Davidson is poles apart from Hamilton

By Alan Baldwin

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Anthony Davidson was poles apart from compatriot Lewis Hamilton at the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday, but no less happy for it.

While McLaren's Hamilton secured the seventh pole position of his already stellar Formula One career, Davidson qualified his Super Aguri at the very back of the grid in 22nd place for Sunday's season-opener.

Asked how his afternoon had gone, the 28-year-old replied with one word and a big grin: "Rubbish".

Just making it on to the starting grid without incident was enough to put a smile on the driver's face, with his team's future in doubt until a rescue deal was agreed last week and still short of spare parts.

"We are here now at the back of the grid by quite a long way but at this point we are just happy to be here," Davidson told Reuters.

"You don't normally come racing to make up the numbers but for this race we are here just to finish. That pretty much is our main goal.

"We are on the back foot for this one. We had a week and a half's notice before coming out here."

Davidson said the uncertainty had been hard to bear. While Hamilton could fly out to the Far East to acclimatise, his compatriot had sleepless nights, massive stress and a ringing in the ears.