Motorsport
Jenson Button beats Renault for Australian GP pole
By Jens Marx
Apr 1, 2006, 13:38 GMT

Melbourne - Jenson Button beat the favoured Renaults of world champion Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella for the pole position at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix in a Honda on Saturday.

It was the third career pole for Button and the first for Honda in 38 years since John Surtees won the qualifying for the Monza race in September 1968.

'To get the pole is fantastic. It was a very hectic session, mad for us. It is a special feeling being on pole,' said Button.

Not so lucky were Ferrari, with ex-champion and four-times Australian GP winner Michael Schumacher failing to make the final round of the session and Felipe Massa also out on the second round after spinning off the Albert Park track.

Button clocked 1 minute 25.229 seconds on the 5.303-kilometres course to take first place on the grid.

Fisichella was second on 1:25.635, Alonso came third with 1:25.778 minutes and McLaren-Mercedes were also happy with fourth place from Kimi Raikkonen (1:25.822) and fifth position by Juan Pablo Montoya (1:25.976).

Renault have dominated the season so far. Alonso won the opener in Bahrain and Fisichella the second race ahead of Alonso in Malaysia. Alonso leads the standings with 18 points ahead of Button and Schumacher, who have 11 points each. Fisichella has 10 points.

'If we start as usual the target is to be first in the first corner,' said Fisichella, sending out a clear warning to Button.

Alonso said: 'The car is perfectly balanced. We should be extremely competitive.'

The Spaniard admitted to being frustrated about missing the first row on the grid, saying he was held up by German BMW driver Nick Heidfeld on his final fast lap. Earlier in the final session, he raised his arm in frustration about being held up by Fisichella.

Button would like nothing more than finally getting his first career victory, but, given Renault's strength, he remained cautious.

'I know it is not the end result but it is a good start,' said Button.

Ferrari, meanwhile, didn't make the final 10 eligible to compete for the pole position.

Massa first spun off the track and Schumacher's time of 1:26.718 was not good enough for the cut 10-racer cut. It was a bad blow for the German, who got pole and finished second in Bahrain and then came sixth in Malaysia.

'I am definitely not happy. We weren't fast enough,' said Schumacher, a four-time race winner in Australia.

Schumacher finished 11th in qualifying, but will start from 10th place on the grid as BMW driver Jacques Villeneuve will drop from ninth place in qualifying to 19th at the start due to an engine change.

Massa's incident led to the second interruption of qualifying on the day. In the first 15-minute session, the action was stopped for several minutes when Yuji Ide's Super Aguri car stood on the track.

Light rain also gave the teams a scare between the second and third qualifying session.