12/06/2004
NEWS STORY
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Ahead of the first part of today's qualifying session the ambient temperature is 20 degrees while the track temperature has risen to 40 degrees.
First out is European GP winner Michael Schumacher, who will be followed by Rubens Barrichello then Jenson Button.
The German begins his out lap, although quickest in today's first session, he was totally overshadowed in the second. At the first split it's 20.5 followed by a 23.6 at the second. At the line it's 1:13.463, as Rubens Barrichello begins his flying lap.
The Brazilian completes the first sector in 20.7, he's down on his teammate. At the second split it's 23.6, followed by a 1:13.782 at the line.
Many are predicting that BAR could pull off a surprise win this weekend, and Jenson Button is the man tipped to do it. At the first split it's 20.5, he's slower than Schumacher but it's marginal. At the second split it's 23.3, he's quickest in that sector. At the line it's 1:13.333, the Englishman goes quickest.
Jarno Trulli is the fastest man here so far this weekend, what can he do now when it really matters? At the first split the Renault star posts 20.6, followed by a 23.5 at the second. At the line it's 1:13.149, as he goes quickest of all in the final sector.
Next out is Jarno's Spanish teammate Fernando Alonso. At the first split the Renault driver posts 20.6, he's only marginally off the pace. He's quickest of all in the second sector, posting 23.3. At the line it's 1:12.826, as he goes quickest in the final sector also. He's quicker than his second-placed teammate by 0.323s.
Giancarlo Fisichella posts 20.8 at the first split, and goes on to post 23.5s at the second, not at all bad, considering. At the line the Sauber driver posts 1:13.663, which puts him ahead of Barrichello.
Mark Webber's had a disappointing weekend thus far, can it get any better now? At the first split the Australian posts 21s, he already quite a bit off the pace. At the second split it's 23.7, he makes up a little ground. At the line the Jaguar driver posts 1:14.715, he goes seventh of seven.
Juan Pablo Montoya is next out, the Colombian performed well in today's second free practice session. At the first split it's 20.7, while in the second he goes quickest of all, posting 23.2s. At the line it's 1:12.746, as the WilliamsF1 driver takes provisional pole.
Felipe Massa is on track, the Sauber driver completing the first sector in 21s. He loses ground in the second sector, crossing the timing beam at 23.9. At the line the Brazilian posts 1:14.392, which puts him ahead of Webber.
Nick Heidfeld is next out, the German has a new, fellow-German, teammate this weekend. At the first split it's 21.2, that's slowest so far. He's slow again in the second sector, posting a disappointing 24.2. At the line it's 1:15.657, almost 3s off the pace. He'll be very disappointed.
At the first split, Toyota's Olivier Panis posts 20.8, which isn't too far off the pace. At the second split the Frenchman posts 23.5, again he's in touch with the leaders. At the final split it's 1:14.166, which puts him eighth, right behind Barrichello.
Christian Klien is next out, can the Austrian out-pace his teammate? At the first split he quicker, completing the sector in 20.9. At the second split it's 23.8, followed by a 1:14.751 at the line. He's eleventh, one place and 0.04s slower than Webber.
It's all over before it's begun for Bruni, the Italian coasts to a halt on his out lap. Bitter luck for the Italian team. Marshals descend on the car and push it off track, as Gianmaria heads back to the pits.
Teammate Zsolt Baumgartner is next out, can he last any longer? The answer is yes, the Hungarian completes the first sector in 22s, going on to complete the second sector in 25. At the line it's 1:17.903 for the Minardi driver.
Next out is the man that was so impressive for much of the European GP, Takuma Sato. He's quickest of all in the first sector, posting an impressive 20.3, way quicker than anyone else. He loses pace in the second sector but he's still quick. The Japanese youngster crosses the line at 1:12.989 to go third, a very strong performance.
David Coulthard completes the first sector in 20.5, which keeps him in touch with the leaders. At the second split it's 23.6 followed by a 1:13.206 at the line, that puts him fifth.
Next out is McLaren teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who posted some good times in this morning's sessions. At the first split it's 20.7, which is only marginally slower than Montoya. At the second split it's 23.5 followed by a 1:13.602, he goes eighth, having lost ground in the two final sectors.
Ralf Schumacher is next out, he'll be keen to upstage his teammate, if he can. He posts 20.5 at the first split, slightly off the pace but it's marginal. At the second split it's 23.1, like Montoya he goes quickest in this sector. At the line it's 1:12.441, the German goes quickest.. but then again we've seen this several times this year, the WilliamsF1s dominate the first part of the session then 'fall apart' when it really matters.
Cristiano da Matta posts a 20.8 at the first split, followed by a 23.2 at the second. At the line it's 1:13.807 as the Brazilian goes twelfth, one place ahead of his teammate.
Finally, it's F1 'new boy' Timo Glock, can he 'do a Hakkinen' and out-qualify his teammate? At the first split it's 21.8, followed by a 24.7 at the second. At the line the German posts 1:16.865, to go eighteenth.
At the end of the first part of the qualifying session, the order is Ralf ahead of Montoya, Alonso, Sato, Trulli, Coulthard, Button, Michael, Raikkonen and Fisichella.
Eleventh quickest is Barrichello, who is followed by da Matta, Panis, Massa, Webber, Klien, Heidfeld, Glock, Baumgartner and Bruni.
First out for the second, and crucial, part of today's qualifying session is Gianmaria Bruni, who will be followed by Baumgartner, Glock, Heidfeld and Klien. Last out will be Montoya.
At 13:00 precisely, Bruni heads off down the pitlane - the lights are green this time! Ambient temperature is now 21 degrees C, while the track temperature is up to 43 degrees.
The Italian goes out and drives straight back into scrutineering, the Minardi crew has apparently changed his engine.
Zsolt Baumgartner comes out. The Hungarian completes the first sector in 21.8, and goes on to complete the second sector in 24.5. At the line it's 1:17.064, however the car looked a real handful, all over the place.
Now it's Timo Glock's big moment, his first ever qualifying lap. At the first split it's 21.6, the car twitching and looking very nervous. At the second split it's 24.4, followed by a 1:16.323 at the line. A good performance, all thing considered.
Teammate Nick Heidfeld is next out. The German completes the first sector in 21.2s,almost 0.7s faster than Glock. At the second split it's 24s followed by a 1:15.321 at the line. He was unbelievably close to the 'champion's wall' it's a wonder how he made it.
Christian Klien is last out before the break. The Jaguar driver completes the first sector in 20.8, going on to complete the second in 23.6. At the line it's 1:14.532, a good lap, nice and tidy.
At the first break it's Klien ahead of Heidfeld, Glock, Baumgartner and Bruni.
Next out is Mark Webber, the Australian and his team having a 'weekend from hell'. He's incredibly slow on his out lap, doing the sort of 'weaving' you normally see on warm-up laps. At the first split it's 20.9, it's not a good lap. It's a messy lap, he locks up here, there and everywhere, completing the second sector in 23.9. At the line it's 1:15.148, he's down on Klien by over half-a-second. A poor lap.
Felipe Massa aborts his run and drives straight to the scrutineering bay. It appears he had a puncture on one of his rear tyres.
Therefore it's Olivier Panis who goes out, the Frenchman keen to out-qualify teammate da Matta once again. At the first split the Toyota driver posts 21s followed by a 23.8s at the second. At the line it's 1:14.891, he goes second to Klien.
Panis' teammate Cristiano da Matta is next out. The Brazilian completes the first sector in 21s followed by a 23.8s at the second. At the line it's 1:14.851, as he goes quickest of all in the final sector.
Next out, before the second break, is Rubens Barrichello. The Ferrari driver posts 20.4 at the first split, quickest so far. However he gets well out of shape at Turn 6 and loses ground. He completes the second sector in 23.8 but makes up ground in the final sector, where once again he's quickest. At the line it's 1:13.562, he takes provisional pole, but it could have been better but for that mistake.
At the second break it's Barrichello ahead of Klien, da Matta, Panis, Webber, Heidfeld, Glock, Baumgartner, Bruni and Massa.
Next out is Giancarlo Fisichella, who has really raised his game in the last couple of races. At the first split the Italian posts 21s followed by a 23.9s at the second. The Sauber driver really attacks the kerbs. At the line it's 1:14.674, which puts him third behind Barrichello and Klien.
Kimi Raikkonen is on track, this is one of the last times that we'll see the MP4-19, so McLaren tells us. At the first split it's 20.6 going on to post 23.4 at the second, he's up on Barrichello. At the line it's 1:13.595, a nice tidy lap, but not enough. The Finn goes second.
Michael Schumacher is next up, is this another step closer to Ayrton Senna's pole record? At the first split it's 20.5, followed by a 23.4s at the second, he's quickest of all. At the line the German posts 1:13.355, provisional pole for the World Champion.
Jenson Button is on track, can he do it? At the first split the Englishman posts 20.2, he's quickest so far in that sector. At the second split the BAR driver posts 23s, he's quickest again. At the line it's 1:12.341, he takes provisional pole by more than a second, a stunning lap, superb.
Now it's David Coulthard's turn. At the first split the Scot posts 20.7, the car twitching worryingly at Turn 6. At the second split it's 23.7 followed by a 1:13.681. He brushes the wall, but continues, there's paint on the sidewall of the Scot' Michelins.
At the final break, it's Button - by a second - ahead of Michael, Barrichello, Raikkonen, Coulthard, Klien, Fisichella, da Matta, Panis and Webber.
This morning's pace-setter Jarno Trulli is next out, can he repeat his Monaco form? At the first split the Italian posts 20.5, he's already 0.2s down on Button. At the second split it's 23.5, he continues to lose time. At the line the Renault star posts 1:13.023, to go second, ahead of Michael Schumacher.
All eyes on Takuma Sato now, can the Japanese driver out-pace his teammate? At the first split Takuma posts 20.1, he's quicker then the Englishman. He loses time at Turn 6, he's overdriving. At the second split it's 23.6, he's lost ground. At the final chicane he spins but somehow keeps it away from the wall. After a 360 degrees turn he continues, posting 1:17.004, he's fourteenth.
Fernando Alonso is on track, can he take pole? At the first split the Spaniard posts 20.5 followed by 23.6s at the second. At the line the Renault driver posts 1:13.308 to go third.
Juan Pablo Montoya is next up, the Colombian was on pole here in 2002. At the first split the WilliamsF1 driver posts 20.5, he's down on Button. At the second split it's 23.3, he then locks up at the hairpin losing even more time. At the line it's 1:13.072, Juan Pablo goes third.
All eyes on Ralf Schumacher, the only man who can stop Button from taking pole number two. At the first split it's 20.3, he's down on Button, but it's very, very marginal. He's quickest of the lot in the second sector, he's pushing hard. At the line it's 1:12.275, he's done it, he's taken pole. The German punches the air in defiance.. how he did it, who knows, however it was a superb lap.
At long last Ralf Schumacher appears to have re-found his groove, taking a superb pole that will surely silence the critics and delight his employers. Unlike Jenson Button it didn't look like a brilliant lap, but unlike Button, Ralf is on pole.
Behind the German and the Englishman, we have the makings of a great race, with Trulli, Montoya, Alonso and Michael starting ahead of Barrichello, Raikkonen, Coulthard and Klien.
There are only a few more of these qualifying sessions to go, before Bernie's new system comes into play, hopefully at Silverstone. However, today's session wasn't too bad.
A superb lap from Button, while Takuma clearly still has a lot to learn, and will be kicking himself for that silly mistake at the final hairpin.
As for Ralf, it's his first pole since France last year, indeed it's WilliamsF1's first pole since Germany.
According to the latest weather reports, tomorrow will be sunny, so we can't count on the weather spicing things up.
However with the Renaults, Schumacher and Montoya starting behind Ralf and Button, not to mention Sato starting from seventeenth, we could be in for something rather special.