Fists Waving and Lots of Fun at European Grand Prix Quaifying
Giancarlo Fisichella was quite the sight berating Jacques Villeneuve. Fisichela stormed into the BMW Sauber pit lane between the last two sessions of qualifying and looked like he wanted Jacques to step out of his car and go at it mano-a-mano. He was still fuming quite a while afterwards, and it appears that the stewards heard him as Villeneuve lost his fast time and got demoted one spot on the grid. All this because Fissi felt that Jacques blocked him on his fast lap (Jacques was on his warm up lap) and cost him the chance to fight for pole. Now, if Fissi had just kept going and tried to put in another fast lap, he would have had more than likely made it into the top ten, like Jacques did.
I know Fisichella is worred about his seat at Renault, and rightly so. However, I think what he did was very un-sportsmanlike and he should have been penalized as well. From my vantagepoint, Fissi was not close enough to Jacques to accuse him of blocking so he should just pick up his game and stop feeling so threatened by Jacques when Alonso is the one who's making him look like a second tier driver. 'Nuff said about that.
The other exciting news is that the Ferrari turnaround is real after all. Michael Schumacher quaified second and Massa third, while Fernando Alonso took his first pole of the season for Renault. This should prove for an interesting start since all of these men like to be in front after the first corner.
Honda had a bit of a surprise with Rubens Barrichello qualifying in fourth place ahead of Jenson Button who only managed to take sixth. Both Honda drivers sandwiched the McLaren Mercedes of Kimi Raikkonen, still indicating that Ron Dennis and Norbert Haug have some work to do if they want Kimi to be word champion. Juan Pablo Montoya qualified in seventh and is openly looking for a ride next year. The silly season should start officially in a month, but speculation has been swirling around who will be at McLaren in 2007 since the start of the this season when it was announced that Alonso is moving to the Grove-based outfit.
Williams had mixed results with Mark Webber qualifying in tenth and Nico Rosberg in 12th. However, both Cosworth power plants were replaced this weekend, making the change out of sequence, so that means a 10 point grid position penalty putting both drivers at the back in 20th and 22nd place respectively.
The qualifying session results are as follows, but they are not the exact starting grid positions:
P. No Driver Team - Engine Tyres Times Ave/Gaps
1. 1 ALONSO Renault M 1'29"819 206.335 Km/h
2. 5 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'30"028 + 0'00"209
3. 6 MASSA Ferrari B 1'30"407 + 0'00"588
4. 11 BARRICHELLO Honda M 1'30"754 + 0'00"935
5. 3 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 1'30"933 + 0'01"114
6. 12 BUTTON Honda M 1'30"940 + 0'01"121
7. 8 TRULLI Toyota B 1'31"419 + 0'01"600
8. 17 VILLENEUVE BMW Sauber M 1'31"542 + 0'01"723
9. 4 MONTOYA McLaren Mercedes M 1'31"880 + 0'02"061
10. 9 WEBBER Williams Cosworth B 1'33"405 + 0'03"586
11. 7 R.SCHUMACHER Toyota B 1'30"944
12. 10 ROSBERG Williams Cosworth B 1'31"194
13. 2 FISICHELLA Renault M 1'31"197
14. 14 COULTHARD RedBull Ferrari M 1'31"227
15. 16 HEIDFELD BMW Sauber M 1'31"422
16. 20 LIUZZI Toro Rosso Cosw. M 1'31"728
17. 15 KLIEN RedBull Ferrari M 1'32"901
18. 19 ALBERS Midland Toyota B 1'32"936
19. 21 SPEED Toro Rosso Cosw. M 1'32"992
20. 18 MONTEIRO Midland Toyota B 1'33"658
21. 22 SATO S. Aguri F1 Honda B 1'35"239
22. 23 MONTAGNY S. Aguri F1 Honda B 1'46"505
The starting grid for the race (as at 12:01am EST) looks like this:
P. No Driver Team - Engine Tyres
1. 1 ALONSO Renault M
2. 5 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari B
3. 6 MASSA Ferrari B
4. 11 BARRICHELLO Honda M
5. 3 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M
6. 12 BUTTON Honda M
7. 8 TRULLI Toyota B
8. 17 VILLENEUVE BMW Sauber M
9. 4 MONTOYA McLaren Mercedes M
10. 7 R.SCHUMACHER Toyota B
11. 2 FISICHELLA Renault M
12. 14 COULTHARD RedBull Ferrari M
13. 16 HEIDFELD BMW Sauber M
14. 20 LIUZZI Toro Rosso Cosw. M
15. 15 KLIEN RedBull Ferrari M
16. 19 ALBERS Midland Toyota B
17. 21 SPEED Toro Rosso Cosw. M
18. 18 MONTEIRO Midland Toyota B
19. 22 SATO S. Aguri F1 Honda B
20. 9 WEBBER Williams Cosworth B
21. 23 MONTAGNY S. Aguri F1 Honda B
22. 10 ROSBERG Williams Cosworth B