Webber Gives Australians Cause to Cheer

Sports-mad Australians will finally have a Formula One driver to cheer for after Mark Webber qualified for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix.

The 25-year-old from the New South Wales rural town of Queanbeyan secured his first start in a race when he piloted his Minardi to 18th place on the grid. Australia's Jack Brabham won three World Championships in the 1950s and 1960s and his countryman Alan Jones won the title in 1980 but there has not been an Aussie driver in Formula One since Brabham's son David retired in 1994.

That all changed when Melbourne-raised businessman Paul Stoddart bought the struggling Minardi outfit last season then signed Webber. The Australian, who test drove for Benetton last season while racing in F3000, arrived in Melbourne this week in a blaze of publicity but said he had to be realistic about the team's chances.

He said his first real ambition was to qualify for the race then try and finish it.

"All we want to do now is finish, just to finish," Webber said. "We're going to need a lot of luck to get a Championship point."

Webber finished 18th overall with his Malaysian teammate Alex Yoong 21st of the 22 qualifiers. Webber said he had not expected to finish in front of any other teams but was thrilled to go faster than the two Jaguars. Most of the drivers were only able to complete one fast run after the second half of the qualifying session was hit by a thunderstorm, making the circuit slippery and slow.

"It's good to outdo the Jags, that's what qualifying is all about," Webber said. "Maybe they would have done us if they'd had another run. But I'd have had another run as well.

"When the rain came I thought this could work out all right for us. But I was also thinking we haven't done much in the rain. I just hope it's fine tomorrow."