Brazilian GP - QualifyingThe 2006 championship took another turn for the worst this afternoon at Interlagos for
Michael Schumacher and Ferrari. After blitzing the lap record in the second 15-minute qualifying session, Schumacher took to the circuit for his final run only
for his 248 F1 to hit mechanical problems. While the team has claimed the Pole Position courtesy of Felipe Massa, more mechanical gremlins have fallen Schumacher’s way.
With Schumacher coasting back to the Ferrari pit to effectively retire from the third qualifying session, the top ten battled for position. It was Massa who showed the way in comprehensive style in the second Ferrari, stopping the clocks in a very rapid 1:10.680s best.
Massa, undoubtedly very light on fuel, enjoys a six-tenth of a second advantage over
Kimi Raikkonen who once again did a tremendous job in what is final Grand Prix with McLaren Mercedes. Like Ferrari, it was a mixed day for the McLaren team as Pedro de la Rosa again failed to shine and starts 12th. With nothing to lose in either title race, perhaps the team should have taken the opportunity of assessing Lewis Hamilton in race conditions…
As expected the Toyota team had not shown their true pace this morning in practice.
Jarno Trulli starts a fine third in his TF106B ahead of Champion-elect
Fernando Alonso in the leading Renault.
Rubens Barrichello carried the Honda flag in qualifying and starts a solid fifth for the Brackley-based squad team as team-mate
Jenson Button hit a minor mechanical problem that left him a disappointed 14th fastest.
Giancarlo Fisichella starts in sixth position in the second Renault – just 0.062s slower than Alonso - and with
Michael Schumacher starting at best tenth, depending on what the Ferrari squad decide to do with the 248 F1, Renault will be very confident heading into the 71-lap Brazilian Grand Prix tomorrow afternoon.
Ralf Schumacher starts seventh in the second Toyota as the team take on the BMW Sauber duo who line up ninth and tenth with
Nick Heidfeld just ahead of Robert Kubica.
Williams Cosworth will be reasonably happy with Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg starting 11th and 13th with de la Rosa in between, while Button has it all to do from 14th position in the second Honda.
Robert Doornbos was an impressive 15th fastest in his Red Bull Ferrari as the team have slipped down the pecking order in the second half of the season. Doornbos drops to the back of the field however due to an engine change penalty from Friday. Team-mate David Coulthard struggled with his RB2 and starts 18th.
Tonio Liuzzi piped team-mate Scott Speed by a thousandth of a second in the first qualifying session and that was enough to see the Italian make it though to Q2 in his Toro Rosso Cosworth. With the demotion of Doornbos, Liuzzi will start no lower than 15th ahead of Speed.
It was a pretty disappointing day for the Spyker MF1 Toyota team.
Christijan Albers was 18th fastest while team-mate
Tiago Monteiro went for a wild spin on his first timed lap and was unable to continue while the Super Aguri Honda duo of Takuma Sato and Sakon Yamamoto were slowest of those to complete a lap.
It’s a perfect day for Felipe Massa as he looks forward to starting his home race from Pole Position. It remains to be seen if team-mate Schumacher will start from tenth position on the grid or if Ferrari will change engines and tactics and start the retiring German from the back of the pack. For Renault, things are looking sweet but as the recent races have all shown, there are probably more twists and turns ahead…
Earl ALEXANDER © CAPSIS International
