Qualifying Report: Canada
June 10th 2007 08:44
Hamilton celebrates his first pole
It was an eventful hour, which kicked off with David Coulthard struggling with his Red Bull, citing brake problems that sent him bouncing over kerbs and sliding into the grass.
With six minutes left to run in Q1, Heikki Kovalainen’s weekend got even worse when he lost the back end of his Renault on turn 8, and careered into the wall.
Kovalainen’s mistake lost him his rear wing, and brought out the red flags for the session.
Once the session resumed, the top cars all posted their quick laps, with Fernando Alonso effortlessly topping the sheets with a 1:16.562.
Anthony Davidson, Ralf Schumacher, Heikki Kovalainen (who was able to get back on track thanks to a remarkable effort by his Renault crew) Alex Wurz, and the usual back-end paring of Spyker’s Adrain Sutil and Christjian Albers were the first drivers to bow out of qualifying.
Q2 saw Mark Webber fly in his Red Bull, and Takuma Sato post some impressive times in his Super Aguri.
With only a few minutes to go, the top teams put their supersoft Bridgestones on, and started to set a blistering pace, Hamilton and Alonso dipped into the mid 1minute 15’s, which the Ferrari duo of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa struggled to match.
BMW’s Nick Heidfeld was put under pressure after his timed lap was deleted due to his cutting of the final chicane, which forced him to try and sqeeze out a last minute attempt.
Heidfeld started his final flying lap with around 12 seconds to spare, and blazed his way around the circuit to nail P3 with a brilliant effort that even saw him smear some rubber on the infamous ‘wall of champions.’
Heidfeld’s last second heroics, pushed Takuma Sato out of the top ten, and he, Tonio Liuzzi, Rubens Barrichello, David Coulthard, Jenson Button and Scott Speed were all knocked out.
Q3 kicked off with Kimi Raikkonen cheekily jumping in front Lewis Hamilton as they departed pit lane to begin their usual fuel-burning parade.
With seven minutes left, they came in to commence their attack, bolting on the soft rubber, and setting off for a flier.
Alonso drew first blood, with Hamilton just behind and Raikkonen in third, with one quick lap to come.
Lewis Hamilton set the benchmark when he crossed the line with a 1:15.707, but Fernando Alonso was quicker in the first to sectors.
But an error in the third sector put Alonso behind the Briton, who was to claim his first ever pole postion as a result.
Nick Heidfeld was equally as impressive as he claimed P3 ahead of the Ferrari’s of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa.
Mark Webber scored a deserved P6 on the grid, while Williams’ Nico Rosberg was quick enough to edge out BMW’s Robert Kubica for P7.
Giancarlo Fisichella would probably not be entirely satisfied with P9, after his Renault was not as competitive as it was at Monaco a fortnight ago.
Toyota’s Jarno Trulli quietly rounded off the top ten, adding even more fuel to the media fire that is currently burning Ralf Schumacher, who failed to make it out of Q3.
But the story of the sunny, Canadian afternoon was Lewis Hamilton’s first pole position.
The 22-yeat old was understandably delighted with his achievement, “I'm absolutely 100 per cent over the moon to claim my first ever Formula 1 pole position and at a circuit where I have never been before,” he said.
Alonso admitted some disappointment with his mistake, but remained positive, “I think here the difference in grip levels between lining up first and second is minimal and I'm looking forward to the race tomorrow,” said the Spaniard.
There will be an interesting battle tomorrow of the start-line when both McLarens square off, and the whole controversy surrounding team orders still present in the media adds to the intrigue.
However, both drivers hinted that they would not attack each other at the start of the Grand Prix.
“Fernando and I are not going to do anything stupid, obviously I want to stay at the front,” said Hamilton, while Alonso commented, “I obviously want to win but also I'm not going to win the Championship this weekend so will be sensible."
Behind the McLarens, the fight between BMW and Ferrari for that final step on the podium is shaping up to be rather exciting, as Nick Heidfeld will try desperately to claim the first podium finish for a non-McLaren or Ferrari driver.
Mark Webber will be hoping that his Red Bull survives the arduous GP, as he again seeks to turn his lightning speed into a points finish.
So with the grid decided, and some tantalising battles set up, Sunday’s race looks set to be a cracker.
The grid for the 2007 Canadian GP:
01 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:16.707
02 F. Alonso McLaren 1:16.163
03 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:16.266
04 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:16.411
05 F. Massa Ferrari 1:16.570
06 M. Webber Red Bull 1:16.913
07 N. Rosberg Williams 1:16.919
08 R. Kubica BMW 1:16.993
09 G. Fisichella Renault 1:17.229
10 J. Trulli Toyota 1:17.747
11 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:16.743
12 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:16.760
13 R. Barrichello Honda 1:17.116
14 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:17.304
15 J. Button Honda 1:17.541
16 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:17.571
17 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:17.542
18 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:17.634
19 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:17.806
20 A. Wurz Williams 1:18.089
21 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:18.536
22 C. Albers Spyker F1 1:19.196
| 41 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
