By BAR F1 (02/03/2004)
March 2 2004

Honda's first race in its third period of Formula One participation was at Albert Park in 2000. Jacques Villeneuve and Ricardo Zonta finished in fourth and sixth places respectively. Honda drivers filled the podium of the 1988 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide, by not only powering the McLaren MP4/4 cars of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna to the last of an unprecedented 10 one-two finishes that year, but also the Lotus 100T of Nelson Piquet to a brilliant third

Albert Park was used for the non-championship Australian Grand Prix as early as 1953, but regular GP racing returned to the sporting capital of Australia in 1996. The circuit is remarkably unchanged, still weaving around the park lake, although now in a clock-wise direction, with the old circuit running along the back of the pit area.

Because the circuit uses the normal roads of Albert Park as the basis of its layout, the surface is normally quite dirty when the cars start running on Friday. It cleans up quickly however and lap times fall as rubber goes down in the corners. The generally smooth surface means tyre wear is not an issue, but getting tyres to work effectively certainly is.

The weather in Melbourne is likely to be hot in early March, so mechanical reliability may be an issue for teams. For this reason, the season opener has gained a reputation for being a finishers' race.

Race Distance	58 laps 191.117 miles (307.574 km)
Circuit Length	3.295 miles (5.303 km)
Race Start	14.00 local time, 03:00 GMT.