WilliamsF1 outside top ten after German qualifying

Mark in 11th
By Andrew Hooper
July 29 2006

Both WilliamsF1 driver would finish outside the top ten after qualifying for the 2006 German Grand Prix. Mark would finish the session in eleventh and Nico fifteenth. Both drivers failed to make it past Q2. Pole was taken by Kimi Raikkonen.

German GP Qualifying

With Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber only managing fourteenth and fifteenth after the final practice session for the German Grand Prix the qualifying session did not look like one that would see either driver perform particularly well. With the temperature at 30 degrees Celsius the start of the fifteen minute Q1 would see Trulli first out. Jarno had problems with his car in the final practice. He was joined by Mark and Ralf Schumacher. The second FW28 of Nico also came out early. After his crash Yamamoto was also out early in the old SA05. Trulli and Albers are both facing ten place grid penalties due to engine changes.

Webber Monteiro was out on the track as Yamamoto pitted. Ralf would set the fastest time with a 1m:17.037. Nico was in second and Mark third. Trulli was in fourth. On his next lap Mark moved into second, 1m:17.064. Ralf would pit as we had Albers, Speed, Liuzzi, Sato all on the track. Trulli was now in third and Nico fourth. With ten minutes remaining only four drivers had set a time. But there was a big crash by Scott Speed at Turn two. He ran wide and spun his car across to the inside of the track and into the wall. The session was red flagged as they cleared away the damaged Torro Ross. Scot will now start the race from the back of the grid. The fastest speed had been recorded by Trulli with 309kph. Mark was some ten kph slower.

With the restart of the session both Honda's would come out, joined by Liuzzi and Yamamoto. They would be joined by several other drivers including both McLaren's and Red Bull's. There was just seven minutes remaining. Both WilliamsF1 drivers were still in their pits. Rubens would go fastest with a 1m:16.1670 followed by Liuzzi, and Button. Kimi would move to the top of the times with a 1m:15.214. Klien was now second, 1m:15.874 followed by Coulthard. De la Rosa was now in fourth. Both Ferrari's were now out of their pits. We had yet to see the Renault's. De la Rosa was now in second, 1m:15.655. Mark was back out joined by Nico. Both Renault's were now out on the track. Villeneuve was now in fifth, 1m:16.281. Mark was now in tenth and Nico twelfth. So we still had a McLaren one-two followed by two Red Bull's. But Massa would take P1 with Michael In second. Trulli was now in fourth, 1m:15.430. Mark and Nico were now in eleventh and twelfth.

Mark would improve to be in seventh and Alonso was now fifth and would pit. Nico was now in fourteenth, 1m:16.183. Barrichello was now in eighth. With the end of the period those who failed to make the cut were Liuzzi, Albers, Sato, Monteiro, Yamamoto, and Speed. Things were not looking good for Nico to make it in the final Q3. Mark was comfortably seventh. It was looking very good for the Ferrari's as they were the only cars to move into the 1m:14 second bracket.

The start of Q2 would see Mark first out followed by Nico and Villeneuve. The second BMW of Heidfeld was out on the track. Coulthard was also out. The first time would go to mark with a 1m:15.094 which was a big improvement over his Q1 time. Nico did a 1m:15.380 compared to a 1m:16.183 from Q1. Ralf and Klien were out on the track. Villeneuve was in third with a 1m:15.663. Mark would pit as Heidfeld moved into fourth. Nico was also back in his pit.

Rosberg

Coulthard was now fastest with a 1m:14.949. Nine minutes remaining as Klien was now third, 1m:15.141. We had both Renault's out joined by Ralf. Both Honda's were also out on the track. Coulthard would pit while ralf moved into second, 1m:15.049. Mark was now third and Nico fifth. Only both of the Ferrari's and Trulli had yet to come out. Fisichella was now fastest with a 1m:14.747. Alonso was third, 1m:15.001. But Button would move ahead of the Renault to go fastest with a 1m:14.378. Barrichello was now second, 1m:14.678.

Mark was now eighth and Nico tenth. We had both of the Ferrari's out on the track. With four minutes left there4 was just three drivers on the track. One of those was Raikkonen and he would move into second with a 1m:14.516. Trulli was also out of his pit. Nico was now in eleventh and facing the cut from Q3. Mark was back out for a final run. Michael would go fastest, 1m:13.778, and Team-mate Massa second, 1m:14.094. Nico was also back out looking to improve. Button was in third followed by Raikkonen and Barrichello. Mark and Nico would have to improve or face the cut.

All the drivers were out except the two Ferrari's. With the end of the session we had both of the WilliamsF1 drivers failing to make the cut. Those who would not see Q3 would be Mark, Klien, Trulli, Villeneuve, Nico, and Heidfeld. So we had Michael fastest from Massa, Button, Raikkonen, Fisichella, Barrichello, Ralf, Alonso, Coulthard, and de la Rosa. After their poor times in the final practice Q2 went pretty well as one would expect with both WilliamsF1 drivers failing to see Q3.

With Q2 seeing Mark and Nico starting the German Grand Prix from eleventh and fifteenth grid positions the final Q3 would get under way with it looking likely that a Ferrari would get pole position. The Ferrari's were waiting at the pit lane exit with Alonso behind them. Massa would come out first followed by the other nine drivers. There would be the usually period where the drivers would burn off fuel and then finally pit for tyres prior to setting a time. With Michael passing
Massa the early quick time was set by Button, 1m:17.953. Kimi would go faster with a 1m:17.688 but it was very early in the period.

Rosberg sits out the final Q3

Ten minutes remaining and the lap times were still a couple of seconds off their quicker times. De la Rosa would make contact with Ralf. Pedro would spin his car but was able to drive off with a flat rear tyre. Pedro came across the front of Ralf. Ralf would pit and be pushed back into his garage. Pedro would return to the track while Kimi made a routine stop. Both Ferrari's would come in. They were joined by both Renault's and Button. Michael would cut in front of Alonso as the Renault came down the pit lane. Kimi was fastest with a 1m:14.070 followed by de la Rosa, 1m:16.085.

The Toyota mechanics were still working on Ralf's car. Kimi would pit again as Michael moved into second, 1m:14.205, followed by Massa and Button. Fisichella was in fifth. Massa, Button, and Fisichella would pit. Barrichello was also in. Ralf was back out after his repairs. All the ten drivers were out on the track. With under a minute remaining Kimi was still fastest ahead of Michael and Massa. Kimi would have a moment at Turn 12 running wide and across the gravel and grass and would pit. But Michael could not beat Kimi's time and remained second.

With the end of the session it would be Raikkonen on pole followed by Michael, Massa, Button, Fisichella, Barrichello, Alonso, Ralf, de la Rosa and Coulthard in tenth. Sunday's race is going to be another difficult one for the WilliamsF1 team.