The Hindu : Sport : Raikkonen rules the streets

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Sunday, May 22, 2005

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Raikkonen rules the streets

MONACO: Kimi Raikkonen won the first roll of the dice in Monte Carlo on Saturday when he finished fastest in the crash-delayed opening qualifying session for Sunday's Monaco GP. Raikkonen won the last race in Spain and he continued his good form here as he outpaced current championship leader Fernando Alonso by 0.481 seconds to take the top spot with a time of 1:13.644s.

Raikkonen, whose helmet is diamond encrusted this weekend because of a sponsorship promotion, is confident he is in the perfect position to take his first win in the glamorous and history-laden Monte Carlo race.

"I was already confident in the morning that we would have a good car and it really worked well," he said.

"It is important to be on pole or on the front row here so I am delighted. It is pretty much impossible to overtake, and getting pole position is always going to help you in the race. Tomorrow is another day, we still have to keep the pole, but we have a good margin.

"I think this is the best car I have ever driven here so I was confident we could have a good week and so far it has gone well. In Monaco anything can happen, so we need to do the best we can and hopefully try to win the race."

But the Finn was forced to wait almost 20 minutes to set his time after the session was stopped with three cars left to run when Ralf Schumacher crashed on his flying lap.

Schumacher made a big mistake heading through Tabac when he clipped the inside of the corner with his left front wheel and piled straight into the tyre barrier on the opposite side of the track.

The heavy impact ripped away most of the right hand side of his Toyota car and scattered debris over the track, causing the session to be stopped, but the German driver was still able to climb out of the car.

Dusty track

The break in the session left the crowds waiting for the final three drivers to come out for their flying laps and Alonso claimed that dust on the track from the clean up had compromised his lap.

"After the Ralf accident anything was possible but it was very difficult in that particular corner," he said.

"The rest of the track was good but I didn't have any information on that corner. So when I went there I just avoided the oil and the dirty part and I was in the middle of the track. It was different and I think the gap is a surprise, but at the same time we have a good margin to third position.

"The wait also did not help, for sure. You warm your body a bit before going in the car but when you are sitting in the car for 15 minutes or so without any movement you are a bit cold."

Australian Mark Webber finished third for Williams with Italian Giancarlo Fisichella fourth in the second Renault, just ahead of fifth-placed Juan Pablo Montoya, in the second McLaren.

Ferraris struggle

Canadian Jacques Villeneuve slotted into a satisfying ninth for Sauber, the former world champion putting his knowledge of the Monaco streets to good use, while Brazilian Rubens Barrichello completed the top ten in his Ferrari.

World champion Michael Schumacher could manage only 11th fastest time as Ferrari continued to struggle for pace around the slow road circuit under cloudy skies in cool conditions of 22 degrees Celsius.

Michael Schumacher, who has struggled for pace all weekend, was the next lead driver on track and although he went to the top he could only set a time of 1:16.186 that would be easily beaten by the later runners.

Disappointing Narain

Narain finished a disastrous 17th in the first qualifying session and will start the race from the back of the grid after an engine change. His car appeared to experience a significant amount of oversteer, and the tight suspension didn't help his cause as the 28-year-old struggled for control at several corners. He eventually finished just behind his team-mate Tiago Monteiro and also the two Minardis for the first time this season. Minardi has clearly found the optimal setting after struggling with its new car for two races.

"I am finding it hard to familiarise myself with the Monaco street circuit," a disappointed Narain said. "I want to concentrate on finishing the race. So our times and performance are of no significance here.

"We have chosen harder tyre compounds compared to the Minardis, so the times are not fantastic for qualifying but we stand a better chance of finishing.

Meanwhile, qualifying rules are set to change from the next race onwards, the European GP at Nurburgring, with the current system of deciding grid positions through the aggregate timings of two separate flying laps over the weekend being replaced by one session on Saturday.

First qualifying results: 1. Kimi Raikkonen 1m13.644s; 2. Fernando Alonso 1:14.125; 3. Mark Webber 1:14.584; 4. Giancarlo Fisichella 1:14.783; 5. Juan Pablo Montoya 1:14.858; 6. Nick Heidfeld 1:15.128; 7. Jarno Trulli 1:15.189; 8. David Coulthard 1:15.329; 9. Jacques Villeneuve 1:15.921; 10. Rubens Barrichello 1:16.142; 11. Michael Schumacher 1:16.186; 12. Felipe Massa 1:16.218; 13. Vitantonio Liuzzi 1:16.817; 14. Patrick Friesacher 1:18.574; 15. Christijan Albers 1:19.229; 16. Tiago Monteiro 1:19.408; 17. Narain Karthikeyan 1:19.474; 18. Ralf Schumacher no time. — Agencies

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