Lewis Hamilton had a lucky escape today in qualifying, when he crashed his McLaren-Mercedes in the "S" section after the hairpin. It was a heavy crash which the team later stated officially was due to a wheel-gun failure meaning that his right front wheel was not fixed properly. Fortunately, the English driver has no broken bones, but concern over his wellbeing naturally overshadowed the fact that Kimi Raikkonen took his second pole position of the season for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro and the thirteenth of his F1 career.

It took almost half an hour for the track to be declared safe again after the incident, at which point there were just over five minutes to go. At the end, it was Fernando Alonso in the second McLaren-Mercedes who will share the front row with the Finn. In the second F2007, Felipe Massa put in a strong lap to take third place on the inside of the second row, which he shares with the BMW-Sauber of Nick Heidfeld. Next, in fifth place is the German's team-mate Robert Kubica, while Mark Webber completes the top six on the grid for the tenth round of the world championship, for Red Bull Racing. With rules demanding that each driver has to use both types of tyre (essentially soft and hard) at some point during the race, much will depend tomorrow in the race on how well the cars are balanced, in terms of performing on the softer of these two options. So far this weekend, the F2007 seems to go well on both, which is an encouraging sign for the final outcome.

It was the sixth pole from ten qualifying sessions to date this season for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, the second one courtesy of Kimi Raikkonen. This is the third time that a Ferrari driver will start the European Grand Prix from pole position, the 192nd in the history of the Prancing Horse in Formula 1. For Kimi, it was his thirteenth career pole.

Jean Todt: "A lot of drama in this qualifying! We got a real fright when we saw Hamilton end up in the crash barriers and it was a real relief to see him give the thumbs up to show he was okay. Then, it was all played out over one lap with both our drivers doing a great job, to finish first and third with Kimi and Felipe respectively, thus confirming the potential of the F2007. Clearly the race is the most important thing and as usual it will be very tough: reliability, tyre wear, performance and strategy will be the key factors. So far, we have been very competitive on this track and we will try and maintain that form tomorrow."
 

 
Kimi Raikkonen: "Finally! In qualifying at the last race I made a mistake in the final part of my lap, but today everything went well and I've managed to get back on pole. In Q1 and Q2, I had some problems with grip, but once the car was carrying the fuel load for the first part of the race it was very good again. The wait after Hamilton's accident made the third session more complicated but the biggest problem was that it was all going to be down to one flying lap. Now I am in the best possible position on the grid, but I am well aware that we can expect a very tough race. All weekend the car has been very good but are rivals are still very strong. Lewis' accident? The important thing is that, as far as we know, he is not badly hurt."

Felipe Massa: "In Q1 and Q2 I was very happy with the handling of the car. The break because of Hamilton's accident certainly did not help matters and maybe I lost a bit of the right feeling. On my final lap I was a bit slower in the first and third sectors, just by a few hundredths but it was enough to make the difference. But I am still confident because I know I have a really good car in race trim. The black arm band? It is a sign of mourning for the air accident that happened in Sao Paulo last Wednesday. It is a difficult time for my country and this is the least I can do for the families who have lost loved ones. Tomorrow, I really hope I can have a good race so as to give Brazilians a little happiness after such a great tragedy."

Luca Baldisserri: "A good qualifying with one driver on pole and one in third place, overtaken at the very end by Alonso by just a few hundredths. We are very competitive and have been since the start of the weekend and we have managed to find a good balance on the cars, even on soft tyres. This means we can be confident for the race, while still aware that we are up against some very strong opponents and that when looking at today's results we have to take into account as always the unknown factor regarding the amount of fuel taken on for the first part of the race."