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For the
first time since 1979, the most famous motor race in the
world will have a completely Ferrari front row, thanks
to Felipe Massa's third pole of the season and the
team's fourth, and Kimi Raikkonen's second place.
It is cause
for pleasure but not celebration, as the real job and
the points will only be allocated after the cars have
completed 78 laps of the slowest, but very difficult and
challenging street circuit. However, the elements that
make this circuit unique also mean it is the hardest
place in the world to overtake another car, so starting
at the front is a bigger advantage than at any other
weekend on the Formula 1 calendar. As Kimi Raikkonen
pointed out when taking part in the post-qualifying
press conference, the one time overtaking becomes far
more likely is if the track is wet and the threat of
rain finally materialised today, hitting the track for
part of this morning's final hour of free practice and
then again shortly after the end of qualifying.
Tomorrow's forecast is also for rain and the
possibilities for dealing with various strategies
depending at which point in the race the rain might
arrive or stop are almost limitless.
The Scuderia
Ferrari Marlboro front row is significant as in recent
times, even when it has been the dominant team in the
sport, the Prancing Horse has usually been outpaced by
the Silver Arrow of McLaren-Mercedes. But this year, the
Anglo-German team is on the second row, with Lewis
Hamilton third and Heikki Kovalainen who crashed this
morning, in fourth spot. Robert Kubica is fifth for BMW-Sauber,
sharing row three with the Williams-Toyota of Nico
Rosberg.
There have
been surprisingly few cars crashing into the barriers
this weekend, however, qualifying saw David Coulthard
have the biggest incident, as his Red Bull-Renault
crashed coming out of the high speed tunnel, before
careering off down the escape road. The car was badly
damaged, but the driver was uninjured.
The grid for
tomorrow's Monaco Grand Prix will have an all-red front
row, with Felipe Massa on pole position with Kimi
Raikkonen alongside him. Not since 2000, when Michael
Schumacher did it, has a Ferrari set the quickest time
in qualifying on this track. And as for the last time
two Maranello cars were ahead of the rest, one has to go
back to 1979 and the pairing of Jody Scheckter and
Gilles Villeneuve.
This is Scuderia
Ferrari Marlboro's fourth pole of the season, the third for
Felipe Massa. The Brazilian driver's pole tally now goes up
to twelve, and the Scuderia's to 199, nine of them at this
race.
Stefano
Domenicali: "An all-red front row: we could not have
asked for more from this qualifying session. In the past few
weeks, we have said we would tackle this race with a
different approach to usual and, at least up until now, we
have reaped the rewards of this work that has involved the
whole team. While we are well aware of the importance of
qualifying at this track, the points only get allocated
tomorrow. It will be a very tough race, which will be
affected by the weather which is looking very uncertain. We
will have to give of our best to build on this afternoon's
result."
Felipe Massa: "Incredible! I have got pole on a track
where I have always struggled. Now I am beginning to like it
a bit more... I managed to do a perfect lap with a great
car: this result shows that, if you work hard and with
attention to detail, you can do it everywhere. After
finishing the lap, nobody said anything to me on the radio
and then, unexpectedly, Rob (Smedley, Felipe's race
engineer) screamed, "incredible, you're on pole!" and I was
laughing all the way around my in lap as I just couldn't
stop.
"Now we have to maintain our concentration for the race
tomorrow, which will be a very difficult one. It could rain
which would complicate things even more. Starting at the
front means I have the best possible conditions, but we will
have to do everything perfectly. We worked a lot on the
set-up to improve on the situation compared to past years
and I think this decision has paid off."
Kimi Raikkonen: "Obviously, I would have preferred to
be on pole and there's no point denying it, but two Ferraris
ahead of the rest is a great result for the team. It's
supposed to rain tomorrow, so the race could be a lottery
and it might mean more overtaking opportunities, because in
the dry the race risks turning into a boring procession.
Overall, I am happy with the car: we just struggled a bit to
get the best out of the tyres on the first timed lap, so
that I was finding things a bit difficult through the first
few corners on my second run in Q3. We had some doubts about
our true potential on this track before the weekend, but
this result confirms we have worked well and we have made a
step forward compared to last year."
Luca Baldisserri: "An all-red front row at Monaco is
a really great result and a good reward for all the work we
did in preparing for this Grand Prix. Our level of
performance has improved and starting ahead of the field
puts us in the best possible position for tomorrow
afternoon's race. We will have to be as well prepared as
possible for all the various scenarios that could play out,
especially considering the weather forecast which is for a
strong chance of rain."
Qualifying session
F. Massa: 1st 1.15.787 6 Laps Chassis 267
K. Raikkonen: 2nd 1.15.815 6 Laps Chassis 270
Weather: air temperature 23 °C, track temperature 32/36 °C,
partially cloudy then covered skies.
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