:05It's Kimi Raikkonen.
00:45:07The fastest man
00:45:08in this morning's
00:45:09second 45-minute
00:45:10practice session
00:45:11held on a drying track.
00:45:14Red flag.
00:45:16I guess they're going to have
00:45:16to go out
00:45:17and pick up Sato.
00:45:18Oh, boy.
00:45:19Now that is really
00:45:19going to play
00:45:20into the hands
00:45:20of Sato, Schumacher,
00:45:26Ralf, Alonso,
00:45:27Barrichello, Rhygdon.
00:45:28That's not going
00:45:28to help Sato.
00:45:29It's not going
00:45:30to help Sato.
00:45:31Let's have another look
00:45:32at what happened.
00:45:32Well, nope.
00:45:34Pointy-end goes first.
00:45:36Wow, that was a big hit.
00:45:38Got both suspensions.
00:45:41Oh, dear.
00:45:41Notice the car number
00:45:42on Sato's car this year.
00:45:44I think the pointy-end did go first.
00:45:45Four is the number
00:45:46on Sato's car.
00:45:48We are informed
00:45:49that is a very
00:45:50unlucky number
00:45:51in his native
00:45:52Japanese language.
00:45:55And at this point,
00:45:56I don't think
00:45:56he would argue with that.
00:45:59Well, look at the lake
00:46:00on the infield.
00:46:01It's very shallow,
00:46:02but it's like a typhoon
00:46:03out there.
00:46:06Yeah, and of course,
00:46:06that wind will play
00:46:07a big factor
00:46:08on the aerodynamics
00:46:08on the car.
00:46:10It will also help
00:46:11to dry the racetrack
00:46:12if the rain will stop
00:46:13for a few moments.
00:46:14Well, as Alice said,
00:46:16Curiouser and Curiouser
00:46:18will take a break
00:46:19and be back
00:46:20in a moment
00:46:20to Melbourne.
00:46:22Wednesday night
00:46:22on Seatdown Heavier
00:46:24as we continue
00:46:24with first-round qualifying
00:46:26under the new
00:46:27Formula One qualifying rules
00:46:28for 2005.
00:46:29I'm Bob Varsha,
00:46:30David Hobbs,
00:46:31and Steve Matchett.
00:46:31This is Ralph Schumacher
00:46:33in the Toyota.
00:46:37I can only imagine
00:46:38he's on full west.
00:46:40Yeah.
00:46:41We heard a lot of team
00:46:42radio traffic
00:46:43during the break
00:46:44as they were discussing
00:46:46where the water is heaviest
00:46:47and what kind of tire tread
00:46:49depth they need.
00:46:55Four drivers to come
00:46:57after Ralph.
00:46:58Fernando Alonso,
00:46:59Rubens Bartacello,
00:46:59Kimi Räikkönen,
00:47:00and Juan Pablo Montoya.
00:47:10Boy, it's still
00:47:10chucking it down
00:47:11out there, isn't it?
00:47:12It is.
00:47:12I was just thinking,
00:47:13you know,
00:47:13there's not an awful lot
00:47:14that the teams can do
00:47:15at this point
00:47:15to help the drivers,
00:47:16and a lot of this
00:47:17is just down
00:47:18to the driver's skill,
00:47:19they've pretty much
00:47:20got all the wing on
00:47:22that the regulations
00:47:22will allow them to run,
00:47:24soften the springs up
00:47:25a little bit
00:47:25and just trust in the driver.
00:47:28Let it rip.
00:47:28Yeah.
00:47:30It's like it's clearing
00:47:31over Terre Haute.
00:47:40I mean,
00:47:40if you float off there
00:47:41on that long left hand,
00:47:42I mean,
00:47:42that wall is right there.
00:47:44Yeah.
00:48:14It's nice to see
00:48:15that little traffic
00:48:15to the left,
00:48:16to see the throttle
00:48:17and the brake,
00:48:17but I wish
00:48:18it would give
00:48:19brake pressure
00:48:20to get an idea
00:48:20of exactly
00:48:21how much pressure
00:48:23is being applied
00:48:23by the driver.
00:48:30There it is.
00:48:34There is Cora,
00:48:35his wife.
00:48:37Think of the remaining
00:48:37runners,
00:48:38you'll find that
00:48:40Barrichella
00:48:40will probably
00:48:41be the quickest.
00:48:43Giancarlo Fisichella,
00:48:45our provisional pole sitter,
00:48:47looking pretty pleased
00:48:47with things.
00:48:48Although I'm sure
00:48:49he'd be the first
00:48:49to tell you
00:48:50that luck
00:48:50has had a lot
00:48:51to do with it.
00:48:55Here's his teammate,
00:48:56Fernando Alonso of Spain.
00:48:58Here he is.
00:48:59Hope so.
00:49:07Good to be huis.
00:49:15$4,
00:49:19What is it?
00:49:19There it is.
00:49:27he's quicker on there quite a bit than Ralph Ralph was seven seconds
00:49:30he could he could beat Nick Heidfeld for seventh at this point
00:49:41he's humming right along and he sounds smooth you don't hear a lot of jabbing the throttle
00:50:08he's slipping back projecting 12.
00:50:22I don't know if anybody in these conditions could do better than about a 1.43 something like that
00:50:3211 well beating the minorities that rain looks like he's coming down even more now
00:50:38it does yeah
00:50:44next out is uh Rubens Barrichello Michael trying to put a good face on things
00:50:50because he at the moment he's got a very good chance of being dead last however quick he goes tomorrow
00:51:00here in the bar here he comes
00:51:08that is excluded for Sarko and uh Master who did not do time today
00:51:13I mentioned yesterday how distraught he was uh at last year's season finale in Brazil
00:51:19he said that he had dropped out actually finished third in that race but he missed out on his best
00:51:23chance ever to win it
00:51:26Barrichello significantly slower through the speed truck than Fisichella's time Fisichella number 189 nearly 190 miles an hour
00:51:39but significantly quicker than anybody else through that first sector since it's been raining heavily
00:51:51looking for a top 10 for Barrichello
00:51:55and he's always done well in the rain
00:51:59that performance in Hockenheim and combined wet dry conditions a couple of years ago was pretty awesome
00:52:14pretty scary
00:52:15pretty scary how the car points at the walls doesn't it
00:52:17yes pretty that's the driver's great leap of faith you just have to okay it'll hold it'll hold
00:52:24you have to trust it exactly you're exactly right Bob this is what we're talking about you know the
00:52:29driver loses confidence in the car and is not prepared to commit himself to point the car at a wall
00:52:33at the full throttle
00:52:35so that's where you start to lose the lifetime
00:52:37that's where you start to lose the lifetime
00:52:39well no I could never do it
00:52:41yeah
00:52:4910th 12 seconds behind our provisional pull center
00:52:56bumping Montero, Alonso, Albers, Friesacker and the Schumacher brothers
00:53:03and of course at the back are Felipe Massa who did not complete his lap when the rain was falling
00:53:08its heaviest
00:53:09and to Kumisato who crashed on his warm-up
00:53:12yeah 45-4 in those conditions is pretty good
00:53:14it's going to be interesting to see if Raikkonen and Montoya can match that speed
00:53:22Jimmy Raikkonen in the McLaren Mercedes
00:53:24quickest man in this morning's second session on a drying track
00:53:29just edging Fernando Alonso
00:53:31a lot of car hunting there
00:53:34Kimi Raikkonen knows no fear
00:53:39well they're certainly distinctive those two winglets coming off the airbox aren't they
00:53:43they certainly are
00:53:44never confuse that car with any other in the pit lane now
00:53:47whatever colour it is painted
00:53:53that's a bit of a McLaren specialty
00:53:55and this year's Formula One decade shows you'll see McLaren's unique
00:53:59and innovative
00:54:02winglet mounted on the engine cover
00:54:04about the same time off in that sector as Rubens Barrichello
00:54:09so it's going to be nip and tuck
00:54:10where they can take 10th position away from Rubens Barrichello
00:54:13what we're looking at here is G loading
00:54:15we're looking at lateral loading front and rear
00:54:19on the car
00:54:20well that would be great to have that graphic up now
00:54:23on a dry track and just see the difference
00:54:25wow
00:54:26interesting to have it up if he hits something
00:54:28they must have heard us because now we're seeing brake pressure
00:54:31and throttle position
00:54:32and loading left and right
00:54:35wow
00:54:36boy he's just skating along here
00:54:39he has got the ultimate leap of faith here this guy
00:54:42he has got the ultimate leap of faith here this guy
00:54:42well at the bottom
00:54:44a bit of right loading G loading
00:54:45and then the brake pedal as well
00:54:47that's a nice graphic
00:54:52McLaren have been doing wonders in testing
00:54:54but again a little bit fragile
00:54:57but when they have been running
00:54:58they've been quick
00:55:00this is going to be what a 44 or something
00:55:03they beat
00:55:04Barrichello
00:55:07yes he does
00:55:08he does just bumping Barrichello
00:55:11all in that third sector as Ron Dennis looks on
00:55:16now remember these times count
00:55:18they'll be added to a driver's performance
00:55:20in Sunday's second round of qualifying
00:55:23to determine grid positions
00:55:24it was a pretty hair-raising lap
00:55:27that because
00:55:28we know the Michelin's are not as good in full wet state
00:55:32as the bridge stones
00:55:33as the bridge stones
00:55:33he beat Barrichello's time
00:55:35here's the new recruit at McLaren Mercedes
00:55:37won Pablo Montoya
00:55:40ooh
00:55:43took a very strange line
00:55:45into turn one
00:55:46I'm not sure that's the one he wanted
00:55:48but it's the one the car gave him
00:55:49I'm not sure he pulled over
00:55:51maybe he could see he'd been watching the TV
00:55:53and maybe he'd seen some puddles
00:55:54that he didn't want to be in
00:55:59gave a different trajectory
00:56:01off that first right-hander
00:56:03into that first left-hander
00:56:05which collars well on top
00:56:07talk about a car being pleased on the ninth edge
00:56:09of Adhesion here
00:56:11you can just see it the car's desperate
00:56:13desperate to break away
00:56:14the driver just working it
00:56:16to keep it going where he wants
00:56:17slower than Reichen there
00:56:18of course intense rivalry
00:56:22between Montoya and Reichen this year
00:56:24there's no doubt about it
00:56:25yeah absolutely
00:56:27and I'm sure that
00:56:28there will be times this year
00:56:30when it gets pretty ugly
00:56:33there it is again isn't it
00:56:34wow
00:56:36just quicker than Alonso
00:56:38currently 13th
00:56:40which would put him three places behind Reichen
00:56:45that's awesome
00:56:46that's fantastic to see Montoya
00:56:51well it's his trademark
00:56:52going out on cold tyres and doing well
00:56:54that's how he won the Champ Car Series
00:56:56in the Indy 500
00:57:01he's going to need to pick up a lot here
00:57:03to get up to his teammate
00:57:05do you know
00:57:06it's so refreshing
00:57:07when you've got the car
00:57:08when you've got the equipment
00:57:09as a team
00:57:09as an engineer and a mechanic
00:57:11can you put the driver in
00:57:12you can see the two working
00:57:13absolutely on the limit
00:57:15it's just brilliant
00:57:18let's see what he does
00:57:2045
00:57:2311th
00:57:24one place behind his teammate
00:57:26bumping Rubens Barrichello
00:57:28one more spot to 12th
00:57:33Flavio Briatore
00:57:34comes over to congratulate his man
00:57:38yeah
00:57:38yeah
00:57:39yeah
00:57:39yeah
00:57:39yeah
00:57:39yeah
00:57:42but unlike last year
00:57:44when the results of first round qualifying
00:57:46merely set the order for the second round
00:57:48this counts
00:57:51well
00:57:51I'm surprised at Barrichello
00:57:53they got pasted by both those
00:57:55for the second round
00:57:56so
00:57:59interesting
00:57:59very interesting
00:58:01and Michael Schumacher
00:58:03with a
00:58:03157
00:58:04nine
00:58:05is a long way behind
00:58:07Fisichella's 133
00:58:09one
00:58:09boy what stories
00:58:10up and down the running order though
00:58:12Fisichella
00:58:13got it at just the right time
00:58:15great run for Mark Webber
00:58:17in front of the home fans
00:58:18again assisted by the luck of the weather
00:58:20Jack Villeneuve
00:58:21went off the track
00:58:23on his warm-up
00:58:24and here he is in fourth place
00:58:25followed by Christian Kling
00:58:27who out-qualified
00:58:28his teammate
00:58:28David Coulthard
00:58:29by quite a significant amount
00:58:31second over second
00:58:32Jensen Button
00:58:35Karthikaian
00:58:35really doing a nice job there
00:58:37as a rookie
00:58:38yep he's out there ahead
00:58:39of the Mercedes
00:58:40the McLaren cars
00:58:41of Raikkonen
00:58:42and Montoya
00:58:43and the Ferraris
00:58:45of Barrichello
00:58:46in 12th
00:58:46and Michael Schumacher
00:58:4718th
00:58:49right alongside
00:58:49his brother Ralph
00:58:51and finally
00:58:51Felipe Massa
00:58:52and Takuma Sarov
00:58:53who did not complete
00:58:55their laps
00:58:55and will start at the back
00:58:57no matter what happens
00:58:58but tomorrow
00:58:59in second round qualifying
00:59:00we'll find out
00:59:01in what order
00:59:04when
00:59:04Trust me folks
00:59:11it's not another day
00:59:12the sun is back out
00:59:13in Melbourne
00:59:14and we're halfway through
00:59:15qualifying
00:59:16for the opening round
00:59:17of the World Championship
00:59:19to Peter Windsor
00:59:19in the interview room
00:59:22congratulations
00:59:22to the first three drivers
00:59:24in the first official
00:59:25qualifying session
00:59:26for the 2005
00:59:27Foster's Australian Grand Prix
00:59:28third quickest
00:59:30for BMW Williams
00:59:31Mark Webber
00:59:32second quickest
00:59:33for Toyota
00:59:34Yano Trulli
00:59:35and on the provisional
00:59:36poll for Renault
00:59:38Giancarlo Fisichella
00:59:39Giancarlo
00:59:40a lot being said
00:59:41about the Renault
00:59:41over the winter
00:59:42how well it's been going
00:59:42and we've seen that yesterday
00:59:43today
00:59:44but I guess no one expected
00:59:45the conditions that
00:59:46determined the session today
00:59:47yeah
00:59:49first of all
00:59:49I'm really happy
00:59:50about my qualifying session
00:59:52yeah I have been
00:59:54very lucky
00:59:54because I was
00:59:56went out in the right moment
00:59:58and as soon as I finish
00:59:59my flying lap
00:59:59it start raining
01:00:00so it's great
01:00:02even because I have
01:00:03a big gap
01:00:04compared my
01:00:04all my competitors
01:00:07anyway the car
01:00:08felt good
01:00:09I have a very good feeling
01:00:11with the balance
01:00:12I feel comfortable
01:00:15and I told you
01:00:17it's the best start
01:00:18in my life
01:00:19and I know
01:00:20to have a great car
01:00:22and I will fight
01:00:24to win the race
01:00:26well you mentioned
01:00:27that it rained
01:00:27towards the end of that lap
01:00:28did that affect you
01:00:29in any way?
01:00:30did you have to come off
01:00:31the pace a little bit?
01:00:34fortunately
01:00:34it was raining just at the end
01:00:37of my flying lap
01:00:38so
01:00:39after turn one
01:00:40it was
01:00:41raining very heavy
01:00:42and
01:00:43on the end lap
01:00:44it was so difficult
01:00:46to come back
01:00:47I went even
01:00:48a little bit on the grass
01:00:49but
01:00:50I was slowing down
01:00:52and
01:00:52it was ok
01:00:55Jano
01:00:56Toyota
01:00:57perhaps
01:00:57it's a little bit of a surprise
01:00:59for you
01:00:59you better talk us through
01:01:00because it looks as if
01:01:01it's been a relatively difficult
01:01:02weekend so far
01:01:03but what a great result for you today
01:01:04well I think
01:01:05I have to point out
01:01:06that anyway
01:01:07compared to the
01:01:08people which has run
01:01:09with me
01:01:10with the intermediate tyres
01:01:12I was the quickest
01:01:12so obviously
01:01:13I think the car
01:01:14seems good
01:01:15felt good all the weekend
01:01:16we've been
01:01:17doing a different
01:01:19testing
01:01:19over the weekend
01:01:21even this morning
01:01:21and I think
01:01:22the performance
01:01:23are there
01:01:24obviously Giancarlo
01:01:25is the only driver
01:01:26ahead of me
01:01:26with the slick tyres
01:01:27but I'm particularly happy
01:01:29I couldn't have a better
01:01:31start to the season
01:01:33what are your thoughts
01:01:34now on tomorrow
01:01:35how it might go tomorrow
01:01:37obviously the weather
01:01:38is an unknown factor
01:01:39but given some sort of
01:01:41normality
01:01:41with the weather
01:01:42how will you approach
01:01:42qualifying tomorrow?
01:01:44well with this new
01:01:46qualifying format
01:01:47is a bit of a gamble
01:01:48we have seen today
01:01:49and obviously we have to
01:01:51play it by here
01:01:52just see what
01:01:52will happen tomorrow
01:01:53and try to do my best
01:01:55would be nice to score
01:01:56to score some points
01:01:58at the end of the race
01:01:59but again
01:02:01anything can happen
01:02:02but it would be nice
01:02:03to start the season
01:02:04well
01:02:04with my new team
01:02:06bring some points
01:02:07and starting from
01:02:09from now
01:02:09to the end of the season
01:02:10improving our performance
01:02:12well done
01:02:14Mark
01:02:14Australian Grand Prix
01:02:15here you are
01:02:16P3 on the first
01:02:17day of qualifying
01:02:19things couldn't be
01:02:20looking better for you
01:02:20at the moment
01:02:21I hope that's not tempting
01:02:22fate of course
01:02:22yeah of course
01:02:24it was a very lucky session
01:02:25I think for us
01:02:26and whoever
01:02:27you know ran
01:02:29ran
01:02:29you know whatever
01:02:30the order was
01:02:31that was who was going
01:02:32in the quickest at the time
01:02:32and we did a reasonable lap
01:02:35and then there was a few others
01:02:36ran quicker
01:02:36because the track was quicker
01:02:37and then Jim Carlo
01:02:39had some grooves
01:02:39and I think Jack is relatively
01:02:41close to me
01:02:42on his groove tyres
01:02:43so
01:02:44then it rained of course
01:02:45at the end
01:02:45so that was a bonus for us
01:02:47in terms of our grid position
01:02:48because no one really could improve
01:02:49so
01:02:50tomorrow morning
01:02:51we'll see
01:02:52I think the grid
01:02:52will probably stay
01:02:54relatively close
01:02:55I think the track was quite close
01:02:56at the end
01:02:56in terms of the guys
01:02:57in the wet
01:02:57so they might move around
01:02:58a little bit
01:02:59but no one's going to be
01:03:00unless if it's a dry session
01:03:01in the morning
01:03:02we don't know what the weather's
01:03:02going to do
01:03:02but if it's dry
01:03:03then I can't see people
01:03:05being spread out
01:03:06nowhere near as much as they are today
01:03:08Well it's perhaps more than a fair lap
01:03:09you're three seconds quicker
01:03:10than the guy before you
01:03:11your team mate
01:03:12and it looked a great lap
01:03:13out on the circuit
01:03:14Yeah I was really happy with it
01:03:15I got my braking points
01:03:17pretty good
01:03:17which is not easy
01:03:18in those conditions
01:03:19because the track is changing a lot
01:03:21in front of you
01:03:21picking the right tyres
01:03:22the tyre pressures
01:03:23all those type of things
01:03:24are crucial
01:03:25so Nick did make a small mistake
01:03:27so I don't think it's fair to compare too much
01:03:30but yeah
01:03:31happy with the lap
01:03:32Again back to you Giancarlo
01:03:35obviously you want to be on the pole tomorrow
01:03:37and it's there for the taking
01:03:38what would be your philosophy
01:03:39going into the qualifying session tomorrow
01:03:41with fuel
01:03:41and having to run used tyres
01:03:44in your case
01:03:45Yeah I think we're going to play
01:03:47a little bit with the fuel load
01:03:49we have a gap enough to play on that
01:03:52and I think it's better to be conservative
01:03:56on my flying lap tomorrow
01:03:58I have nothing to lose
01:04:00so it's better to be in pole position
01:04:03But it's not always easy to drive a conservative lap
01:04:07for you race drivers
01:04:08That's right
01:04:09I mean conservative
01:04:10but not too slow
01:04:14Giancarlo Pissichello will now lapse into Italian
01:04:16to speak to his home fans
01:04:18and while he does
01:04:18let's take a look at the lap
01:04:20that put him on provisional pole
01:04:22and if he can hold it
01:04:23he will reset the Formula One record
01:04:26for the largest number of races between poles
01:04:30his most recent one was 106 races ago
01:04:33at the 1998 Austrian Grand Prix
01:04:36when he was driving for Benetton for the first time
01:04:39of course Benetton became the Renault factory team
01:04:43Of course as they say timing is everything
01:04:46and he just got this practice for this original qualifying period
01:04:50right on the nose
01:04:52he got the drive tyres
01:04:53he'd seen what other people did on drive tyres
01:04:56a couple of cars before him
01:04:58so he had obviously the perfect timing
01:05:00of course right at the end of his lap
01:05:01as he said
01:05:02it rained
01:05:03and when he says tomorrow
01:05:04he's going to try some more fuel
01:05:05because
01:05:07I've got nothing to lose
01:05:08he's got everything to lose
01:05:09and nothing to gain
01:05:10by going fast tomorrow
01:05:11because he's going to be on the
01:05:12almost certainly be on the pole
01:05:13Well as Mark Webber suggested
01:05:15if things don't change much tomorrow
01:05:17we'll also might have the first
01:05:19all Italian front row since 1984
01:05:21the Brazilian Grand Prix
01:05:23when Elio De Angelis
01:05:24and Michele Alboretto
01:05:25swept the front row
01:05:26well Mark Webber could beat Chewy tomorrow
01:05:29he could
01:05:30I was just thinking about
01:05:30Physi Keller
01:05:31the way that he conducted himself
01:05:33in the interview room there
01:05:34he was very calm and very relaxed
01:05:36this is the most calm and relaxed Physi Keller
01:05:39I've ever seen
01:05:41working well with the car
01:05:42working well with the engineer
01:05:44he's doing
01:05:45he and Renault are doing a fantastic job right now
01:05:48well that they are
01:05:49they have all the chance in the world
01:05:52of locking up that pole position
01:05:54in tomorrow's second round of qualifying
01:05:56which of course you'll see here on Speed
01:06:03Welcome back to Albert Park
01:06:05round one of Formula One qualifying
01:06:07for the Australian Grand Prix is now complete
01:06:09David, Steve, take us through the results
01:06:11well of course it was a very messed up session
01:06:14with that rain at the beginning and the end
01:06:15Fisher-Keller came off by best by far
01:06:18with a 1.33-1
01:06:19truly two seconds behind him
01:06:21Webber a second and a half behind him
01:06:23then Bill and a pretty close
01:06:24and Christian clean
01:06:25Webber if it's very dry tomorrow
01:06:27and it's a good session
01:06:28he could just displace Yano truly
01:06:31he's been quicker all the rest of the weekend
01:06:32but it's quite a lot of time to make up there
01:06:34to get the aggregate right
01:06:36David Coulthard not as quick as his teammate
01:06:38Mick Heide felt down there
01:06:39a lot slower than his teammate Mark Webber
01:06:41Jenson Button in the BAR
01:06:42got called out by the rain
01:06:43then Karthikai and I thought
01:06:44did a terrific time
01:06:45because it was pretty wet when he was out
01:06:46and that was early on
01:06:49Montoya, Barrichello, Montero, Alonso
01:06:51and Christian Albers
01:06:52but remember that the guys can work on the cars now
01:06:54after this first qualifying session
01:06:56they're allowed to strip them down
01:06:57they'll rework them
01:06:58the only good thing about Villeneuve
01:07:00who's going to have to take care of his tyres
01:07:01he'll have to qualify on those tyres tomorrow
01:07:04it's going to be a busy night in the garage area
01:07:06there in Melbourne
01:07:07that'll wrap up our first qualifying session
01:07:09from Albert Park
01:07:10don't forget to join us tomorrow night
01:07:12at 8.30pm Eastern Time
01:07:13for coverage of the second round of qualifying
01:07:15and after we set the grid
01:07:16stay tuned for the Australian Grand Prix
01:07:18at 9.30pm Eastern
01:07:19as always starting with a pre-race show
01:07:21featuring Peter Windsor
01:07:22and at 10 o'clock the cars will roll off
01:07:24for the start of the new season
01:07:26but first keep it right here on Speed Channel
01:07:28because our Formula One magazine show
01:07:30Inside Grand Prix is coming up next
01:07:33until tomorrow
01:07:34for David Hobbs and Steve Matchett
01:07:36I'm Bob Varsha
01:07:37we'll see you for the second round of qualifying
01:07:39and then the Australian Grand Prix
01:07:41so long everyone
01:07:46we'll see you for the next one