Formula 1 News

Italian Grand Prix Qualifiers: Fernando Alonso on Pole! 

An excellent and error-free Fernando Alonso dominated qualifying session valid for tomorrows’ Italian Grand Prix at Monza, setting the fastest time in all three segments and beating his McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton to pole by 0.037 seconds. Both Ferrari had to settle for third and fifth on home ground, with 3rd Felipe Massa 0.6 seconds slower than Alonso, and BMW’s Nick Heidfeld beating Kimi Raikkonen to 4th.

The world champion had a comfortable margin over the competition in both Q1 and Q2, then set a 1’21”997 on his first Q3 flying lap, nearly 0.4 seconds quicker than Hamilton’s initial effort. Hamilton could only improve to 1’22”034 on his final run and although Alonso was on an even faster lap, he backed off once he knew his second pole of the year was secure.

The Ferrari looked set to share row tow until Nick Heidfeld split them with his final lap. Raikkonen, using the spare Ferrari fitted with his race engine following his massive practice accident, was six tenths of a second slower than teammate Massa.

Robert Kubica put the second BMW into sixth, ahead of Renault’s Heikki Kovalainen and Williams’ Nico Rosberg. Jarno Trulli took ninth for Toyota, while his teammate Ralf Schumacher was eliminated in Q1 for the fifth time this season. They had been split by just 0.063 seconds in the very tight midfield in Q1, but that was enough to consign Schumacher to 18th and to keep Trulli in contention.

Jenson Button completed the top ten for Honda, having reached Q3 for only the second time in 2007. Button’s teammate Rubens Barrichello had held eighth in the closing moments of Q2, but was shuffled outside the top ten as others improved and then ran wide into the gravel at the first Lesmo while trying to regain his Q3 position. This left him 12th, and also contributed to the closely-following Giancarlo Fisichella ending up 15th on the grid for his home race.

Mark Webber took 11th for Red Bull – nine places ahead of teammate David Coulthard after a suspected gearbox problem sent the Scot into a spin at the Rettifilio during Q1. Williams’ Alex Wurz and Super Aguri’s Anthony Davidson will share row seven, with Sebastian Vettel making it through to Q2 for the first time since joining Toro Rosso and taking 16th. His teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi could only manage 19th. Davidson’s teammate Takuma Sato spun at the Roggia on his first run, then missed the Q2 cut by 0.01 seconds on his second flying lap, leaving him 17th.

Spyker’s B-specification car did not bring an immediate improvement. Adrian Sutil took his usual 21st place, while final qualifier Sakon Yamamoto removed his front wing on the barriers after spinning at the first chicane.

Italian GP Final Qualifier Standings:

1. F. Alonso (McLaren) 1’21”997
2. L. Hamilton (McLaren) 1’22”034
3. F. Massa (Ferrari) 1’22”549
4. N. Heidfeld (BMW) 1’23”174
5. K. Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1’23”183
6. R. Kubica (BMW) 1’23”446
7. H. Kovalainen (Renault) 1’24”102
8. N. Rosberg (Williams) 1’24”382
9. J. Trulli (Toyota) 1’24”555
10. J. Button (Honda) 1’25”165