Kimi Raikkonen was happy with qualifying on the third row of the grid in sixth spot, for tomorrow’s European Grand Prix. A quick look at the fuel loads of all the cars, which this year, the FIA publishes after qualifying, reveals that the Ferrari driver has a sensible amount of fuel on board, similar to the Brawns of Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button, in third and fifth places respectively. Pole position went to the winner of the last race in Hungary, Lewis Hamilton, with his McLaren-Mercedes team-mate Heikki Kovalainen making it an all-silver front row. It seems that Raikkonen is running a heavier fuel load than these two and the Red Bull of fourth placed Sebastian Vettel. This means the Ferrari driver will be hoping to use the advantage of KERS at the start to make up some places and then make the most of what looks like a good strategy.

Life was a bit tougher for the driver of the other F60: Luca Badoer has, as expected by the team, found it tough to get on the pace of F1 after such a long break from racing and he did not get past Q1 this afternoon. He will start his first ever Grand Prix at the wheel of a Ferrari from last spot. While Kimi is hoping to pick up a healthy number of points, the Italian will be using the 57 lap race as his longest test session of the weekend. Just getting to the finish will be tough as the temperatures and humidity here are much higher than last year and much higher than expected. But Badoer feels he has no problems on that score. Michael Schumacher has been here all weekend, encouraging and helping his friend Badoer and this afternoon, he was also looking after a special guest on the pit wall, legendary guitarist, and Ferrari enthusiast, Eric Clapton. Another sporting great spotted in the paddock was Spanish double World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz.

“Sixth place for Kimi Raikkonen can be judged as a positive result, because it probably reflects our current potential, while Luca’s last place was widely predicted: returning to racing after so much time, furthermore on a track not known to him and one that is difficult to get to grips with, is a daunting task for him. Tomorrow, our race will be divided in two: on one side we will be aiming for a positive result to defend our third place in the Constructors’ classification, which should be within our ability, while with Luca we will try and finish the race, to obtain sufficient experience to tackle the forthcoming rounds in a different fashion.”

Luca Badoer: “Obviously, I’m a bit disappointed as it’s never nice to be last in any situation, but I always knew it would be tough. As I’ve said before, this weekend is a sort of test for me and the team and that is how we are tackling it. However, I do feel the situation is better than yesterday as the more laps I do, the more confidence I gain and the better it gets. Tomorrow it will be important to finish the race and that will be my target. I feel good physically and I have no problems on that score. For sure, if I’d had two days testing under my belt, it would have been a different story.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “Honestly, this was one of the best qualifying sessions of the season, even if we are not as quick as those on the front row. Our final result will depend basically on how the start goes. It will be very important to make up a few places, because if we end up behind a slower car, then the race is compromised. I think we are reasonably competitive in race trim, as could be seen in Q3, while we are struggling a bit on light tanks. So far, it’s been a good weekend and I am happy with the performance of the F60.”

Chris Dyer: “Qualifying had two sides to it for us. It was a very difficult day for Luca, who continued the process of learning about the car and the track. Lap after lap his confidence increased, but it was not enough to get him off the last place on the grid. The situation was definitely not helped by the red flag in FP3 which cost him valuable time. On the other hand, Kimi performed well, especially in Q3, where he did a great lap. Starting from sixth on the grid is a solid base from which to have a good race tomorrow.”

Qualifying session

L. Badoer: 20th 1.41.413 13 laps
K. Raikkonen: 6th 1.40.144 7 laps
Chassis: L. Badoer 280, K. Raikkonen 279
Weather: air temperature 31/32 °C, track temperature 45/44 °C, sunny.