Button realises pole ahead of both Renaults
In once more an eventful qualifying, Jenson Button set the fastest time ahead of Fisichella and world champion Alonso. While McLaren is in place 4 and 5, both Ferraris could not get to the final stage of qualifying and will be down in the second part of tomorrow's grid. Button and his Honda team were relieved with their first pole of the season and of course aim to finally turn it into a win.
As Formula One unwrapped in Melbourne earlier this week, the unknown factor for the race weekend was the weather. It was expected to be very changing and it proved to be in today's training session. During the morning, a shower emerged from the sky and resulted in several spins of drivers in that session. While some teams such as Renault drove several laps with intermediate weather tyres, either McLaren driver hardly drove a lap.
However, while teams fear possible more rain during the upcoming qualifying session, the track is dry as the cars get underway. Lucky enough for Ide as he was missing one corner after another, and we may only guess how much more he would miss on a wet track. That very same Yuji Ide caused the session to be stopped for a few minutes as he spun into the apex of the two but last corner before the straight.
Once Q1 was underway, the expected drivers were able to put in good enough times to secure a Q2 place. Ide on the other hand kept on going like he was and hindered Barrichello in his final qualifying attempt. The Brazilian obviously was very disappointed to be finishing 17th and get knocked out in this stage. The fastest time in Q1 was set by Montoya in his McLaren Mercedes, while Barrichello, Albers, Speed, Monteiro, Sato and Ide are the drivers that will not take place in Q2.
With Ide being knocked out, Q2 promised to be a bit safer than the previous section. Both Renaults quickly proved that they are on form, setting 1st and 3rd time, almost securing their place into Q3. Few minutes later though, with 6 minutes to go in the session, Felipe Massa loses control of his Ferrari as his car oversteers in the Hill track section. The Ferrari is damaged in the rear, with the rear wing and one wheel broken off because of the impact into the tyre barrier. The session is consequently red-flagged for 5 minutes.
When the session restarted, M. Schumacher appeared to have lost an aerodynamic piece of his car. With two minutes to go, rain seemed to fall in some parts of the circuit and increased in the next few minutes. At the end of Q2, the six knocked out cars are M. Schumacher, Coulthard, Liuzzi, Klien, Rosberg, Massa.
With all cars coming out to start burn fuel, both Renaults are in front, while Alonso even got upset being stuck behind his teammate. After some gestures and aggressive attacking as one may expect in a race, Alonso passes by and strolls ahead of his teammate. The Spaniard is reportedly agitated by requests by his team at Malaysia to not chase Fisico who was at that time in the lead, and rather save his engine and settle for second place.
Five minutes to go in the final session, and Alonso is on top with the fastest time. As Montoya put on new tyres, he beats that time by 0.8s to take provisional pole. One minute later, almost all other cars change to new tyres in order to have a few chances for a flying lap. Just afterwards, the fast laps come in with Button fastest ahead of Fisico and Alonso. These three are followed by Raikkonen and Montoya.
Complete results are as follows:
1 J. Button Honda 1:25.229
2 G. Fisichella Renault 1:25.635
3 F. Alonso Renault 1:25.778
4 K. Räikkönen McLaren 1:25.822
5 JP. Montoya McLaren 1:25.976
6 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:26.612
7 M. Webber Williams 1:26.937
8 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:27.579
9 J. Villeneuve BMW 1:29.239
10 J. Trulli Toyota no time
11 M. Schumacher Ferrari 1:26.714
12 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:27.023
13 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:27.219
14 C. Klien Red Bull 1:27.591
15 N. Rosberg Williams 1:29.422
16 F. Massa Ferrari no time
17 R. Barrichello Honda 1:29.943
18 C. Albers Midland F1 1:30.226
19 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:30.426
20 T. Monteiro Midland F1 1:30.709
21 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:32.279
22 Y. Ide Super Aguri 1:36.164
