Indy Qualifying: Villeneuve 6th, Heidfeld 10th

By BMW Sauber F1
July 1 2006

In the qualifying session for the US Grand Prix, both BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers clearly qualified for the third leg of the session. But while Jacques set a 1:12.479-minute lap to secure sixth position on the grid, Nick was stopped by a technical failure and couldn't go out on a fresh set of tyres

Leg 1: Just as in Silverstone and Montreal, Nick and Jacques easily qualified for the second leg of the session. While Jacques set just one timed lap (1:12.114 minutes) to finish fifth, Nick went out for an early stint (two timed laps) in the opening minutes of the leg but only in his second stint (one timed lap), he crossed the line in 1:11.891 minutes to finish fourth. The fastest lap time (1:11.088 minutes) was set by Ferrari's Felipe Massa.

Not qualified for leg two: David Coulthard, Takuma Sato, Nico Rosberg, Jarno Trulli, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Franck Montagny.

Leg 2: Other than in Canada, the BMW Sauber F1 Team pairing had no problems to qualify for the Top Qualifying. This time, Nick needed just one timed lap and a three-lap stint respectively to set a 1:11.718-minute lap and finish sixth, while Jacques' first timed lap was too slow. Therefore, the Canadian had to go out for a second time. And his second timed lap (1:11.724 minutes) was just fractions slower than the one of his team-mate and he secured 7th position. The fastest lap (1:10.636 minutes) was set by Ferrari's Michael Schumacher.

Not qualified for the Top Qualifying: Juan Pablo Montoya, Mark Webber, Scott Speed, Christijan Albers, Tiago Monteiro, Christian Klien.

Top Qualifying: In the final leg of the session, Jacques delivered in fine style. The Canadian set a 1:12.479-minute lap to secure sixth grid position, just three hundredths of a second behind championship leader Fernando Alonso (1:12.449 minutes), but his team-mate wasn't that lucky. On his sixth Top-Qualifying lap, Nick was stopped by a technical failure, costing him his chance of setting a quick lap on a fresh set of tyres. Therefore, he had to settle for a 1:15.280-minute lap and tenth position on the grid. Michael Schumacher (1:10.832 minutes) secured pole in superior style.


Times:

1 M. Schumacher Ferrari 1:10.832
2 F. Massa Ferrari 1:11.435
3 G. Fisichella Renault 1:11.920
4 R. Barrichello Honda 1:12.109
5 F. Alonso Renault 1:12.449
6 J. Villeneuve BMW 1:12.479
7 J. Button Honda 1:12.523
8 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:12.795
9 K. Räikkönen McLaren 1:13.174
10 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:15.280
11 JP. Montoya McLaren 1:12.150
12 M. Webber Williams 1:12.292
13 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:12.792
14 C. Albers Midland F1 1:12.854
15 T. Monteiro Midland F1 1:12.864
16 C. Klien Red Bull 1:12.925
17 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:13.180
18 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:13.496
19 N. Rosberg Williams 1:13.506
20 J. Trulli Toyota 1:13.787
21 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:14.041
22 F. Montagny Super Aguri 1:16.036