Fisico secures second Renault pole

Another Renault pole position, but this time it is the unfortunate of Bahrain, Giancarlo Fisichella. Fisico is joined by Jenson Button on the front row. Very highly performing however were the Williams cars. Rookie Nico Rosberg learned from his Bahrain mistakes and was faster than his teammate. 3rd and 4th for a privateer team is absolutely stunning.

Before the start of the session already, lots of drivers knew their efforts would not be rewarded as they should, as their engine had been changed to avoid or solve a problem with their V8. These drivers include Barrichello, M Schumacher, Massa (with a double engine change, thus being penalised 20 places), Coulthard. On the other hand, since Fisico and Villeneuve did not finish last race, they will have a new engine without being penalised with 10 places on the grid.

Similar to Bahrain, it are again both Super Aguri and Midland cars that come out first, quickly joined by both Renaults who set the fastest times, with Fisichella just ahead of the world champion. Five minutes later, Raikkonen, Button and Ralf Schumacher put themselves in front of the Renaults while Rosberg realised 6th fastest time. The Wiliams Cosworth cars were the fastest in the 3rd sector containing both long straights, confirming that the Cosworth is in fact the engine to beat.

Contrary to Bahrain, this time there are no surprises as the first session knocked out 3 complete teams, namely Toro Rosso, MF1 Racing and Super Aguri.

The second session is started. Villeneuve leaves the pitlane as first, while Felipe Massa has got rid of his helmet to cool down a bit. With 9 minutes to go, yet another engine has to be replaced as Ralf is stopped on the straight, surrounded by white smoke. He is however in 3rd place so should be able to take the T car to drive the final qualifying session. 5 minutes later, both Williams' unleash their power as Webber snatches first place and Rosberg puts himself in third, looking certain to go through to the final session.

After session 2, the knocked out cars are Coulthard, Barrichello, Trulli, Villeneuve, Heidfeld and Massa.

As session 3 is about to start, the cars are queing at the pitlane to start and burn fuel. Fernando Alonso on the other hand waited about half a lap before joining the other cars on the track. Once there, the Williams' are initially fastest while the Renaults take it slowly. With 5 minutes to go, Button, already on new tyres, is fastest ahead of Rosberg and Fisichella.

In the decisive phase of the session, Fisichella put in the fastest time in 1:33.840. Button in second, followed by the two Williams cars as Rosberg is third and Webber fourth.

The complete results are as follows:
1 G. Fisichella Renault 1:33.840 2 J. Button Honda 1:33.986 3 N. Rosberg Williams 1:35.105 4 M. Schumacher Ferrari 1:35.010 5 M. Webber Williams 1:35.252 6 JP. Montoya McLaren 1:34.536 7 K. Räikkönen McLaren 1:34.667 8 F. Alonso Renault 1:35.514 9 C. Klien Red Bull 1:35.171 10 R. Schumacher Toyota no time 11 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:34.614 12 R. Barrichello Honda 1:34.683 13 J. Trulli Toyota 1:34.070 14 J. Villeneuve BMW 1:34.752 15 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:34.783 16 F. Massa Ferrari no time 17 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:36.297 18 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:36.581 19 C. Albers Midland F1 1:37.426 20 T. Monteiro Midland F1 1:37.819 21 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:39.011 22 Y. Ide Super Aguri 1:40.720