Thursday March 9th, 2000

by Thimothy Collings

Defending champion Mika Hakkinen and his old rival Michael Schumacher may be the bookmakers' clear favourites for the title, but 20-year-old Briton Jenson Button is the man at the centre of most attention on the eve of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

The new Williams driver, signed after a testing shootout with Brazilian Bruno Junquiera in January, was surrounded throughout his first ad-hoc news conference on Thursday, chased by autograph-hunters every time he left the paddock and reacted all the time with a broad grin.

"I can't wait," he said as he sat outside the Williams garage on Thursday afternoon. "I am looking forward to driving the car here and trying out the track for the first time. It is very exciting for me and I really want to do my best for the team. At the moment, I have to say I am enjoying every second of it."

While all eyes at the Albert Park track will be on Button in Sunday's race, the two major title rivals and their team mates, as well as last year's race winner Briton Eddie Irvine, were making solid preparations for the first race of what promises to be a closely-fought season.

Irvine, who has switched from Ferrari to Jaguar, was a suprise winner of last year's race and does not expect to repeat the experience of his maiden Formula One triumph. "We've been doing too much promotional work so far -- we are not really ready for this, but we have got a car that can develop a lot," he said.

Irvine tipped his old Ferrari team mate Schumacher and last year's world champion Hakkinen to be out in front again, but the pair were reluctant on Thursday to be drawn into any kind of predictions.

Hakkinen, seeking a third successive title to emulate an achievement only previously managed by Juan-Manuel Fangio of Argentina, was elusive on most subjects. But, he said, he was feeling relaxed and very committed to his job.

"It's only when you get into the car that you can tell how you really feel and we have done a lot of hard work for this, so we are ready," he said. "I don't know who our main rivals will be, but I am sure Ferrari will be near us as usual."

Schumacher was equally confident about the 58-lap race around the picturesque 5.316-km Albert Park track, set in a park in the city of Melbourne, close to the coast. "I am sure we are well-prepared, too, and that the car is a big improvement on our car of last year," he said.

Irvine, as usual, talked most feely about the race ahead and the season in prospect. "This is quite a tricky cirucit," he said.

"There's a couple of good sections and the fast chicane at the back of the track is very good and the last corner is a nice one too. For the car, it is a tough place. It is difficult to set it up and it is hard on the brakes."

For Irvine, the race will represent his debut in new colours, but he will not be the only driver tasting something new in Australia. Three of the drivers in the field will be making their F1 debuts -- Button, for Williams, German F3000 champion Nick Heidfeld, for Prost, and Argentine Gaston Mazzacane for Minardi.

Of these, Button will do well to finish in the top 10 while Heidfeld, recruited to partner F1's longest-serving driver and fellow-Prost newcomer Jean Alesi of France, could do slightly better in his Peugeot-powered car.

Mazzacane may find the reliability of his Ford-Cosworth powered car gives him a chance of a better position than many more heavily-favoured rivals if lack of reliability is, as expected, a major factor in the hot conditions.