Hakkinen still confident of good race showing

The Finn admitted he didn't get the best out of his McLaren-Mercedes as he qualified only third in Melbourne. But he was still bubbling with confidence that he could win on Sunday.

"I'm not too concerned at not being on pole," said the man who has started from the front for the last three years, but only won once. "I have been on pole by quite a big margin for the last few years and then not won the race. So perhaps it will be the other way around this time. I am looking forward to finishing first in this one."

The Finn aborted one flying lap when the session was red-flagged by Jaguar driver Luciano Burti's accident with 12 minutes to go.

The Finn starts third after Michael Schumacher stole pole and Rubens Barrichello bumped him down to third in the final minutes.

Hakkinen was half-a-second slower than the world champion and said there was far more to come from his car.

"I definitely didn't get the best out of it," he admitted. "I didn't get a perfect lap in during the session and always had a problem in one sector or other - but then again I'm reasonably pleased. It is unfair to say I am not happy with the car - there were some balance issues that we were not able to sort out in qualifying and that slowed us up, but the car is fast."

He pointed out that reliability was as big an issue as speed. No McLarens have finished in the last two Australian Grands Prix.

"I am confident we have a consistent and quick car for the race - and I am really looking forward to finishing the race tomorrow."