WilliamsF1 front row after qualifying in Germany.


JPM take pole
By Andrew Hooper
August 2 2003

After the final qualifying for the German GP it would be an all BMW WilliamsF1 front row with Juan Pablo securing pole, with Ralf 2nd by just 0.018sec. A great result for the team in the home race for BMW. With the 3rd placed driver 0.3sec behind the pole time things are looking good for the race.

   
German GP Saturday Qualifying
 
Qualifying for the German Grand Grand Prix would be an all BMW WilliamsF1 affair, with the front row been occupied by a pair of FW25's. But this time it would be Juan Pablo who would beat his team-mater Ralf to take his first pole of the year. This been BMW's home race the result was of even more importance.

MontoyaWith Montoya quickest in final warm up prior to qualifying, Minardi's Nicolas Kiesa would be the first to take to the track. He would set a time of 1m:19.1. With no time from Friday qualifying next would be Jacques Villeneuve. His quick lap would see him move into first, with a lap time of 1m:17.090. The second Minardi of Jos Verstappen would go second fastest with Jos setting a time of 1m:19.023, just 0.1 ahead of Kiesa. Next came Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella, with the track temperature continues to climb.

Fisichella would set a time of 1m:16.831 to jump ahead of Villeneuve. Could team-mate Firman match Fisichella's time. Ralph was 0.1sec down on his team-mate after sector one, finishing in third position with a lap time of 1m:18.341, 1.5sec. behind Fisichella.

For Toyota's Cristiano da Matta his lap would see him up on Fisichella in all sectors taking provisional pole with a lap time of 1m:16.550. This was even despite getting it sideways in the final turn. McLaren's David Coulthard would use the spare car following his accident in the earlier practice.

Ralf Schumcher gets into his FW25Next was Sauber's Nick Heidfeld. He was nearly a second down after the second sector, finishing in position four with a lap time of 1m:17.557. Next was Sauber team-mate Heinz Harald Frentzen. Heinz was on the pace in sector one, but he would lose time through sector two. He would finish in fourth with a time of 1m:17.169, just 0.6 off the pace. He betters his team-mate by 0.4. BAR's Jenson Button was next out on the track. With two very untidy final sectors Button could only manage sixth.

Next was David Coulthard and he was able to match da Matta in sector one, but he would finish 0.116sec down on the Toyota to go second. Next came da Matta's team-mate Olivier Panis, and he after sector two he was on his way to setting the quickest time. His lap of 1m:16.034 would see him top the times. But next would be Ferrari's Michael Schumacher.

Michael would be slower than Panis after sector two but would make up time in the final sector to head the times with a lap of 1m:15.898, to be 0.136sec ahead of the Frenchman. Next was Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello. It was thought he was on softer tyres. Rubens would go fastest in all the sectors with a time of 1m:15.488, With a top-speed of 314.6 kph, to lead Michael by 0.410sec.

For Justin Wilson he would take his Jaguar out and after just the second sector was a second off Rubens pace. It looked like Justin was suffering from understeer. He would finish tenth some 2.5secs off the fastest time. In the second McLaren would come Kimi Raikkonen. At the end of the sector the Finn was matching Ruben's time but he would lose time in the final sector to move into second position with a lap of 1m:15.874. He was at least ahead of his rival Michael Schumacher.

Ralf SchumacherWith just the two Renault's, one Jaguar, and the BMW WilliamsF1 drivers the chances for a WilliamsF1 pole were looking good. The conditions remained very hot as Alonso prepared for his qualifying lap. Sector one and Fernando was 0.2sec down already. He could only manage a lap time of 1m:16.483, to be nearly one second down on Rubens time.

Next would be Jaguar's Mark Webber. 0.161 down after the first sector, the second sector and mark would be looking at a second place on the grid but after getting it all wrong he would lose nearly one second in the last to finish down in eighth. A disappointing result for the Australian. Now it was the turn of Renault's Jarno Trulli. After sector two Jarno is just 0.162 down and he was able to keep up this pace through to the end of the lap finishing in second.

MontoyaNow it would be a fight between the two BMW WilliamsF1 drivers, with Juan Pablo going first. 0.005sec down after the first sector, sector two and Juan Pablo was ahead of Rubens time. He would finish the lap with a time of 1m:15.167 to move into first position. Rubens was 0.3 behind the Colombian. Now it was all down to Ralf. Could he beat his team-mate.

Ralf would be the fastest so far in sector one, sector two and Ralf is 0.195sec up on Juan Pablo, but like so many others he would lose time in the final sector to drop two tenths to Juan Pablo to finish second just 0.0.18sec behind his team-mate. This would give the team another all BMW WilliamsF1 front row. A great result for everyone at WilliamsF1.

With their championship rivals, Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher, down in fifth and sixth things are looking good for both Ralf and Juan Pablo.

 
P. No Driver Team - Engine Tyres Times Ave/Gaps

1. 3 MONTOYA WilliamsF1 BMW M 1'15"167 219.064 Km/h
2. 4 R. SCHUMACHER WilliamsF1 BMW M 1'15"185 + 0'00"018
3. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1'15"488 + 0'00"321
4. 7 TRULLI Renault M 1'15"679 + 0'00"512
5. 6 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 1'15"874 + 0'00"707
6. 1 M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'15"898 + 0'00"731
7. 20 PANIS Toyota M 1'16"034 + 0'00"867
8. 8 ALONSO Renault M 1'16"483 + 0'01"316
9. 21 DA MATTA Toyota M 1'16"550 + 0'01"383
10. 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 1'16"666 + 0'01"499
11. 14 WEBBER Jaguar Cosworth M 1'16"775 + 0'01"608
12. 11 FISICHELLA Jordan Ford B 1'16"831 + 0'01"664
13. 16 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda B 1'17"090 + 0'01"923
14. 10 FRENTZEN Sauber Petronas B 1'17"169 + 0'02"002
15. 9 HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas B 1'17"557 + 0'02"390
16. 15 WILSON Jaguar Cosworth M 1'18"021 + 0'02"854
17. 17 BUTTON BAR Honda B 1'18"085 + 0'02"918
18. 12 FIRMAN Jordan Ford B 1'18"341 + 0'03"174
19. 19 VERSTAPPEN Minardi Cosworth B 1'19"023 + 0'03"856
20. 18 KIESA Minardi Cosworth B 1'19"174 + 0'04"007
 
 
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