Heikki Kovalainen produced one of the best qualifying performances in recent years to take pole position here today. His McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton could only manage fourth place after fluffing his first flying lap in Q3.
He ran onto the gravel, but rather than come in for clean tyres, he started a new lap, something that I believe cost him pole position.
In second place today was Red Bull's Mark Webber, who impressed yet again, and briefly held pole position. It is his equal personal best qualifying performance, and the first time Red Bull have been on the front row.
Kimi Raikkonen managed to get third place after the Ferrari team struggled to find the sweet spot in the set-up. Under the circumstances, a third place finish is very good indeed.
Nick Heidfeld put his qualifying gremlins behind him to grab fifth place. It marked the first time he has out-qualified his teammate Robert Kubica, who failed to set a time in Q3 after running off at Stowe.
Kubica will now start in tenth place after that mistake. This spells bad news for his chances of keeping up with the title race.
- B/R Ticket Guide
Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet qualified sixth and seventh respectively for Renault, with the young Brazilian continuing to show improved form after his poor start to the year.
Sebatien Vettel fulfilled the promise he had shown in the practice and qualifying session by securing eighth place - one place ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa!
The championship leader struggled for pace after his heavy shunt yesterday. His chances were further scuppered by a wheelnut problem in the pits that caused him to miss his final run, consigning him to ninth on the grid.
David Coulthard missed the cut for the top-10 shootout by the narrowest of margins and will start his final home grand prix from 11th place.
The Red Bull driver felt he might have done better had he not lost most of the final practice session on Saturday morning to a technical problem.
He will share the sixth row with Toyota’s Timo Glock, the man who collided with him at last week’s Silverstone test.
His teammate, Jarno Trulli, will start in 14th place behind the Toro Rosso of Sebatien Bourdais. Bourdais was largely expected to be in the final session with his teammate Vettel, but could not improve his time.
Honda endured another dismal qualifying showing, Jenson Button failing to advance to Q2 at his home GP for the third successive year and managing only 17th on the grid, one spot behind teammate Rubens Barrichello.
Nico Rosberg was a surprise casualty of the first knockout session and finds himself mired in 18th in the starting lineup.
The Williams driver was visibly struggling with his FW30 bouncing over the bumps and suspected a suspension problem might be the cause.
Ha-ha, I had predicted that Felipe Massa may win. Yeah, something tells me he may not after today.
Heikki to take victory tomorrow. Sorry for the bluntness of this article peeps, but I have to dash for an interview with some guy called Lewis Hamilton.
Bye.
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6 months ago
Great news MG, see you had the extra something that we cannot get from television! Wow, mate, do ask LH if he forgot his contacts lenses at home :-)
from 6 months ago
hey sara, i would have replied earlier but my hotmail account is buggin me over. heikki on pole, well happy.
6 months ago
What Happened To Bourdais Anyway , I Thought I Saw Him Go Fastest Of Anybody In Q2 , Just After The Rain Shower .
I Had A Sense Of De Ja Vous At The End Of Q3 , Kimi Taking Provisional Pole , Then I Thought Lewis was On For The Same As Last Year Right At The Death . But Webber What Can I Say , It Was A Marvellous Lap He Put Together , I Had A Smile On My Face . But Heikki Has Finally Done It , It Was Almost As Emotional As Whenever Lewis Grabs Pole . Im So Pleased For the Guy He Works His Ass Off And He Truly Deserves A Race Win Tomorrow .
Give Him My Congratulations If You See Him .
from 6 months ago
i did just that mate. he's so approachable man. he was very happy, as u can imagine. lewis was impressed by that lap aswell.
i may be slow with replying to comments as my hotmail is buggering me over.
6 months ago
I think the championship will tighten up even more after tomorrows race if all front runners finish ... I REALLY fancy a McLaren 1-2 now and would love to see Kubica and Massa finish down there although they probs wont ... I think the fuel will play into Lewis hands because I think he might be a tad lighter than Kimi so lets hope he can get the jump when lights go out ... If not he might have a problem because Kimi I feel will almost certainly be running longer 1st stint ?
from 6 months ago
kimi may run very long on his first stint. i fancy a mclaren 1-2, and i'm not gonna chuck out webber. another podium for red bull? hope so, that would be ace.
from 6 months ago
So we can agree on 1st - Heikki, 2nd - Lewis, 3rd - Mark ... I think that could be a realistic prediction ... Although you can always be sure there will be a Ferrari to spoil the party.
from 6 months ago
aha - just to spoil ur party - tomorrow's race will throw some surprises :-)
from 6 months ago
Ha ha yeah, just to spoil MY party !
6 months ago
Well hopefully Lewis do not try take out Kimi in the start. That is nightmate start order for me lol. Lewis want win not matter what and unfortunatelly Kimi is just front of him....
If Lewis keep his head down and do not try over drive like in qualifying i would bet my money to Heikki ja Kimi. But other question is : do McLaren let heikki beat lewis or will there be "team order" It will be intresting to see.
6 months ago
I am surprised that Ferrari have struggled so far this weekend. Often in tougher conditions like low grip, wind and rain the Mclaren seems to perform better. Ferrari needs conditions to be more stable in order to be fully up to speed. This is an area they still lack to Mclaren.
Should be a good race, Heikki has a great chance of winning in the dry with Webber acting as a buffer between him and Kimi/Lewis.
For Massa and Kubica its damage limitations. Like Ben says the championship could really tighten after this race with this grid order.
If it rains which is still predicted anything can happen really.
from 6 months ago
ferrari are set up for the rain, we could set that today as they went out. i had a cheeky look at their set up and it does seem the car is set up almost entirely for a wet track.
6 months ago
Webber at P2 and Vettel at P8 are the best wet weather drivers apart from Lewis who won in the wet at Monaco - Kimi on Bridgestones I am not sure where as I would have bet on him in the wet on Michelins to drive home to the podium - it will be interesting to see if it rains and well one never knows - even Alonso in the Bridgestones is suffering otherwise he would have been one more wet weather bet on Michelins - read somewhere that the Ferraris were setup for the wet and that is why they dragged a bit - seems like the Silverstone tests revealed a chink in the Ferrari armour. Whatever be it, Silverstone has shown up Ferrari to be bested by McLaren and it seems that BMW will be testing some new aerodynamic parts in the Spanish tests before Valencia, so we can expect Valencia to be the decider if BMW proves successful in bringing about marginal changes in setup there
from 6 months ago
if it rains then i would not like to predict anything. vettel is glorious, as is sutil and webber. anyone could win if it rains here tomorrow.
6 months ago
Firstly , You Gave Heikki My Congratulations ???? Yeah Ive Indirectly Spoken To The Kov-Meister . And I Know lewis Will Be Happy They Are Good Together , Unlike Fernando . And How Did The Interview Go With Lewis ? I Have An Idea Anyway For Next Year Mate , A Way Of Cutting Down Costs And Getting Maximum Stories Out Of A Grand Prix Weekend .
If Ferrari Have Gone For A Full Wet Setup Then We Definatly Dont Want Rain Tomorrow .
I Predicted A Mclaren 1-2 In My Silverstone Article Last Week Only I Had ,Lewis- 1st ,Heikki -2nd, But Ill Second Your Prediction Now Ben , Its Time For Heikki To Get This Win .
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