Australian GP: Michelin Saturday qualifying notes

BUTTON SECURES HIS THIRD F1 POLE - AND MICHELIN'S 102ND

Jenson Button (Honda/Michelin) has secured his first pole position of the season - and the third of his Formula One career - after an incident-packed qualifying session ahead of tomorrow's Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

At the circuit where he made his F1 debut in 2000, the 26-year-old Englishman posted a 1m 25.229s lap to pip Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault/Michelin) by 0.406s. Button's success marked Michelin's 102nd F1 pole. Fernando Alonso (Renault, third), Kimi Räikkönen (McLaren Mercedes, fourth) and Juan Pablo Montoya (McLaren Mercedes, fifth) completed a Michelin clean sweep of the top five.

Nick Shorrock, Michelin Formula One director:

"That was a hectic session, with all the disruptions, and from our perspective it was also very successful. It was interesting to monitor teams' reactions when rain threatened at the start of Q3 and teams had to choose between standard dry tyres and our latest intermediate, which proved so conclusively competitive during this morning's final free practice. In the end, only Nick Heidfeld tried the inter and it soon became clear that dries were the optimum choice."

"Overall it was a very satisfying result for Michelin, with four of our partners in the top 10. Collectively, our six teams will use three different types of tyre in tomorrow's race and all are working very well here at Albert Park."

"This latest pole position, in the coolest conditions of the season so far, is another tribute to the fantastic teamwork between Michelin and its partner teams during our winter development programme. I'd also like to congratulate Jenson Button on taking the third pole position of his F1 career."

Team perspective on tyres

Nick Fry, CEO, Honda Racing F1 Team:

"Anthony Davidson did a lot of tyre comparison work yesterday andwe are very pleased with the choice of tyres. Today's result proves Anthony made the correct choice and Jenson Button did an excellent job to get the most from the tyre in qualifying."

"For us, compound selection was relatively straightforward, the Michelin tyres have performed beautifully and we had no problem with graining. Our thanks go to everybody at Michelin."

-michelin-