Saturday March 11th, 2000

By Julian Linden

Jenson Button survived his first real test in Formula One to qualify for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix on Saturday.

The 20-year-old Briton walked away from a 240 kph (150 mph) crash before climbing into the cockpit of his second spare car to become the youngest British driver to qualify for a Formula One race.

"What happened today, I suppose, is part of the learning curve," Button said.

Button was the second slowest of the 22 qualifiers for Sunday's race and, while he was disappointed, he had done well just to qualify.

His chances of lining up on the starting grid for the season-opening event suffered a serious setback when he was involved in a high-speed crash during Saturday morning's free practice.

The fresh-faced Englishman was lucky to escape uninjured after he clipped a kerb on a fast left-hand curve and slammed his car into a barrier.

The impact tore the rear wheels of his BMW-Williams and although he was able to climb out unassisted, he watched the rest of the session from the team garage.

The team's mechanics were able to repair the car in time for the afternoon's qualifying session, but Button's hopes of qualifying sank even further when his flying laps were all yellow flagged before he had to abandon his car.

"It was a difficult qualifying session," Button said.

"My race car experienced a problem with the fuel pick-up so I got into the T-car but then every lap I was on the circuit there was a yellow flag."

Switching to the spare car, Button returned to the circuit in the final minutes of the session to post a qualifying time to guarantee himself a spot in the race.

He set himself up for a flying lap right at the end of the session in the hope of improving his place on the grid only to have the lap halted by a red flag when Scotland's David Coulthard crashed his McLaren.

"I couldn't manage to put together a proper qualifying lap," Button said.

"My morale is pretty bad at the moment but tomorrow is another day and we will see."