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Kimi
Räikkönen snatched the first Pole Position of the season in
today's Qualifying of the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. The
Finn clearly won through Fernando Alonso and Nick Heidfeld.
However, Kimi's team mate Felipe Massa had to fight with technical
problems and achieved only the 16th starting place.
After
Kimi Räikkönen already finished the third Free Practice as
fastest, he either could not be stopped in the Qualifying. He was
fastest ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Robert Kubica in the first
session after setting a time of 1:26.644 minutes. After a fourth
place in the second session, Kimi Räikkönen outclassed his
competitors in the importand third Qualifying. With his time of
1.26.072 minutes he was 0.421 seconds faster than the second
placed Fernando Alonso in the McLaren. Nick Heidfeld qualified
third with a gap of 0.484 seconds.
"A
great qualifying, but a shame for Felipe who was not able to get
the sort of result he should have done. I think our car
is more competitive in race trim than over a single lap. Usually
here the race can be full of incidents so it's impossible to know
what could happen. If all goes the way it should, then we have a
good chance, but it will be important to pick up as many points as
possible. Tonight? I will sleep well, as always. Am I worried
about Felipe's gearbox problem? You can never be a hundred percent
sure, but I am certain the team will do everything it can to make
sure that I have a car in the best possible shape."
Qualifying:
| Pos |
Driver |
Team |
Laps |
Time |
Gap |
| 1. |
K.
Raikkonen |
Ferrari |
17 |
1:26.072 |
|
| 2. |
F.
Alonso |
McLaren |
19 |
1:26.493 |
0.421 |
| 3. |
N.
Heidfeld |
BMW |
21 |
1:26.556 |
0.484 |
| 4. |
L.
Hamilton |
McLaren |
16 |
1:26.755 |
0.683 |
| 5. |
R.
Kubica |
BMW |
19 |
1:27.347 |
1.275 |
| 6. |
G.
Fisichella |
Renault |
21 |
1:27.634 |
1.562 |
| 7. |
M.
Webber |
Red
Bull |
23 |
1:27.934 |
1.862 |
| 8. |
J.
Trulli |
Toyota |
23 |
1:28.404 |
2.332 |
| 9. |
R.
Schumacher |
Toyota |
22 |
1:28.692 |
2.620 |
| 10. |
T.
Sato |
Super
Aguri |
23 |
1:28.871 |
2.799 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| 11. |
A.
Davidson |
Super
Aguri |
12 |
1:26.909 |
0.837 |
| 12. |
N.
Rosberg |
Williams |
13 |
1:26.914 |
0.842 |
| 13. |
H.
Kovalainen |
Renault |
10 |
1:26.964 |
0.892 |
| 14. |
J.
Button |
Honda |
14 |
1:27.264 |
1.192 |
| 15. |
A.
Wurz |
Williams |
13 |
1:27.393 |
1.321 |
| 16. |
F.
Massa |
Ferrari |
6 |
no
time |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| 17. |
R.
Barrichello |
Honda |
9 |
1:27.679 |
1.607 |
| 18. |
S.
Speed |
Toro
Rosso |
7 |
1:28.305 |
2.233 |
| 19. |
D.
Coulthard |
Red
Bull |
6 |
1:28.579 |
2.507 |
| 20. |
V.
Liuzzi |
Toro
Rosso |
6 |
1:29.267 |
3.195 |
| 21. |
A.
Sutil |
Spyker |
6 |
1:29.339 |
3.267 |
| 22. |
C.
Albers |
Spyker |
7 |
1:31.932 |
5.860 |
|
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Qualifying