GIANCARLO Fisichella is gearing up for a world championship challenge after a dominant victory in the Australian Grand Prix.

The Renault driver believes he finally has the chance to prove his talent at the very top after winning from lights to flag at Albert Park in the first race of 2005.

Fisichella has long been rated as one of Formula One's great lost talents after disappointing spells with struggling teams such as Jordan and Sauber, but in Melbourne he finally fulfilled his potential.

Now he is looking to build on his second career victory by fighting for the world title.

He said: "It's the first time in my life that I am driving a car with a lot of potential, a good car which has been quick and consistent from the beginning to the end.

"This is great for me after 10 years in Formula One. I never showed my talent because I never drove the right car.

"Yes, I won in Brazil in wet conditions a couple of years ago but the rest of the season was very frustrating, so this year I've a great car and I don't want to lose the opportunity to show my talent and to win races.

"We already showed our pace in testing in the winter. We showed today how quick we are. We still have good potential to go forward and I think we are the team with McLaren and Ferrari who will fight for the championship."

Renault were always amongst the front-runners in winter testing and translated those performances into results today with Fisichella taking the win and team-mate Fernando Alonso climbing from 13th on the grid to third at the end.

Fisichella confessed he knew from his first taste of the 2005 car that Renault were sitting on something special.

He added: "I am really confident for the rest of the season. I know we are just at the first race, but already we have fantastic potential and I felt that from the first time I drove the car in January.

"It was quick from the first few laps and it was easy to drive. So now we only need to work on it and to carry on with the development and try to win again.

"I think the whole package is really good - engine, chassis and tyres and the good thing for us, for the drivers, is to have a very consistent car from the beginning to the end."

Rubens Barrichello was easily the top Ferrari driver at Albert Park after fighting his way from 11th to second on a day when world champion Michael Schumacher crashed out in an incident with Williams' Nick Heidfeld.

David Coulthard enjoyed a dream debut for Red Bull, putting in a stunning race for the new team to take fourth after running second for much of the race.

Williams driver Mark Webber was also denied a podium despite a long run in third, although the home hero equalled his best ever result by taking fifth ahead of McLaren's Juan Pablo Montoya in sixth.

Christian Klien gave Red Bull more points with seventh, while Kimi Raikkonen took eighth for McLaren despite starting from the pit lane.

BAR endured a miserable race, with Jenson Button floundering down in 11th, three places ahead of team-mate Takuma Sato.

The team called both drivers into the pits on the final lap so as to technically retire from the race and enable them to change engines before the next race in Malaysia without penalty.

New rules for 2005 mean engines must last two races or a 10-place grid penalty will be imposed, but BAR avoided that rule after essentially writing off a disappointing weekend.