Schumacher leads Ferrari front row
Both Ferraris were on the rendez-vous again, as they put in blistering performances to be on the first row for the French GP. The result will be a disappointment for Alonso and his team, as they expected to be better than the Scuderia cars. As a result, the championship battle is becoming very tense already as it seems, just like last year, that Renault is having a hard time competing for pole.
Before the start of this session it is important to be aware of the regulation changes made for the qualifying session. As already reported on F1T, times can be set at any time during a session if the driver starts his timed lap within the session. Formerly that was only the case in the third part, while in the first 2 sessions drivers had to have their flying lap finished within the limited time. Furthermore, the third session was shortened by 5 minutes.
As the session got underway, Heidfeld was the first man on track, quickly following by a big string of other drivers. Air temperatures are around 34°C with the track up to 55°C. Monteiro for one thought the track was too hot and went off for a trip in the gravel in his first quick lap. Already during the earlier sessions of this weekend, lost of drivers made mistakes as the track was very slippery. Especially Alonso, who seems to have a difficult time compared to the usual behaviour of his R26.
After the first session, the biggest surprises to be knocked out are Button and Villeneuve, the fastest man during this morning's free practice. Trulli on the other hand was fastest, ahead of Michael and Ralf Schumacher. Once more so far it looks like Bridgestone have brought a very good tyre to this circuit.
The second session also went very well for Toyota and again a bit of worry for Renault as Alonso seems to suffer from understeer in the entrance of the corners. Fisichella on the other hand is having less problems but is unable to go any faster than his teammate. With 4 minutes to go, Michael Schumacher beats his brother with 0.6 seconds. The end of the session sees these top-times unchanged, followed by Massa and Alonso.
Today's qualifying session is again a huge dissapointment for Honda. Neither of the drivers were able to put their cars into Q3, while Button was again beaten by his Brazilian teammate.
Just like the previous GP, cars are queing to get the best position as possible when he lights go green to start the final session. Alonso is the first to leave but is overtaken by Michael Schumacher in the very sharp hairpin after the straight. Fernando however regained first position 3 laps later and is in first place after the first pitstops to put in a fast lap. Both McLarens however pitted one lap earlier than the pole race leaders.
After the first laps, Michael is fastest, ahead of Massa, Alonso, Fisichella, De La Rosa and Raikkonen. The latter Finn locked up his wheels in one turn resulting in being (temperarily) behind his teammate who replaces Montoya.
The three fastest improved on their time but remained in the same relative positions. Fisichella did bad not to improve on his time as he will only be in 7th place on tomorrow's grid.
The results are as follows:
1 M. Schumacher Ferrari 1:15.493
2 F. Massa Ferrari 1:15.510
3 F. Alonso Renault 1:15.785
4 J. Trulli Toyota 1:16.036
5 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:16.091
6 K. Räikkönen McLaren 1:16.281
7 G. Fisichella Renault 1:16.345
8 P. de la Rosa McLaren 1:16.632
9 N. Rosberg Williams 1:18.272
10 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:18.663
11 M. Webber Williams 1:16.129
12 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:16.294
13 C. Klien Red Bull 1:16.433
14 R. Barrichello Honda 1:17.027
15 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:18.063
16 C. Albers Midland F1 1:17.105
17 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:17.164
18 J. Villeneuve BMW 1:17.304
19 J. Button Honda 1:17.495
20 T. Monteiro Midland F1 1:17.589
21 F. Montagny Super Aguri 1:18.637
22 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:18.845
