The Hindu : Sport / Racing : Motor : Raikkonen takes pole

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Aug 21, 2005

Sport

Sport - Racing : Motor

Raikkonen takes pole

ISTANBUL: : With a handful of drivers skidding off the slippery track, Kimi Raikkonen was delighted to simply survive his qualifying lap. Never mind that it also brought him the pole for Sunday's inaugural Turkish Grand Prix.

Two world champions — Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve — took embarrassing spins off the slick, hilly track. Both BAR-Honda drivers — Jenson Button and Takuma Sato — found bumpy, gravel runoff areas at the new Istanbul Park layout.

The car of Minardi's Robert Doornbos caught fire, and he also did not post a time.

Almost everyone struggled in spots.

``It might be tricky tomorrow, but we'll see how it goes,'' said Raikkonen of McLaren-Mercedes, who clocked 1 minute, 26.797 seconds around the 5.3-kilometer (3.3-mile) course.

Renault claimed the next two spots on Saturday with Giancarlo Fisichella alongside Raikkonen, and teammate and season-points leader Fernando Alonso on the second row with Juan Pablo Montoya of McLaren on his outside.

Jarno Trulli of Toyota and Nick Heidfeld of Williams-BMW start from the third row. Fisichella said he may have lost time when he came up on Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello, who had just completed his lap and was slowing down.

Problems galore

The Hermann Tilke-designed track presents several problems. With construction barely finished, there's sand on the track and dust blowing from the yet-to-be-landscaped area around the circuit. It's hilly, and it also runs counterclockwise — one of only three in Formula One that emphasizes the left-hand turns.

And it has two special corners. The first is a downhill, 90-degree left-hander — Turn No. 1. The other is Turn No. 8, a 200-degree left-hander that is made up of three small bends.

The grid: 1. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.797, 2. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 1:27.039; 3. Fernando Alonso (Esp) Renault 1:27.050, 4. Juan Pablo Montoya (Col) McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.352; 5. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:27.501, 6. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Williams-BMW 1:27.929; 7. Mark Webber (Aus) Williams-BMW 1:27.944, 8. Felipe Massa (Bra) Sauber-Petronas 1:28.419; 9. Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 1:28.594, 10. Christian Klien (Aut) Red Bull 1:28.963; 11. Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 1:29.369, 12. David Coulthard (Gbr) Red Bull 1:29.764; 13. Jenson Button (Gbr) BAR-Honda 1:30.063, 14. Takuma Sato (Jpn) BAR-Honda 1:30.175; 15. Tiago Monteiro (Por) Jordan 1:30.710, 16. Christijan Albers (Ned) Minardi 1:32.186; 17. Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari, 18. Jacques Villeneuve (Can) Sauber-Petronas; 19. Narain Karthikeyan (Ind) Jordan, 20. Robert Doornbos (Ned) Minardi. — Agencies

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