Turkey: Michelin enormously satisfied

By Michelin Sport
August 20 2005

Kimi Raikkonen secured his fifth pole position of the season – and Michelin's 13th – during qualifying for the inaugural Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul Park.

The Finn – who is chasing a second straight Formula One victory – lapped the challenging, 3.318-mile track in 1:26.797 during an incident-packed session and pipped Giancarlo Fisichella by 0.242s.

World championship leader Fernando Alonso will start third. Juan Pablo Montoya, Jarno Trulli, Nick Heidfeld, Mark Webber, Felipe Massa, Ralf Schumacher and Christian Klien completed a Michelin clean sweep of the top ten.

Michelin drivers set the fastest 13 times in this morning's final free practice sessions. Kimi Raikkonen led the way on 1:26.120, 0.479 clear of Jenson Button.

Today's qualifying session briefly had to be interrupted after Villeneuve spun at Turn 8 and stalled his car in the middle of the track. BAR Honda drivers Jenson Button and Takuma Sato compromised their laps by running wide at the same corner. They will start 13th and 14th. World champion Michael Schumacher abandoned his lap after spinning at Turn 10.

"This has been enormously satisfying day for us," says Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin Motorsport Director, "with all seven partner teams qualifying cars in the top 10, and I'm delighted with the way our tyres have performed on a track where we have never previously competed.

"The race appears to be very delicately poised," added Dupasquier. "The circuit is clearly very challenging, partly because the frequent elevation changes affect the load and the downforce levels and partly because we are using relatively stiff tyre constructions. As we have seen today, the slightest mistake can be very costly and tomorrow's 58-lap race promises to be especially gruelling."

Nick Shorrock, Director of Michelin F1 Activities, commented "Irrespective of the tyre choice made by our partners we have been able to demonstrate an excellent performance from all our teams and our products which are particularly well suited to the conditions.

"The track has proved to be quite a bit faster than we originally anticipated, largely due to the width of the kerbs, and I have to compliment those responsible for the manner in which they have prepared the surface," continued Shorrock. "It has remained incredibly consistent since it rubbered in yesterday. Everything has gone absolutely according to plan – especially when you consider that we had no previous racing experience concerning the circuit."