Giancarlo Fisichella in the Renault came out on top after a rain-hit first qualifying session in Melbourne this morning. With the Ferrari drivers caught out by the weather, and the new rules stating that qualifying will be decided by the aggregate times of first and second qualifying, the Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello will be left with it all to do in the race tomorrow.

Jean Todt: "This first qualifying session was turned into a lottery because of the changing weather conditions. On Michael's car we only just managed to switch from dry to rain tyres, but with the downpour that hit the track as he was on his quick lap, just doing a time was an achievement. Rubens went out on the extreme wet tyres and effected a damage limitation drive. Although there is a second session tomorrow, it is clear that today's result compromises our chances for the rest of the weekend. All in all, the new rule has introduced a further element of uncertainty and today that situation has been immediately confirmed. This state of affairs was down to chance and we can only accept the situation, even though obviously, we are not happy about it."

Rubens Barrichello: "It was a tough day as it was difficult just to keep the car on the track. Myself and Michael faced the same problems, Michael even more than me. It will be impossible to recover all the lap time we have lost today in tomorrow's session. But we are in good shape. I think the new weekend format means that qualifying is less important in terms of its effect on the race and so I am still optimistic about our chances of getting a good result."

Michael Schumacher: "All I can say about today is that we were unlucky. The weather has so often played in my favour that I can accept it was not the case this time. I had seen the rain clouds approaching and I hoped they would stay away a bit longer, but it didn't happen and we only just had enough time to fit the normal rain tyres, when extreme wets would have been a better choice.
 

"Obviously this result will impact greatly on the race. All the same we will try and bring home some points or even something better. I don't think a podium is out of the question, but it will be very difficult. Who knows what the weather will bring tomorrow! The race is long and all we can do is try our best to remedy this situation."

Ross Brawn: "The conditions absolutely worked against us and so there was nothing more we could have done. Given that the rain arrived just as Michael was about to go out, I think the guys did a great job to get the rain tyres on the car in time to send him out.

"We did not expect the rain to get so heavy so quickly. It takes around 2 minutes to do an "out" lap, and in that short time the track became extremely wet."

1st Qualifying times from Melbourne: 1. FISICHELLA Renault 1m33.171s, 2. TRULLI Toyota 1m35.270s, 3. WEBBER Williams 1m36.717s, 4. VILLENEUVE Sauber 1m36.984s, 5. KLIEN Red Bull  1m37.488s, 6. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m38.320s, 7. HEIDFELD Williams 1m39.717s, 8. BUTTON BAR 1m41.512s, 9. KARTHIKEYAN  Jordan 1m44.357s, 10. RAIKKONEN    McLaren   1m44.997s, 11. MONTOYA McLaren 1m45.325s, 12. BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1m45.581s, 13. MONTEIRO Jordan 1m46.846s, 14. ALONSO Renault 1m47.708s, 15. ALBERS Minardi 1m49.230s, 16. FRIESACHER Minardi 1m50.684s, 17. R SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m51.495s, 18. M SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m57.931s, 19. SATO BAR no time, 20. MASSA Sauber no time