Britain: Qualifying lap by lap as Kimi goes top

By pitpass.com (10/07/2004)
July 10 2004

The air temperature is 19 degrees and the track temperature 30 degrees, as Nick Heidfeld leaves his garage. At the first split the German posts 26.210, followed by a 1:01.453 at the second. He's pushing hard, crossing the line at 1:22.677, to take provisional pole.

Giancarlo Fisichella won't be going out, his crew pushes the car straight to parc fermé.

Consequently, Christian Klien is the second driver to come out. At the first split the Austrian posts 25.724, going 0.486 up on Heidfeld. At the second split the Jaguar driver posts 1:00.852, he's now 0.601 up on the German. At the line it's 1:21.559, provisional pole.

Mark Webber is next out. The Australian completes the first sector in 25.279, he's 0.445s up on his teammate. At the second split it's 59.613, he's more than a second up. At the line it's 1:20.004, provisional pole for the popular Aussie.

Last out before the break is Marc Gene. At the first split the Spaniard posts 25.373, he's 0.094s down on Webber. At the second split it's 59.932, he's even further off Webber's pace. At the line it's 1:20.335, which puts him second. Either he's running heavy, in which case he'll be delighted, or else he's running light, in which case he'll be bitterly disappointed.

At the first break it's Webber quickest, followed by Gene, Klien, Heidfeld and Fisichella.

Teammate Juan Pablo Montoya is next out, as the storm clouds gather. At the first split the Colombian posts 25.264, he's 0.015s up on Webber. At the second split the WilliamsF1 driver posts 59.009, he's now 0.603s up on the Jaguar driver. At the line it's 1:19.378, provisional pole for the Colombian.

Now it's Michael Schumacher's turn to shine, what can he do? At the first split the German posts 24.888, he's 0.376 quicker than Montoya. At the second split the Ferrari driver posts 58.720, he's now 0.289s up on the WilliamsF1. At the line it's 1:18.710, he takes provisional pole by 0.668s.

Takuma Sato is next out, this should give us an idea of the BAR's pace. At the first split the Japanese driver posts 25.368, he's already around 0.250s down on the German. At the second split it's 59.603, as the BAR driver loses even more time. At the line it's 1:19.688, he goes third.

2003 winner, and pole-man, Rubens Barrichello is next out. At the first split the Brazilian posts 24.611s, he's 0.277s up on his teammate. At the second split it's 58.297, he's now 0.423s up on the German. At the line it's 1:18.305, provisional pole for Rubens, a quite stunning lap.

Last out before the break is McLaren's David Coulthard. At the first split the Scot posts 25.203, he's 0.592s down on Barrichello. At the second split it's 59.060, he's 0.763 down on the Ferrari. At the line the Scot posts 1;19.148, which puts him third. The car looked good, but clearly doesn't have the pace.

Therefore at the second break, the order is: Barrichello ahead of Schumacher, Coulthard, Montoya, Sato, Webber, Gene, Klien, Heidfeld and Fisichella.

Zsolt Baumgartner is next out, an unusual slot for the Hungarian. He's already more than 2s off the pace at the first split. At the second he posts 1:03.005, he's 4.708 off the pace. At the line it's 1:24.117, which puts him tenth, ahead of Fisichella.

Teammate Gianmaria Bruni is next out. At the first split the Italian posts 26.551, he's 1.940s off the pace. At the second split it's 1:02.481, he's now 4.184s off the pace, the Minardi is all over the place. At the line it's 1:23.437, which puts him tenth.

At the first split it's 25.428s for Toyota's Cristiano da Matta. At the second split it's 1:00.278, he's 1.981s off the pace.

Meanwhile the wind is picking up, as the storm-clouds hover ominously.

Fernando Alonso is next out, but all eyes are on the sky. At the first split it's 24.991, he's 0.380s off Barrichello's time. At the second split the Italian posts 58.857, he's now 0.560s down on the Ferrari. At the line it's 1:18.811, to take third. He was quickest of all in the final sector.

Kimi Raikkonen is on track, can he maintain the pace he's shown all weekend? At the first split the Finn posts 25.050, he's 0.439s down on the Ferrari. At the second split it's 58.567, he's now 0.270s down on the Brazilian. At the line it's 1:18.233, he takes provisional pole having gone quickest in the last two sectors. Ron Dennis sports a rare grin.

With five drivers left to run, the order is Raikkonen ahead of Barrichello, Schumacher, Alonso, Coulthard, Montoya, Sato, Webber, Gene and da Matta.

Next out is Jarno Trulli, who barring a major upset will start ahead of his teammate tomorrow, since Alonso forfeits ten grid slots as a result of his engine change. The Spaniard is one of four drivers who will lose grid spots.

At the first split, Trulli posts 25.141, he's only 0.091s off the pace. At the second split it's 58.938, he's now 0.371s down on the Finn. At the line it's 1:18.715, he goes fourth… missing out on third by five-thousandths of a second.

Giorgio Pantano is on track. At the first split the Italian posts 26.101, he's more than a second off the pace. At the second split the Jordan driver posts 1:01.736, the car is highly erratic, seemingly having a mind of its own. At the line it's 1:22.458, which puts him ahead of his teammate.

Olivier Panis is on track in the Toyota. At the first split the French veteran posts 25.573, he's 0.523s down on Raikkonen. At the second split the former Monaco winner posts 1:00.198, he's 1.6s down. At the line it's 1:20.335, he goes tenth, ahead of Gene and da Matta.

Felipe Massa takes to the track in the Sauber. At the first split the Brazilian posts 25.374, he's 0.324s down on the McLaren. At the second split the Brazilian posts 59.699, having lost time as a result of Panis. At the line it's 1:20.202 to go tenth. If it hadn't been for Panis' dawdling he could have been even quicker.

All eyes on Jenson Button who is last man out. At the first split it's 24.944, he's 0.106s up on Raikkonen. He's giving it 100%, completing the second sector in 58.624, he's lost time, but it's marginal. At the line it's 1:18.580, which puts him third behind Kimi Raikkonen and Rubens Barrichello.

Although the McLaren team looks delighted, and quite rightly so, Ross Brawn is sporting a big grin, possibly aware of something that the rest of us are totally oblivious to.

Other than the shambles that was the first part of the session, this wasn't too bad, confirming, as it most definitely has, that McLaren is back.

Kimi Raikkonen start from pole for the third time in his career, and the first time since Indianapolis last year. In France we saw that reliability doesn't appear to be an issue which means that David Coulthard is in with a shot too.

As ever, the Ferraris are on the pace, with Barrichello and Schumacher both qualifying in the top four. Button will have the 'British boost' behind him, and we all know what that did for Mansell and Hill, while Trulli will be keen to make amends for his mistake in France.

A disappointing performance from the WilliamsF1 duo, and Gene really needs to pull something out of the hat tomorrow.

Summing up, Kimi Raikkonen starts the 2004 British GP from pole, ahead of Barrichello, Button, Schumacher, Trulli, Coulthard, Montoya, Sato, Webber, and Massa.

An interesting grid, and with the ever-present threat of rain on Sunday, we could be in for an interesting race. Though Ross Brawn's smile of satisfaction has us worried.

This article was produced by http://www.pitpass.com and is used with permission.