Midfield mayhem prevented Takuma Sato from being able to show the true potential of his BAR-Honda 007 in the Australian Grand Prix, the Japanese driver eventually coming home in 14th place having been caught up in traffic throughout the 57 laps.

Takuma made a good start from the back of the grid, finishing the opening lap in 14th place. Despite quickly passing Felipe Massa for 13th, the first round of pit-stops dropped Taku back a couple of spots, and was then running in 13th after the second round. A clash Michael Schumacher and Nick Heidfeld elevated Taku a couple of places, but the BAR team elected to finish his race in the pits in order to gain a new engine for the Malaysian Grand Prix without penalty.

　 “It was a difficult weekend for all of us, particularly in the race with me starting at the back of the grid. The team did a great job repairing the car for me for today and, obviously, I drove the best I could to recover some positions, but generally we were off the pace and we will work hard to turn this around for the next race.”

　 Ever-changing weather conditions created havoc in first qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix, with Takuma Sato among the monsoon’s victims as he aquaplaned off the sodden circuit, damaging his front wing and both front and rear suspension. Fortunately, Taku was unhurt, but he will be forced to start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid.

Under the new parc ferme rules, the team only had until 6.30pm on Saturday night and from 7.00am Sunday morning to repair the damage, and the mechanics worked well in the limited time to ensure Taku would be able to race with the same chassis. He completed a single lap in Sunday morning’s qualifying session to conduct a final systems check before lining up on the back row of the grid.

　 “It’s been a very mixed day for us. The car stopped at the end of free practice with an electrical problem and the wet weather didn’t help our progress. The track started to dry again early in the qualifying session but, when it was time for me to leave the garage, the rain started again and was very heavy. With intermediate tyres, it was impossible to drive the car in those conditions. I tried my best in very difficult circumstances, but there was nothing I could do. All I can do now is try my hardest from the back of the grid for the race on Sunday.”

　 The 2005 Formula One world championship blasted into life in Melbourne today, with Takuma Sato taking 18th place in dry conditions as the teams found their feet in two practice sessions. Taku experienced a few small set-up difficulties that limited his laps during the optimum running time, which was not helped by the new engine and tyre restrictions which saw the BAR-Honda team implement new management controls that limited the laps completed by each driver until track conditions improved in session two.

Takuma ultimately managed 20 laps, working on specific programmes to determine set-up and tyre wear. His BAR-Honda 007 chassis is brand new this weekend and required the usual set-up tweaks to get the handling to his satisfaction.

　 “I had a difficult start today. I didn’t have good grip and there was a small issue with the brakes in the first session. I was happier with the balance when this was fixed for the second session. I think that we can continue our improvements tomorrow, but there is still a lot of work to do.”