Grand Prix of Italy, Qualifying – Kimi Starting 14th Ahead of Lewis

Sebastian Vettel became the youngest driver in Formula One history
to secure a pole position after finishing on top in a wet qualifying
session for the Italian Grand Prix.

Vettel set his time early in Q3, and looked increasingly safe as the rain steadily became heavier.

In the end his 1:37.555 was enough to keep him clear of
second-placed Heikki Kovalainen, while a stunning all-or-nothing lap
from Mark Webber got the Australian up to P3 on his final run, edging
out Sebastien Bourdais.

While there were celebrations in the STR garage, it was a different
story for world championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who had a dreadful
afternoon and now faces the task of trying to salvage a result from
15th on the grid.

Hamilton’s problems began with a gamble on intermediates early in
Q2. It never looked like paying off, but even though the Briton
replaced them with full wets, he appeared distinctly uncomfortable with
the conditions throughout the entire session and never threatened the
top order.

McLaren were not the only front-running team to trip over during Q2.
Kimi Raikkonen missed the cut-off and will start from 14th, and BMW’s
Robert Kubica could manage no better than 11th.

Hamilton’s misfortunes will make life easier for main title rival
Felipe Massa tomorrow, who will start the race from sixth alongside
Nico Rosberg. Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock delivered on Toyota’s early
promise to end the afternoon in seventh and ninth, bookending Fernando
Alonso, with Nick Heidfeld completing the top 10.

Force India recognised the adverse conditions as a chance to get a
result, and the team were rewarded when Giancarlo Fisichella made it
through to Q2 for the first time this season, the Italian finishing a
very respectable 12th.

Both of the Hondas were early casualties, with Jenson Button both failing to make it through the first session.

Nelson Piquet also missed out at the expense of Renault teammate
Fernando Alonso, who knocked him back below the cut-off point just
moments after he’d pulled himself above it.

Pos Driver        Team                     Q1         Q2         Q3     
 1. Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:35.464   1:35.837   1:37.555
 2. Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:35.214   1:35.843   1:37.631
 3. Webber        Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:36.001   1:36.306   1:38.117
 4. Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:35.543   1:36.175   1:38.445
 5. Rosberg       Williams-Toyota     (B)  1:35.485   1:35.898   1:38.767
 6. Massa         Ferrari             (B)  1:35.536   1:36.676   1:38.894
 7. Trulli        Toyota              (B)  1:35.906   1:36.008   1:39.152
 8. Alonso        Renault             (B)  1:36.297   1:36.518   1:39.751
 9. Glock         Toyota              (B)  1:35.737   1:36.525   1:39.787
10. Heidfeld      BMW Sauber          (B)  1:35.709   1:36.626   1:39.906
11. Kubica        BMW Sauber          (B)  1:35.553   1:36.697
12. Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari (B)  1:36.280   1:36.698
13. Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:36.485   1:37.284
14. Raikkonen     Ferrari             (B)  1:35.965   1:37.522
15. Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:35.394   1:39.265
16. Barrichello   Honda               (B)  1:36.510
17. Piquet        Renault             (B)  1:36.630
18. Nakajima      Williams-Toyota     (B)  1:36.653
19. Button        Honda               (B)  1:37.006
20. Sutil         Force India-Ferrari (B)  1:37.417

Oh,
the heavens really want to mix it up for tomorrow don’t they?! What a
fantastic first pole for Sebastien Vettel, being only 21 and taking
this first pole for Torro Rosso who were originally Minardi, and to
make it sweeter he is youngest pole sitter ever in history.
Congratulations to him and the team, and also to Mark Webber.



The rain was just never ending,
and I won’t be surprised if tomorrow remains in the same conditions.
Lewis "I’m so great in the wet" Hamilton had to eat some humble pie as
I thought he would this weekend, and now he sits behind Kimi on the
grid. This unusual kind of grid line up brings Japan 2005 instantly
comes to mind, when it was Fernando Alonso and Kimi who were the main
rivals starting at the back end, eventhough Alonso had already won the
title the race before. But Kimi took victory of what was and probaby
still is, for a long time, his greatest ever Grand Prix in that last
lap overtaking move on Fisichella for the lead of the race. But that
was in a McLaren; he’s in a Ferrari now! So it’s a completely new story
and one we just can’t afford to miss tomorrow. There’s no doubt about
Kimi’s performance in tough conditions, but as we’ve seen this year the
Ferrari really struggles compared to the McLaren in the wet and cold
conditions. However, the Ferrari has the power that can change all that
in their engines for their home race. With Kovalainen 2nd on the grid
he can make sure he controls the race. Massa on the other hand really
has to get through the first lap in one piece as he’s Ferrari’s best
shot for the win and it seems he’s fuelled heavier than those infront.
His race at the similarly drenched Silverstone circuit was terrible,
spinning throughout the whole race and finishing last. Kimi also had a
few offs but at least he was on pace of Lewis’s McLaren before Ferrari
made a bad call on the tyre strategy, costing the win and even a
podium. So it’s really more difficult for Massa, than it is for Kimi. But it has to be said, Massa really did a great job at getting into the top 10 and then finishing 6th. He’s not so bad in the wet afterall!



Kimi will undoubtedly be fuelled
super heavy, as well as Lewis. However, whether they’ll both be on a
one stop strategy, as Massa may also be, is quite hard to judge. Lewis
has to score a handful of points, he can’t afford to lose his two-point
lead gap to Massa in the title. Kimi, though, just has to race like he
does, like a bat out of hell. He’s 19 points off the championship so he
can risk all he can. If it goes well, then lovely, he still contends
for the next race against everyone including his teammate Massa. I
don’t think Ferrari have already started using Kimi to support Massa,
though it is quite unusual that Massa qualifies better than Kimi in the
conditions he absolutely hates. But I think we’ve all gathered by now
that qualifying is Massa’s strongest quality this year and it has been
Kimi’s weakest. Kimi has Hamilton behind him so he has to be careful about what that nutter will do at the first chicane. He’ll also have to grow bigger balls apparently because braking early in the wet is so stupid and uncalled for, according to a certain great ‘rain master’. Joking aside, it’s going to be another exciting battle between the two and not as bad as Kimi’s face on the left implies.

Tomorrow is a lottery because of the weather, so
there’s no reason Kimi won’t be approaching the race to win it. I can’t
wait. Can Vettel keep the lead of the race for at least one lap? Who
will make an utter mess of the first corner? How many safety car
periods will we see? All shall be revealed in 22 hours! Keep Flying
Kimi! ~

| Qualifying Quotes – Ferrari

Felipe Massa: "A very difficult qualifying but,
overall, I am reasonably happy. It’s true it could have been better,
but it could also have been much worse. I am ahead of my main rivals in
the fight for the championship and I still have a good grid position
therefore…"

Kimi Raikkonen: "There’s little to say and I am
definitely not happy with this result. I was unable to do a time in Q2
when the conditions would still have made it possible and then it was
impossible to catch up. On that lap, I went off at Ascari where there
was a lot of water on the track, which meant I didn’t make it through
to the next session. Now we must try and make the best of this
situation which is definitely not ideal. Starting from the seventh row
of the grid could be a bit tricky at the start, because the entry to
the first chicane is very tight and it is easy to touch other cars. In
the dry, the car is working very well but obviously, if it were to
rain, it could give some chances to those who are starting further back
like me."

Stefano Domenicali: "Of course we’re not happy. "It
was a frenetic qualifying, in which random factors in the shape of the
rain and traffic, played a key role. However, that was the case for
everyone. On the wet we are not competitive at the highest level.
Having said that, we must look at this result in the light of the
championship and, we can take some consolation from the fact that our
main rival is behind us. I wish to congratulate Scuderia Toro Rosso and
Sebastian Vettel who produced an amazing result, which included putting
a Ferrari engine on pole in Monza."