Belgium: Toyota denied pole by McLaren front row


By Nick Sparkes
September 20 2005

Panasonic Toyota Racing will line up 3rd and 5th on the grid for tomorrows Belgium Grand Prix. Ralf Schumacher drove a perfect lap to get into the top five just before a small sprinkle of rain. But this didn’t stop Jarno Trulli, murdering the Fagne Chicane to take his Toyota to 3rd on the grid.

In a Qualifying session dogged by a mixture of dry and wet set-ups, all the action kicked off with the final 5 runners. Before then teams like Jordan and BAR Honda elected on a wet set-up in the hope of rain for tomorrows race. This mean’t their times were a lot slower than usually with more wing and a higher ground clearance aiding their times.

Michael Schumacher grove an excellent lap in his Ferrari to start the race sixth, a position he hopes to improve on if the weather goes Bridgestone’s way. Straight after, brother Ralf drove a clean lap to go a couple of tenths faster for fifth, and then reports of rain started to greet the circuit. During the 5-minute break the rain sprinkled down onto the racetrack, thankfully stopping as Jarno Trulli exited the pit lane.

Jarno’s lap was a stellar one, but unlike all of his others, showed real commitment through the Fagne Chicane going eight tenths faster than his teammate. At the end of the lap Jarno took provisional pole, which would later turn out to be third on the grid.

Giancarlo Fisichella suffering with a ten place drop after an engine change this morning, drove his Renault like he has never done before, putting in the fastest first sector of anyone. At the end of the lap the Renault driver took provisional pole, which with his ten-place drop would later end him up thirteenth on the grid.

McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen followed the pattern by going fastest of anyone, although suffered from a slight mistake at the top of Eau Rouge; the championship battle was placed firmly in the hands of Fernando Alonso as he went out for his lap.

Fernando drove a less than spectacular lap, losing tenths here and there, eventually ending up fourth on the grid behind Kimi, his team-mate Giancarlo and Jarno.

Finally Juan Pablo Montoya crushed the Renault party with his sensational lap beating his teammates, Kimi Raikkonen, by just a fraction to claim another pole position for McLaren.

Tomorrows race is still expected to be wet, and with some teams electing to run with wet set-ups, whilst the faster runners are currently on dries, you cannot afford to miss the Belgium Grand Prix!

Pos. Driver Team Time Gap Laps Kph
1 J. Montoya West McLaren Mercedes
1:46.391
3
236.050
2 K. Raikkonen West McLaren Mercedes
1:46.440
0.049
3
235.941
3 G. Fisichella* Mild Seven Renault F1 Team
1:46.497
0.106
3
235.815
4 J. Trulli Panasonic Toyota Racing
1:46.596
0.205
3
235.596
5 F. Alonso Mild Seven Renault F1 Team
1:47.760
0.369
3
235.234
6 R. Schumacher Panasonic Toyota Racing
1:47.401
1.010
3
233.830
7 M. Schumacher Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
1:47.476
1.085
3
233.667
8 F. Massa Sauber Petronas
1:47.867
1.476
3
232.820
9 J. Button
 Lucky Strike BAR Honda
1:47.978
1.587
3
232.580
10 M. Webber BMW WilliamsF1 Team
1:48.071
1.680
3
232.380
11 T. Sato
 Lucky Strike BAR Honda
1:48.353
1.962
3
231.775
12 D. Coulthard
 Red Bull Racing
1:48.508
2.117
3
231.444
13 R. Barrichello
 Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
1:48.550
2.159
3
231.355
14 J. Villeneuve
 Sauber Petronas
1:48.889
2.498
3
230.634
15 A. Pizzonia BMW WilliamsF1 Team
1:48.898
2.507
3
230.615
16 C. Klien
 Red Bull Racing
1:48.994
2.603
3
230.412
17 R. Doornbos Minardi F1 Team
1:49.779
3.388
3
228.765
18 C. Albers Minardi F1 Team
1:49.842
3.451
3
228.633
19 T. Monteiro Jordan Grand Prix
1:51.498
5.107
3
225.238
20 N. Karthikeyan Jordan Grand Prix
1:51.675
5.284
3
224.881

*forfeited 10 grid places due to engine change

Times courtesy of toyota-f1.com