Webber fourth in San Marino Saturday Qualifying

For the BMW WilliamsF1 team the opening qualifying session for the San Marino Grand Prix would see Mark Webber finish in an excellent fourth. Nick was down in ninth.

The first qualifying session at Imola would see Tonio Liuzzi out first, as he did not run in the Bahrain Grand Prix. The first group was made up of Liuzzi, Wurz, Karthikeyan, Fisichella, and Michael Schumacher. Liuzzi would start his qualifying lap finishing with a time of 1m:21.804. Wurz was next and his lap would see him easily beat Liuzzi's time with a lap of 1m:20.632. For Jordan's Narain Karthikeyan his lap would see him almost a second down after sector one, a further half second at sector two, and he would finish with a time of 1m:23.123. Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella was next and the Italian would set a disappointing time of 1m:21.708 after a mistake in the final sector.

Michael Schumacher would start his qualifying lap and was easily fastest finishing with a time of 1m:20.260. His lap made things look very easy. The next group of drivers would see Nick Heidfeld, Sato, Button, Albers, and Friesacher. Nick was out on the track and after one sector was a tenth down on Michael's time. His lap would finish and he would set a time of 1m:20.807 to move into third. Sato was out on the circuit and the BAR driver would lose time throughout his lap finishing with a time of 1m:20.851 to be in fourth.

Now it was the turn of BAR team-mate Button. After his fastest time in practice it was expected that he would be at the front. He was pushing hard but was one tenth down after sector two. He would finish with a lap time of 1m:20.464 to be in second. Christijan Albers was next. The Minardi driver was almost four seconds off the pace after sector two. He would finish with a time of 1m:25.921 to be in ninth. Team-mate Patrick Friesacher would finish with a time of 1m:26.484, half a second behind Albers.

The next group was Villeneuve, Monteiro, Barrichello, and Coulthard. Villeneuve was out in his Sauber C24. The Canadian is under considerable pressure to perform. Jacques was just two tenths down after sector two. His lap time was a 1m:20.999, seeing Jacques in sixth. Jordan's Tiago Monteiro was two seconds down after just the first sector. He would finish with a 1:25.100 to see him in tenth, but this was two seconds of Karthikeyan's time.

Would Rubens Barrichello challenge Michael? It did not look likely as he was three tenths down after the first sector. He would cross the line with a time of 1:20.892 to be in sixth, over half a second slower than his team-mate. Now it was Red Bull Racing's David Coulthard turn. He was half a second down after sector one, a second after sector two, and would finish with a lap time of 1m:21.632 to be in eighth.

After his impressive performance in practice Sauber's Felipe Massa was expected to do well. He would deliver setting a time of 1m:20.593 to move into a brilliant third. There was now just the final group left with Mark Webber out first, followed by Ralf Schumacher, Raikkonen, Trulli, and Alonso.

Webber was out on the circuit in his FW27. He was two tenths down after sector one, losing a further tenth in the second. But with the fastest final sector he would finish just two tenths off Michael's time to be in second. His time of 1m:20.442 was a great effort by the Australian. Ralf Schumacher was next out. He was three tenths down after sector one, finishing with a time of 1:20.994 to be in ninth.

McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen would start his flying lap. Kimi was two tenths up after sector two. The Finn would finish with a fantastic lap time of 1:19.886 to take provisional pole. Toyota's Jarno Trulli was the second last driver out and the Italian was within a tenth of Kimi after sector one, but the second one would see him half a second down after the second sector. Jarno would finish with a 1m:20.492 to be in fifth.

Now it was down to Renault's Fernando Alonso. He would start his lap and was less than a tenth down on Raikkonen after sector one. He would be a tenth down after the second. His lap would finish and he was only 0.003 seconds down on Raikkonen, with a time of 1m:19.889. A very close finish to the session.

So that would be the end of the Saturday qualifying with McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen on provisional pole, Fernando Alonso second and Michael Schumacher third. Mark Webber was in a very respectable fourth.