Italian Grand Prix 2006, Qualifying

McLaren. Ferrari. BMW. Honda. Four different teams in the top five runners. Breathtaking qualifying sessions with a couple of tyre failures.

The first session was very much similar to the ones in the previous rounds of championship. Ferrari and Renault needed a single run to make it to the top 16. Most other competitive teams like BMW and McLaren did not find it too hard to get out of the relegation zone. The session was stopped after the tyre failure on the Super Aguri of Sakon Yamamoto. The session stopped and resumed after a notable amount of time. The debris had to be cleared by the special vehicles. The last time I saw this kind of an action was in Montreal last year when Ralf Schumacher spun off the track on a high speed curve and crashed into the sidewalls. The likes of Schumacher, Massa, Alonso, Fisichella, Raikonnen were yet to set a flying lap of the session. The session resumed and finished without any further dramas.

The second session’s start was a bit hilarious. The fifteen minutes session saw the first driver coming out of the pits after a delay of nearly a minute. It was Robert Kubica who started the session in style, setting a lap faster than the lap of previous session leader, Michael Schumacher. The Ferrari looked on a good pace, something expected from the Italian team in their home grand prix. A bit of a surprise came from BMW Sauber. Call it the BMW horsepower on the long straights of Monza or the new technological development, the white cars were matching the pace of Renaults and the Ferraris consistently. McLaren looked pretty quick and was consistently challenging Ferrari for grid position. At the end of the second session, Ferrari and Renault were neck to neck. Ferrari very ahead and Alonso could not match Schumi’s pace, but made another try (probably to gain psychological advantage in the final session). The Spaniard encountered some traffic in the second half of the lap and decided to dive into the pits. At the end of the second session, Ferrari were right on top with Massa and Schumi each having done only 2 flying laps in the two sessions. 10 on 10 for performance and preservation of the engine life. Michael stood 4th at the end of this session but was no reason for Ferrari to start worrying. NIck Heidfeld and Jenson button looked very promising at the end of the session. The drivers who could not make the final cut inspite of their relentless efforts were Nico Rosberg and David Coulthard with both the Toyotas also being relegated.

The final session was led by BMW of Nick Heidfeld. Few laps of burning off the fuel and then was the time to start the real flying lap. Michael was tactically ahead of Alonso. At the first corner, with about 10 minutes remaining, Alonso lost the control of his car and went straight after braking hard. No damage done but a few seconds later he complained about a punctured tyre. Crawling back to the pits while other cars set up laps while still burning off fuel was a loss to Renault. A heavier car would have meant a slower lap time in the next few minutes of the session. With about 7 minutes remaining the cars came in for a new set of rubber. Lap times and grid positions were tumbling. Felipe Massa was at the top of the time sheets when Schumacher set a fastest lap to take provisional pole with chequered flag already out. Kimi Raikonnen, still on his final flying lap took pole after going just 2 thousandths of a second faster than Michaeal Schumacher. Thats how close it was between the two drivers who can possibly be seen in the same team next year. Fernando Alonso was on 9th position when he started his flying lap just moments before the chequered flag came out. the Renault could go only 5th fastest. Massa finished third behind Nick Heidfeld.

The Renault driver, Fernando Alonso was later penalized by the race stewards after they received complaints from Felipe Massa about the spaniard blocking him on his flying lap. The current world champion would be starting from 10 place on sunday.

With very little clear-cut overtaking opportunities on the very narrow track of Monza, the grid positions will play and important role. The fastest race track on the Calendar surely brings some unique displays and events every year, and this one isnt expected to be a lot different. Tyres will play a vital role on this track. Michael will be running a car which has a race old engine while Alonso will be driving a brand new “improved version” of the Renault.

The race is going to be very interesting and competetive. Its impossible to write a script for this one. Its LIVE on Star Sports @17.30 PM IST.

Ferrari are red, Renault are blue
Massa won last time, Schumi lost too
Ferrari can bounce back
If they finish One-Two
(By ‘Colette Wong’, ESPN Star Commentator)

© 2006 Kamal Agarwal