French GP Qualifying: Raikkonen On Pole
Kimi Raikkonen will start tomorrow’s French Grand Prix on pole after a unflustered performance put him ahead of his Ferrari team mate Felipe Massa.
This was classic Raikkonen – unflustered and calculated. The on-board footage picked up a great deal of over-driving – Hamilton, Massa and Alonso were all guilty. Ferrari have the most balanced car this weekend, particularly in sector three, and must start tomorrow as favourites for a 1-2.
Lewis Hamilton finished third in the session but will be demoted to 13th because of his pit lane crash in Canada. A dejected Hamilton apologised to the team for a below-par performance in the post-race press conference, but McLaren were simply not fast enough to challenge Ferrari in qualifying.
What have McLaren got planned for Hamilton? Filling him fat with fuel and wait for slower cars to pit may be the obvious choice, but Hamilton is expected to run light and make up as many places as he can early in the race.
BMW had an unhappy qualifying, perhaps a fairer reflection of their relative performance when the fastest teams have fewer problems. Kubica wound up 6th with Heidfeld failing to make Q3 in 11th.
Alonso starts 3rd after Hamilton’s demotion, but there were question marks over his fuel levels. Were Renault just wanted to impress in front of their home crowd?
McLaren will need rain or a safety car to challenge the Ferraris tomorrow.
Tomorrow’s top 10:
1. Raikkonen
2. Massa
3. Alonso
4. Trulli
5. Kovalinen
6. Kubica
7. Webber
8. Coulthard
9. Glock
10. Piquet
