The Hindu : Sport/Racing : Motor : Schumacher grabs pole

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 04, 2004

Sport

Sport - Racing : Motor

Schumacher grabs pole

SAKHIR (BAHRAIN), APRIL 3. Six-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher had the fastest time in qualifying for Sunday's first Bahrain Grand Prix, his third consecutive pole of the season. But the woes continued for McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, who will start last on the grid on Sunday.

Schumacher timed 1 minute 30.139 seconds on the new 5.417-kilometer (3.367-mile) Bahrain International Circuit. It was the 58th pole of his career, closing in on Ayrton Senna's record of 65. Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello was second with 1:30.530.

Williams-BMW drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher were third and fourth. Montoya did 1:30.581 and Ralf Schumacher did 1:30.633.

Michael Schumacher leads the championship with 20 points after winning the first two races, and Barrichello is second with 13.

Schumacher is prepared for a tough race on Sunday with the new desert US $ 150 million circuit causing problems with blowing sand and dust. ``I think it will be something very difficult to handle during the race,'' he said. ``It's simply because it's so slippery as soon as you get off line a little bit.''

``I was confident we would fight for the pole,'' he added. ``Whether it would happen or not happen I thought it was going to be bery close.''

Raikkonen on Saturday tried a strategic move after problems throughout the weekend. He has failed to finish a race this season after being second in the 2003 season standings to Michael Schumacher, losing the title by two points in the last race.

The Finn's engine blew up on Friday, meaning he would have been penalized 10 positions on Sunday's starting grid for needing to use a new engine. New rules allow only one engine per weekend.

On Saturday he had the second fastest time in pre-qualifying. But in qualifying he decided to forego the lap, preferring to start dead-last and be free of traffic rather than start in, say, 17th or 18th place. ``Hopefully our main tactic will pay off tomorrow,'' Raikonnen said. ``We have new tires and it will help in the first lap,'' he added.

In the 2003 Spanish Grand Prix he started in the last row and crashed within seconds of the start. Montoya had the fastest time for the first two sectors before fading.

Ralf Schumacher went out last after having the fastest time in the pre-qualifying earlier Saturday. However, temperatures were hotter earlier and then cooled off later Saturday with track temperatures hovering around 50C (122F).

Qualifying times may not be indicative of the fastest cars as teams have different strategies with fuel and tires going into the 57-lap race on Sunday.

Fernando Alonso in his Renault made two mistakes on the circuit and ended up with 1:34.130 to come in 17th. At the Malaysian Grand Prix two weeks ago he also went into the gravel and failed to record a time and started 19th. The desert circuit was built in 16 months after Bahrain was given the chance to host a Formula One race.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport