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Jenson Button
(BAR-Honda) obtained his first pole position of the season - and the second
of his Formula One career - during qualifying for tomorrow's Canadian Grand
Prix. The Englishman's 1m 15.217s lap put him 0.258s clear of the field and
maintained Michelin's unbroken run of F1 poles this season. It was also the
90th in Bibendum's F1 world championship history.
 Points
leader Fernando Alonso (Renault) is poised for another strong race after
securing third place on the grid - and the Spaniard headed a clutch of
Michelin runners. Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault) will start fourth, in front
of Juan Pablo Montoya (Team McLaren Mercedes, fifth), Takuma Sato
(B7A7R-Honda, sixth), Kimi Raikkonen (Team McLaren Mercedes, seventh),
Jacques Villeneuve (Sauber-Petronas, eighth), Jarno Trulli (Toyota, ninth),
Ralf Schumacher (Toyota, 10th), Felipe Massa (Sauber-Petronas, 11th), David
Coulthard (Red Bull Racing, 12th), Nick Heidfeld (BMW WilliamsF1 Team,
13th), Mark Webber (BMW WilliamsF1 Team, 14th) and Christian Klien (Red Bull
Racing, 15th).
The Montreal track authorities have made several overnight repairs to their
recently-resurfaced track. Fresh asphalt patches have been laid at six
corners.
McLaren star Kimi Raikkonen has been fined $5000 (about 4125) by motor
racing's governing body the FIA. The Finn has not been found guilty of any
on-track misdemeanour. Rather, he turned up 14 minutes late for a scheduled
media conference on Thursday.
Raikkonen set fastest time during this morning's final free practice
sessions. His 1m14.232s lap was four tenths quicker than his team-mate Pedro
de la Rosa's pace-setting effort on Friday. Michelin drivers occupied the
top seven positions.
Several drivers slithered off the track this morning. Those affected
included David
Coulthard (Red Bull Racing), who ran wide at the first turn on three
separate occasions, world champion Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), who spun at
Turn Seven, Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren-Mercedes), who misjudged the final
chicane, Narain Karthikeyan (Jordan-Toyota), who ran off the track at Turns
Seven and Nine, and Christijan Albers (Minardi), who spun twice.
Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello did not complete a qualifying run today.
He abandoned.
Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin Motorsport Director:
"Am I satisfied with the way tomorrow's grid will line up? Absolutely. It is
clear that there will be a real fight here in Montreal and we thrive on
that. Several of our partner teams will be involved, too.
"The track appeared to be about one second slower in qualifying than it was
during this morning's free practice, but generally it has evolved as we
expected. The fresh patches that were put in place overnight have not made
any significant difference - the transversal loads F1 cars put through the
circuit cause a sort of viscous effect, whereby a recently-laid track
surface shifts gently, but the chemicals laid down should stabilise things
for the balance of the weekend. I saw exactly the same thing happen at
Dallas in 1984, when the organisers knew how to deal with it."
Nick Shorrock, Director of Michelin F1 Activities:
"All three of Michelin's available tyre compounds will be used in tomorrow's
grand prix - and the three fastest Michelin cars are using two of them.
Despite the fierce heat and the high loads this track can place on tyres, we
have not experienced any technical problems. Our tyres have been extremely
consistent over long runs and our partners should be in good shape
tomorrow."
Nick Fry, CEO, BAR-Honda:
"That was a great lap by Jenson. We did a lot of solid preparation work with
a number of long runs in this morning's free practice. Our Michelin tyres
have been very good and I feel very optimistic for the race." |
