Schumacher takes pole, Webber shines to 3rd
As Fernando Alonso earlier expected, the first session would prove to be critical as so many drivers on the track could prove a problem. However as of Q2, almost everything ran smoothly and Michael Schumacher once more managed to get pole position. He is joined on the first line by Fernando Alonso. Behind them are an astoundingly fast Mark Webber and Kimi Raikkonen. Giancarlo Fisichella is 5th on the grid.
Liuzzi was the first to start the session and was quickly followed by both BMW Saubers and the Renaults. There has been alot of talk about this qualifying as the tight schedule and short circuit will make it difficult to put in quick laps withouth getting stuck in traffic. After 6 minutes in the first qualifying part, Trulli leads the pack with a 1:14.883. Few seconds later the session is stopped after Felipe Massa suffers understeer and ends up in the tyre barrier at Hotel de Paris.
With seven minutes to go and at that time Schumacher, Fisichella and both Williams cars out, all these are queing for the restart of the session. Fisichella immediately afterwards put in the provisional pole and is immediately bettered by teammate Alonso. Michael Schumacher put in a 6th time at that moment but it should prove good enough to go through to Q2. No further incidents occured in Q1 ad the knocked out drivers are Albers, Monteiro, Speed, Sato, Montagny and obviously Massa.
The second session start a bit less hectic. Fisichella is the first to run after one minute of complete silence. He is followed by Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen who puts in the fastest lap. At Honda the drivers are having a very hard time finding some performance as Button never manages to get into Q3 and finally strands on 14th place. His teammate Barrichello just managed to get into the final session. Meanwhile, both BMW cars are also eliminated, with Heidfeld parking his car along the circuit with an apparent technical problem. Coulthard on the other hand is feeling very good as he put his Red Bull in 4th place while teammate Klien is knocked out in 12th position. Ralf Schumacher was also knocked out. Trulli however managed to put in the 6th time. Williams with their seamless shift box are doing extremely well as both men are in the top 10.
The third session is again fuel burn time and after 11 minutes both McLaren drivers are the first driver to come in few new tyres and are followed one lap later by the blue and yellow Renault car of Fisichella. Quite remarkably, Webber is on his first fast lap quicker than both McLarens. Michael Schumacher is first and just ahead of Alonso. While all drivers were running their last flying lap, Michael Schumacher made an error at Rascasse and thereby simply blocked everyone else to improve on their time, resulting in Schumacher being on pole in front of Alonso, a stunning Webber, Raikkonen and Fisichella.
The results are as follows:
1 M. Schumacher Ferrari 1:13.898
2 F. Alonso Renault 1:13.962
3 M. Webber Williams 1:14.082
4 K. Räikkönen McLaren 1:14.140
5 G. Fisichella Renault 1:14.396
6 JP. Montoya McLaren 1:14.664
7 R. Barrichello Honda 1:15.804
8 J. Trulli Toyota 1:15.857
9 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:16.426
10 N. Rosberg Williams 1:16.636
11 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:14.398
12 C. Klien Red Bull 1:14.747
13 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:14.969
14 J. Button Honda 1:14.982
15 J. Villeneuve BMW 1:15.052
16 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:15.137
17 C. Albers Midland F1 1:15.598
18 T. Monteiro Midland F1 1:15.993
19 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:16.236
20 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:17.276
21 F. Montagny Super Aguri 1:17.502
22 F. Massa Ferrari no time
