“It’s starting to come together, though, and if I get the driving going that will make a big difference.”Woosnam has accepted Sam Torrance’s invitation to be his vice-captain when Europe try to win back the Ryder Cup at The Belfry next year, but has done so on the understanding that if he makes the team he wants to play.He has also given Colin Montgomerie something to think about.Montgomerie captains the Britain and Ireland side against Seve Ballesteros’ Continent of Europe at Sunningdale next week and he has one wild card to hand out.Woosnam says he would appreciate knowing some time in advance if he is to be Montgomerie’s choice.”Otherwise I might want to be somewhere else – like home in Jersey or in Barbados,” he said.Muntz, meanwhile, is taking a six-week holiday after his breakthrough victory, which gives him a two-year tour exemption.Winner of the British amateur title at Muirfield in 1990 – he was the first Netherlands golfer to achieve that honour as well – the 30-year-old turned his early season form on its head.Muntz missed his first four halfway cuts, but was in a league of his own in Doha, just as Paul Lawrie was last year.He and Woosnam – eight under and three under respectively – were the only two players to break par over the four days.. Jenson Button displayed the kind of maturity, rhythm and pace on his Formula One debut that truly marks him out as a genuine talent. Jenson Button displayed the kind of maturity, rhythm and pace on his Formula One debut that truly marks him out as a genuine talent.
Remarkably composed for one so young, the 20-year-old Button began to look out of his depth for the first time on Saturday night as the disappointment of qualifying in 21st place for the Australian Grand Prix ate into him, but he bounced back with the second-fastest time in yesterday morning’s warm-up. By the end of the first lap he had moved his Williams up to 15th place, narrowly avoiding fellow-rookie Nick Heidfeld’s Prost as the German was forced to slow in the first corner. Button, despite his lack of experience, soon settled on to the tail of the 10-car train chasing sixth place.”What Jens lacks most is pure track time,” his father, John, had said.

“He went to Kyalami to test, in the expectation of fine weather, and instead it rained most of the time.” Prior to the weekend, Button’s dry-track running amounted to 1,000 kilometres. By contrast, when Jacques Villeneuve made his debut here for Williams four years ago, he had seven times that behind him.Yet lap for lap Button matched – and sometimes beat – the times of his team-mate Ralf Schumacher, three places ahead of him on the road. With 11 laps to go he was running sixth, applying pressure to Giancarlo Fisichella’s Benetton and Villeneuve’s BAR. It was engine failure that put paid to the fairy-story.”It was amazing,” said the Frome-born Button after becoming Britain’s youngest – and the world’s fifth youngest – grand prix driver of all time “The whole experience was incredible. I lived up to my dream, though I would have liked it to last another 11 laps I felt really relaxed beforehand. It was scary how calm I was.”With his critics now silenced, Button’s next taste of life in the fast lane is Brazil in a fortnight..

Michael Schumacher left here yesterday with a broad grin on his face and the lead of the world championship in his pocket, after preceding his Ferrari team-mate, Rubens Barrichello, home to a convincing one-two finish. Michael Schumacher left here yesterday with a broad grin on his face and the lead of the world championship in his pocket, after preceding his Ferrari team-mate, Rubens Barrichello, home to a convincing one-two finish.
The Australian Grand Prix had been billed as a head-to-head between McLaren and Ferrari, and qualifying form for the opening race of the season appeared to have favoured the former. But after 19 of 58 laps it was a case of colour me red as the silver arrow of Mika Hakkinen followed the car of his team-mate David Coulthard car into retirement after his Mercedes-Benz engine suffered an identical pneumatic valve failure. Schumacher, who had initially chased the McLarens, was left to romp home to an easy 36th career victory.Hakkinen and Coulthard had broken clear of the pack at the start, the Scot protecting the Finn as they opened what looked like a comfortable lead. But the field closed up again on the seventh lap when the safety car was deployed after the Spanish driver Pedro de la Rosa suffered a suspension failure which sent his Arrows crashing heavily into a wall.

When the debris had been cleared away and racing resumed on the 11th lap, Schumacher quickly hounded Coulthard, whose engine was losing power. Within a lap the Scot’s race was over.Hakkinen nevertheless seemed to have things in hand as he extended his lead again over the Ferrari, but the German was attacking with a series of fastest laps when the Finn’s car rolled to a halt on the 19th lap.Schumacher’s only problem thereafter came on the 45th lap as Barrichello caught and passed him for the lead. But the Brazilian made a second “splash-and-dash” pit stop a lap later, handing him back the initiative.”This is the fifth time I have tried to win in Australia and to be competitive at the start of the season,” Schumacher said. “The first time I sat in the car I knew I would be able to fight for the championship right from the start. I wasn’t worried yesterday; I thought Mika could celebrate pole and I could celebrate the win!”Like Schumacher, Barrichello had planned only one pit stop, but after Schumacher had pinched the two Jordans between Barrichello’s car at the start the Brazilian had become trapped in fourth place behind Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Ferrari then elected to change Barrichello’s race strategy to incorporate a quick initial stop and an even quicker top-up later on. “Towards the end I had no need to push and I let Rubens pass, as he had to make his second stop and he was fighting for second place,” Schumacher said.Ferrari’s switch seemed eminently sensible, given that Barrichello was otherwise unlikely to find a way by Frentzen, but the McLaren chief, Ron Dennis, suggested that Ferrari’s strategy was further confirmation of Schumacher’s No 1 status.

“I don’t see how he works that out,” said a somewhat bemused Ferrari technical director, Ross Brawn. “It was worth a gamble; if we hadn’t done anything, Rubens would have stayed behind Frentzen anyway.”Frentzen took over the lead when Schumacher made his pit stop on the 30th lap, and held it ahead of Barrichello until he, too, refuelled on the 36th, but his hopes were dashed by an hydraulic problem which prevented him changing gear properly He soldiered on until inevitable retirement on the 40th lap. That ended an unfortunate day for Jordan; Jarno Trulli had fallen from a comfortable third place four laps earlier following an exhaust problem.It was not a great day for Jaguar either, as its much-vaunted challenge evaporated quickly. Johnny Herbert, whose practice and qualifying had already been plagued by the same persistent problems that have beset the metallic green cars throughout pre-season testing, was ready for a cup of tea within a lap of the start as his car rolled to an embarrassing halt with another clutch failure. His team-mate Eddie Irvine ran as high as ninth on the opening lap, but was down to 11th place when he had to go off the track to avoid De la Rosa’s Arrows.