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In simple
terms, a disappointing qualifying for Scuderia Ferrari
Marlboro, although Kimi Raikkonen's session went
smoothly enough for him to secure the inside spot on the
second row in third place, even if he was not so happy
with the performance level of his F2008. But it was
series leader Felipe Massa who continues to have a
difficult time at Silverstone, after his practice crash
on Friday. Today, a problem changing a wheel in between
his first and second runs in the final part of
qualifying meant he never got his final run underway and
had to settle for ninth, by far his worst result of the
nine Saturday sessions so far this year. The Brazilian
will start on the fifth row of the grid, with his
nearest championship rival, Robert Kubica alongside him,
tenth in the BMW-Sauber. Apart from the technical issue
on Massa's car, neither Ferrari man has managed to
recapture the balance and performance level they
experienced during last week's test session at this
circuit.
The front row of the grid is certainly different to
anything we have seen so far this season, as Heikki
Kovalainen recorded his maiden F1 pole position in his
McLaren-Mercedes, while alongside him Mark Webber gave
Red Bull its first ever front row start in a grand prix.
Kimi has the McLaren-Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton on his
outside, while row three is made up of the BMW-Sauber of
Nick Heidfeld and the Renault of Fernando Alonso.
The threat of rain menaced the session and twice during
the hour a couple of drops hit the track, but nothing
significant. However, a heavy downpour affected the
morning free practice session and more uncertainty hangs
over the forecast for tomorrow's sixty lap race. Given
that this is summertime, even in England! any rain that
does come is likely to be in the form of heavy and
sudden showers rather than a continuous downpour. This
will really give the strategy experts a busy time.
However, as far as the top ten drivers on the grid are
concerned, the length of their first race stint is
already decided as they have to run with what they have
in the fuel cell after the end of qualifying, whereas
the bottom half of the grid can make a more informed
decision nearer the 14.00 (CET) start time. An unusual
grid and uncertain weather: it should be an exciting
afternoon and maybe especially so for Felipe Massa as he
tries to work his way up the order from ninth on the
grid.
"This is definitely
not the result we expected nor the one we wanted,"
commented Team Principal of the Gestione Sportiva,
Stefano Domenicali. "Problems such as the one that
befell Felipe are serious and I am very sorry for him as
we prevented him from giving it his best shot. On top of
that, we need to understand why our performance, even
taking into account all the unknowns regarding the
various strategy choices, was not up to our usual
standard. Nevertheless, this is only Saturday afternoon
and we still have the race ahead of us. We are up
against very strong opponents, but we will also be doing
our utmost to bring home a good result."
Kimi Raikkonen: "Third is not the result we were
hoping for, but it's not to be sneezed at, as we always
have to take into consideration that the final score
only comes tomorrow, when we have worked out what fuel
loads the other drivers have. Compared to yesterday, the
situation is definitely better. We worked a lot on the
car set-up and, especially in Q3 the balance wasn't bad.
There was a lot of wind, which made it hard to fully
understand the track because the conditions were
changing all the time. In race trim, we have a good car
and I think tomorrow I can get a good result. The rain?
We saw this morning that we are also competitive in the
wet, so we are ready for any eventuality. Well done to
Heikki for his first pole position."
Felipe Massa: "It's a real shame ending up ninth
on the grid because of a problem with my pit stop. I
lost so much time as the mechanics had trouble changing
the right rear wheel and I was unable to start my second
run. I think I could have done a good time, maybe not
enough to take pole but at least good enough for a place
on the front two rows. There was a lot of wind today and
the balance of the car was not as good as yesterday and
we were not as quick as at last week's test. Tomorrow I
can definitely expect to be fighting all race long to
move up the order and I will do all I can to bring home
a good result: but it won't be easy."
Luca Baldisserri: "This is definitely not a
pleasing result, both in terms of performance and of the
work of the team. What happened at Felipe's pit stop,
which incidentally has nothing in common with what
happened on the grid at the Monaco Grand Prix, will have
to be investigated thoroughly as we cannot let it happen
again. Compared with last week's test it seems we have
taken a step backwards and this is another thing we will
have to look at and try to understand. Having said that,
in evaluating this result we have to keep in mind that
this is one of the circuits where the weight of fuel has
a greater influence on lap times and therefore, we will
only see tomorrow how things really stand. Anything can
happen at this track in the race, even more so if it
should rain. We will try and make the best out of our
situation."
Qualifying session
K. Raikkonen: 3rd 1.21.706 6 laps chassis 270
F. Massa: 9th 1.23.305 4 laps chassis 267
Weather: air temperature 24/23 °C, track temperature
29/31 °C, cloudy.
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