USA: First qualifying and the weather turns...

JV won't be happy...
By pitpass.com (26/09/2003)
September 28 2003

Thankfully it's dry for today's qualifying session, though there are dark clouds in the distance. As ever the World Championship leader will be first out, which means Michael Schumacher.

At 14:00 precisely the German heads out of his garage and gets the session underway. The infield here at Indianapolis is very dusty as it is only used for the F1 race, therefore it's vital to be one of the last runners in tomorrow's qualifying session.

The German begins hit flying lap his rear end stepping out wildly as he posts 22.0 at the first split. At the second split the Ferrari star posts 29.0 crossing the line at 1:10.736 to set the benchmark.

Juan Pablo Montoya is next out, the Colombia has a lot of support here this weekend. At the first split the WilliamsF1 star posts 21.9, he's quicker than Schumacher. At the second split it's 28.9, he's still quickest. At the line the former CART Champion and Indy 500 winner posts 1:10.372 to go to the top of the timesheet.

Kimi Raikkonen takes to the track, the McLaren wasn't too impressive in the practice session. Like Schumacher the Finn is a little 'twitchy', the McLaren completing the first sector in 22s. At the second split it's 28.8, fastest of all. At the line it's 1:10.756, he goes third.

Interestingly the Finn is fastest of all in the tight, twisty infield section, he's clearly giving up pace on the straights.

Ralf Schumacher is back in action having missed Monza, the German posting 22s at the first split. At the second split the WilliamsF1 star posts 28.6 and goes quicker than his team-mate. At the line it's 1:10.222, he goes quickest by 0.150s, a brilliant lap from the German.

Last out before the break is Rubens Barrichello. At the first split the Brazilian posts 21.7, he's quicker than anyone else. At the second split the Ferrari star, who won here last year, posts 28.5, he's up on Ralf by 0.4s. At the line it's 1:09.835, an absolutely stunning lap from the Brazilian. There's almost a second between the two Ferraris.

At the first break it's Barrichello followed by Ralf, Montoya, Michael and Raikkonen.

Fernando Alonso is next out, the Renaults were impressive this morning. The Spaniard completes the first sector in 21.7 he's only marginally slower than Barrichello. At the second split it's 28.7 as he gets it slightly wrong at turn ten. At the line it's 1:10.556, he loses a mass of time in the final sector, the fastest part of the track.

David Coulthard takes to the track as it starts to rain, it's not heavy rain, but nonetheless it's wet. At the first split it's 21.8 as the McLaren gets slightly out of shape. At the second split it's 28.7 followed by a 1:10.450 as he crosses the line, the Scot goes fourth with a very impressive lap.

This morning's pace-setter Jarno Trulli is next out, what can he do? The Italian is quickest of all in the first sector and again in the second. At the line it's 1:09.566, he goes quickest with a magnificent lap, absolutely brilliant.

Mark Webber is on track in the Jaguar, can he produce something special? The Australian slides a little and consequently posts 21.9 at the first split. At the second split it's 28.3 followed by a 1:10.081 to go third, another brilliant lap.

Last out before the second break is Jenson Button in the Bridgestone shod BAR. At the first split the English youngster posts 22.2 going sideways at turn six and going wide at turn seven. At the second split it's 29.6, his lap is falling apart. At the line it's 1:11.847, he's off the pace by 2.2s and 1.1s slower than anyone else.

At the second break it's Trulli ahead of Barrichello, Webber, Ralf, Montoya, Coulthard, Alonso, Michael, Raikkonen and Button.

Giancarlo Fisichella takes to the track, the Italian had a nightmare session this morning, indeed both sessions were plagued by problems. At the first split it's 22.6 followed by 29.2 at the second, the Jordan is well off the pace already. 1:12.227 at the line, 2.6s off the pace. Never mind, Fisi's off to Sauber in 2004 while Jordan will be searching for a new star courtesy of reality TV.

Cristiano da Matta completes the first sector in 22.7s and the second in 29.1s, it's a dreadful lap for the reigning CART Champion. At the line it's 1:11.949, he goes eleventh.

Having eased off the rain is now beginning to fall more steadily.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen is on his flying lap, it's still unclear what he'll be doing next year. At the first split it's 22.5s followed by a 30.1s at the second. At the line it's 1:13.541, not bad considering the conditions.

Olivier Panis takes to the track in the second Toyota, however we're not going to see any improvements this afternoon. At the first split the Frenchman posts 23.7 as the rain begins to fall even harder. At the second split it's 32.8 followed by a 1:17.666 over the line.

Jacques Villeneuve is last out before the final break, though in all honesty the session has now become almost meaningless. At the first split it's 24.6 followed by a 32.8s at the second. The Canadian crosses the line at 1:18.547, that's 8.9s off the pace as the conditions worsen.

At the final break the first ten remain unchanged with da Matta eleventh followed by Fisichella, Frentzen, Panis and Villeneuve.

Nick Heidfeld is next out, the German is another driver without a seat for next season. At the first split the Sauber star posts 24.5, which is actually up on Villeneuve. At the second split it's 32s as the rain begins to ease off, slightly. At the line it's 1:17.768, he nips in between Panis and Villeneuve.

Ralph Firman takes to the track, he's never been here before this weekend. At the first split it's 24.9 followed by a 32.9s at the second. At the line the Anglo-Irish driver posts 1:19.383 to go seventeenth of seventeen.

Jos 'the boss' Verstappen is next out, can he produce a little Dutch magic in the Minardi? There appears to be some sort of problem and as a result the veteran heads back to the pits at the end of his out lap, failing to post a time. It's understood he had a traction control problem, basically it wasn't working.

Justin Wilson goes out, the English youngster under serious pressure to prove himself. The Sheffield driver completes the first sector in 25s and the second in 32.9. At the line the Jaguar racer posts 1:19.491 to go eighteenth.

Last out is Nicolas Kiesa who is running on 'extreme wets'. At the first split the Dane posts 26.1 followed by a 33.6 at the second. At the line the Minardi driver posts 1:21.973 to go last, of those that posted a time.

With these sort of changeable conditions forecast for the rest of the weekend it's hard to draw any real conclusions.

That said, Trulli's lap was absolutely magnificent, while Barrichello and Webber were also very impressive. Both WilliamsF1s looked good while Michael's lap was scrappy.

If the weather does continue to surprise us then we could end up with the sort of topsy-turvy grid we've all been hoping for since the start of the season.

In general however the Michelins appear to have the edge.

One final comment has to be made as to how the Americans will view today's 'action' or lack of it. When it works the 'hot lap' format can be very good, but today's session, particularly the second half, was interminably boring.

This article was written by pitpass.com and is used with permission.