Honda's return to Formula One racing ended in success for the Lucky Strike Reynard BAR Honda team in Melbourne this afternoon. Jacques Villeneuve finished a magnificent fourth to record the first ever world championship points for the British American Racing outfit in its first race with Honda. BAR Honda team mate Ricardo Zonta finished seventh, and appeared to have narrowly missed out on points himself, but the later exclusion of Mika Salo, who had taken the place just 8 laps from the flag, saw the Brazilian claim his first ever world championship point.

The Australian weather again produced temperatures in excess of 30°C. As usual, the heat took its toll and only ten finishers were classified as Michael Schumacher led home a Ferrari 1-2. However, the excellent reliability shown by the BAR Honda during pre-season testing continued here and enabled both cars to complete the distance without incident.

Jacques Villeneuve made an excellent start from eighth on the grid and at one stage was alongside the Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello, but the Brazilian held the racing line and Jacques was forced to concede the corner, settling back in seventh position. Despite intense pressure from Mika Salo's Sauber, Jacques maintained his position and as the McLaren-Mercedes departed with engine trouble and others pitted, the Canadian found himself second before his pitstop.

A good stop for new tyres brought Jacques out in fifth and Frentzen's demise elevated this to fourth, but Ralf Schumacher had overtaken the BAR Honda in the pit stops and Jacques could not catch the German for that elusive podium finish.

Ricardo Zonta's race also began with an excellent start from 16th and by lap eight the Brazilian was nudging into the top ten. The traditional war of attrition in the first Grand Prix of the season accounted for some of his rivals, but the BAR Honda held strong. On lap 47, Ricardo edged into the top six and on course for his first world championship point, but three laps later, a charging Mika Salo swept past. The 23-year old appeared to have been robbed of his deserved reward, but the exclusion of the Sauber driver lifted the BAR Honda driver back into the top six.

Jacques Villeneuve Position: 4th
"It feels great. I knew we would be able to score points today and after the struggle of the last year, it is good to finally achieve this. To do it in our first race with Honda is excellent. I had hoped that we could get on the podium, but Ralf passed me in the pitstops, although I really thought that the Williams wouldn't last the distance. This is a great start to the season and gives us something to build on."

Ricardo Zonta Position: 6th
"I thought I was going to finish sixth and score a point, but I could not do anything about Salo coming past me. I had a lot of understeer throughout the race and this cost me some time in the fast corners. I was really disappointed not to finish sixth, but now I have the place back again, I am very happy. I have had a few little problems this weekend, but today the car and engine ran perfectly. It's obviously good for the team to get two cars in the top six. Now let's see if we can repeat it in Brazil."

Takefumi Hosaka Managing Director, Honda R&D
"I must say that we are satisfied and happy, but now we must prove that we can do it again. It is a good achievement to bring two cars to the finish and it is a reward for everyone's efforts. BAR did a great job. This result is a reflection of how well we have prepared and how well the team has worked together.

"Now we are going to take the team for a drink. We may find that we have a high consumption level, but we will certainly last the distance!"

Kazutoshi Nishizawa Technical Director, Honda Racing Development
"We had one target in mind and that was reliability. We achieved this objective and got our reward. Without reliability we can only lose, but on its own, it is not enough to win. We will continue to develop the engine, particularly in terms of adding performance to the reliability. We do need more competitiveness, but we have achieved our first objective."

Craig Pollock Managing Director, British American Racing
"This is more than successful. We hoped to get one car to the finish, but we have achieved it with both of them. Behind Ferrari, we were the second team to bring two cars home and that is some achievement. We saw last year how important it is to score points and to do it in the first race is excellent. Honda works, and has always worked, in a very careful way. The engineers targeted reliability and they have delivered what they intended. Now we can all work together to maximise the potential of the overall package."

The Jordan Mugen Honda team had a very encouraging weekend. The drivers continued to show the speed that had earned them top six qualifying positions, but Jarno Trulli's Australian Grand Prix ended on lap 35 with an exhaust pipe failure. Heinz-Harald Frentzen produced a great drive and the German was leading comfortably on lap 38 when gearbox problems brought his day to a premature conclusion.