CONFIDENCE is high as Lucky Strike BAR Honda undertakes final preparation for the 2005 Formula One season - with the season opener, the Australian GP, taking place in Melbourne this Sunday.

BAR Honda is more determined than ever to pursue its goal of winning the FIA Formula One World Champ-ionship, with Honda now an equity partner with British American Tobacco in the team, as well as engine supplier, chassis development partner and major sponsor.

Both Jenson Button and Takuma Sato have a lot to prove and are keen to resume action where they left off last year, with BAR Honda indisputably the most improved team of 2004.

Jenson, in particular, is fired up and raring to go: "Winter testing has been very encouraging and I have done more mileage in this testing period than ever before.

"The car has shown good reliability, as has the engine, which is very important considering the new engine regulations whereby one engine must last for two races.

"I am hoping - as is the team - that our first win is just around the corner."

Sato too is upbeat about the team's prospects and relishes the challenge ahead.

He said: "I am going into my second season here with more experience, confidence and team stability.

"Obviously I want to push myself even harder to try to improve on my podium finish last year and my ultimate goal must be to challenge for more podiums and eventually to achieve my first win." A significant evolution of last year's design, the new 007 car demonstrates a further improvement in design and build-quality. The new car is visibly smaller and its more unified development and integration with the new 3.0 litre V10 engine - producing more than 900PS - has resulted in a tighter, more refined packaging and considerable weight saving despite the more onerous 2005 structural and crash test requirements which the car surpassed.