Raikkonen Takes German GP Pole
From speedtv.com ....
Kimi Raikkonen produced a stunning lap to take his and the McLaren-Mercedes-Benz team's first pole position of the season in qualifying for the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.
Raikkonen's fast lap of 1:14.070, a tenth of a second faster than Michael Schumacher and his Ferrari, was enough to repeat his pole feat of last year in at his engine manufacturer's their home race.
The second Ferrari of Felipe Massa qualified third, while Jenson Button rebounded from his Honda team's dismal French Grand Prix by qualifying fourth ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella's Renault and Rubens Barrichello in the second Honda.
World Champion Fernando Alonso's 25th birthday was not a happy one at work, as he could qualify his Renault only seventh - equaling his worst place of the season. In fact, Alonso faced the prospect of not qualifying in the top 10 for the first time all season, as he ran around 10th place right until the end, before a late lap put him safely through.
Ralf Schumacher, who almost hit Button when he was prematurely waved out of the pits, was eighth for Toyota, with Pedro de la Rosa ninth for McLaren and David Coulthard 10th for Red Bull.
The first 15-minute session was red-flagged following a heavy accident for American Scott Speed. Speed ran over the curbs on the exit of Turn One and spun his Toro Rosso into the wall on halfway down the next straight, meaning he will start last on the grid after failing to set a time, save for Jarno Trulli (Toyota) and Christijan Albers (MF1), who changed engines.
Also failing to make the second part of qualifying were Speed's teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi, the Midlands of Albers and Tiago Monteiro, and Takuma Sato and Sakon Yamamoto in the Super Aguris.
German Grand prix qualifying results:
1) Kimi Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes 1:14.070
2) Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:14.205
3) Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:14.569
4) Jenson Button Honda 1:14.862
5) Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 1:14.894
6) Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:14.934
7) Fernando Alonso Renault 1:15.282
8) Ralf Schumacher Toyota 1:15.923
9) Pedro de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.936
10) David Coulthard Red Bull-Ferrari 1:16.326
11) Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth 1:15.094
12) Christian Klien Red Bull-Ferrari 1:15.141
13) Jacques Villeneuve BMW 1:15.329
14) Nico Rosberg Williams-Cosworth 1:15.380
15) Nick Heidfeld BMW 1:15.397
16) Vitantonio Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Cosworth 1:16.399
17) Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:17.185
18) Tiago Monteiro MF1-Toyota 1:17.836
19) Sakon Yamamoto Super Aguri-Honda 1:20.444
20) Scott Speed USA Toro Rosso-Cosworth no time
21) Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:15.150 Engine change
22) Christijan Albers MF1-Toyota 1:17.093 Engine change
