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05/25/2007 - 07:00 PM
Monte Carlo, Monaco
Look for a lot more of this in the second half of the year, Alonso says. (LAT photo) » More Photos
As expected, McLaren dominated qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix with Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton sharing the front-row for Sunday's race. Felipe Massa will start third, while his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen ended up 15th after crashing in Qualifying 2.
With rain hitting the Principality early in the morning, the unpredictable played a part in the session, as exemplified by Adrian Sutil's shocking chart-topping performance for Spyker on a wet Practice 3 session. The German rookie, however, could not sustain a similar place in the first round of qualifying, as was among the six drivers sidelined after Q1, along with Super Aguri's Anthony Davidson, American Scott Speed - who took P18 - the disappointing Toyota of Ralf Schumacher, the Aguri of Takuma Sato and Christijan Albers in the second Spyker.
Still early on Q2, a decisive moment: Kimi Raikkonen brushed the wall exiting the Swimming Poll chicane and terminally damaged the right-front suspension of his F2007. In a way eerily reminiscent of 2006's "Rascasse-gate" involving his Ferrari predecessor Michael Schumacher, the Finn ended up stuck at the Rascasse corner, nearly blocking traffic, and briefly forcing teammate Massa to stop to avoid a crash. Eventually the "Ice Man" managed to maneuver and nurse his wounded Ferrari - sporting a Monaco-exclusive "ruby red" paint job - to the pits, but his day was over.
P16 would beckon for Raikkonen if it weren't for David Coulthard's blocking of Heikki Kovalainen's Renault o few minutes later. The Red Bull driver, still in his out lap, didn't move over and cut off the Finn entering the pit straights. Race stewards decided to disallow the Scot's fastest lap - which would have been good enough to move him into Q3 - and DC fell to 16th, one spot behind Raikkonen. Deprived of his best flier, Kovalainen was stuck in 14th, behind Jarno Trulli's Toyota. Toro Rosso's Tonio Liuzzi was a solid 12th, with the Williams of Alex Wurz taking the 11th spot.
Through Q1 and Q2 the McLarens had been the two fastest cars on the track, and it was no different in a strange final segment where the track briefly began to deteriorate as rain began to fall but which recovered still in time for a final set of fliers by the front-runners.
With six minutes to go it seemed the rain would come for good and seal Hamilton's maiden pole, but the improvement of the conditions with only a couple of minutes left produced a mad dash back out on track in which Alonso got the better of his rookie teammate, though Hamilton's final flier was quicker than the Spaniard's
Aboard a Ferrari whose longer wheelbase puts it at a disadvantage against the McLarens in the Principality's tight confinements, Massa managed third, some 0.2sec behind Alonso's best of 1:15.726 and only 0.063 off Hamilton's quickest.
Giancarlo Fisichella carded his and Renault's best starting spot of the year with P4, ahead of Nico Rosberg who again displayed Williams' Monaco mettle. Mark Webber was a strong sixth for Red Bull, proving how much DC's blocking move on Kovalainen threw away.
The clear "third force" of the 2007 season so far, the BMW duo of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica settled for positions seventh and eighth, ahead of the Honda pairing of Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button, in their first simultaneous Q3 appearance of the year, a feat doubtlessly helped by Raikkonen and Coulthard's woes.
Alonso's pole was the 16th of his career and first this year for himself and McLaren, interrupting a streak of three consecutive poles by Massa.
Raikkonen crashed in the Swimming Pool chicane and nearly provided a revival of "Rascasse-gate" in the aftermath. (LAT Photo) » More Photos
Catch up on the latest in IndyCar racing each month in RACER. Jeff Olson gets inside the new and improved Andretti Green Racing team in our June issue, on sale now.
Monaco Grand Prix qualifying results:
1) Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Mercedes, 1:15.726
2) Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes, 1:15.905
3) Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:15.967
4) Giancarlo Fisichella, Renault, 1:16.285
5) Nico Rosberg, Williams-Toyota, 1:16.439
6) Mark Webber, Red Bull-Renault, 1:16.784
7) Nick Heidfeld, BMW, 1:16.832
8) Robert Kubica, BMW, 1:16.955
9) Rubens Barrichello, Honda, 1:17.498
10) Jenson Button, Honda, 1:17.939
11) Alexander Wurz, Williams-Toyota, 1:16.662
12) Vitantonio Liuzzi, STR-Ferrari, 1:16.703
13) Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 1:16.988
14) Heikki Kovalainen, Renault, 1:17.125
15) Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari, no time
16) David Coulthard, Red Bull-Renault, 1:17.204
17) Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda, 1:18.250
18) Scott Speed, STR-Ferrari, 1:18.390
19) Adrian Sutil, Spyker-Ferrari, 1:18.418
20) Ralf Schumacher, Toyota, 1:18.539
21) Takuma Sato, Super Aguri-Honda, 1:18.554
22) Christijan Albers, Spyker-Ferrari, No time
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