A near-perfect start to the first race weekend of the year in Melbourne this afternoon as the Shell-powered Ferrari team secured a front-row lock out. Michael Schumacher will begin the 2004 Australian Grand Prix ahead of his team mate Rubens Barrichello. Â
‘The real vindication of the winter’s development programme is in the qualifying when the car’s true performance is seen for the first time against its opposition,’ said Mike Copson of Shell Global Solutions. ‘We are delighted that the hard work that the Shell team has done through the winter, developing completely new lubricants and fuels for the team has contributed to this excellent start to the weekend. Of course, we have a long year ahead of us, not to mention the race tomorrow, but we could not have wished for a better foundation upon which to build.’ Â Â
With a new qualifying format in operation for the first time this afternoon, the teams eagerly awaited to see how their cars compared in qualifying and in race trim. As the afternoon panned out however, it became clear that laps times and performances were varying wildly between the two sessions as Albert Park is an unusual circuit where the track conditions are very variable. Â Â
As the second, definitive session got underway, it was Da Matta who made the early running. In fact, with several cars not registering a time, including the rookies Bruni and Klein it wasn’t until Trulli lapped Albert Park in 1.26.297 that the times started to fall. Â Â
Next to take the provisional pole was Takuma Sato, in the impressive new B.A.R. car but he too was soon eclipsed by the sensational performance of local hero Mark Webber. Buoyed by an ecstatic crowd, Webber stopped the clocks at 1.25.805 to the delirium of the sun-drenched fans. With more cars to run, realists knew that it was unlikely to be the fastest time of the day, but it was more than enough for his army of fans. Â Â
The first man to steal Webber’s thunder was one of the Shell-powered drivers. Barrichello lapped in his F2004 at 1.24.482 for the fastest time of the day and provisional pole. In fact, such was the Brazilian’s speed; he was to hold the top spot until the session’s dying breath. Alonso, Button, Coulthard, Raikkonen and Ralf Schumacher all tried but did not manage to take pole, although Button’s 1.24.998 was further confirmation of B.A.R’s good weekend so far. Â Â
The F2004 was clearly the car of the day, and Michael Schumacher’s stunning 1.24.408 as second to last runner further compounded that theory. Ferrari had the front-row locked up and despite Juan Pablo Montoya’s last effort, he could not dislodge the red cars. Â Â
With Michael ahead of Rubens, Montoya starts tomorrow in third. Button and Alonso are behind him, with Webber, Sato and Ralf Schumacher rounding out the top eight.
