The 2006 British Formula 1 GP (Alonso wins)

[Ed]

Raikkonen takes 3rd!

2 minutes to go and both Michael and Alonso pit!

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Fisichella and Massa pit as well.

This is the final run! It looks set to be very close!

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Ralf Schumacher and Nick Heidfeld opt for just 1 stop

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Michael fastest in S1 but Alonso betters him!

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Michael fastest in S2 but Alonso faster by 2 tenths!

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Michael sets a 1:20.574 but Alonso betters that and sets a 1:20.253 and will most likely take pole!

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Raikkonen takes second with fastest 2nd and 3rd sectors!

[Ed]

So the order for the final 10 are: Alonso, Raikkonen, M Schumacher, Massa, Fisichella, Barrichello, R Schumacher, Montoya, Heidfeld and Villeneuve.

Full results

[Julian Mayo]

Webbo was right

[Ed]

Selected Driver and Team Quotes from Qualifying at the British Grand Prix

Driver

Fernando Alonso - Pole

I was really pleased to get pole today ? my fourth in a row. I made a little mistake on my first flying lap in the super-pole and I knew it was close with Michael. So we fitted another set of tyres, and I managed to do a better lap. I think conditions out there today were quite difficult for everybody, so we made some changes to the car before the session that gave us some more grip, and stabilised the car balance a little bit. Tomorrow's race is going to be interesting because nobody has really done any long runs, so I think there may be some surprises with the tyres. So far, though, the Michelin tyres have been excellent and I am confident. This a great pole for the team, because it proves that Renault is not relaxing ? we are taking the fight to Ferrari.

Kimi Raikkonen - 2nd

I'm really pleased being on the first row particularly at Silverstone where a lot of the guys from Woking and Brixworth are able to come and support us. The car was working well and in a way I'm a bit disappointed not to be on pole as we were so close. My final run was a bit tight ? I think there were only a few seconds left ? but we made it and were able to achieve second which is super. We made a lot of progress from yesterday, and I was really able to push. Now I look forward to the race tomorrow where we will do everything to do well. A win is possible, but so much can happen, but I'm really pleased with today's result and look forward to tomorrow.

Michael Schumacher - 3rd

Of course you always hope to be on pole and so it?s normal to be disappointed with third place, even if, at this track, it?s better to start from third than second. I did not expect such a gap to the pole time, but now we have to see what these tenths really mean, given that we don?t know what fuel load our rivals have on board. I have to say that so far, it?s not been an easy weekend. Track conditions mean it?s been difficult to find the right balance on the car and the wind also added to the difficulties. The track is much more slippery now than when the test was held here a few weeks ago; at least that is what I?m told. But I am still pretty optimistic about tomorrow?s race, as we know we can count on a package that can win, as long as we make the most of our potential and our strategy.

Felipe Massa - 4th

I am pleased with the way things went this afternoon. It was definitely a good qualifying session. Of course, starting from the front row would have been better, but we still have every chance to attack off the second row. Let?s wait and see what happens. What we want is to finish ahead of those who start from the front row of the grid. The entire team is working hard to close down the gap in both championships and we are doing our best.

Giancarlo Fisichella - 5th

We made some changes to the car before qualifying and the car was on an edge in the first sector. I couldn't attack the quick corners properly and I was losing time in the first sector. So fifth is a bit disappointing, because we had a front row car today. Even so, I am still in a strong position, and very optimistic for tomorrow's race.

Rubens Barrichello - 6th

We achieved our target this afternoon which was to put the car in the top six. By the end of the session, we saw that it was very close at the front and we could perhaps have achieved a little bit more and finished 5th. Overall though I'm happy. I'm truly disappointed for Jenson because of his situation and everyone knows that he should have been up there with me as well. I love to race here so I'm looking forward to tomorrow now. It should be a good race.

Ralf Schumacher - 7th

We can be very satisfied with what we achieved today. We expected to be somewhere between 6th and 10th so we managed to secure a good position. The car was really good, too. I struggled for grip yesterday and also this morning, as with many others here. It wasn't perfect for me in the first two sessions but as qualifying went on the guys got it right so thanks to them. My last run was much better and we had a lot of fuel on board so we're pretty pleased. As in many other circuits in Formula 1 it is a bit difficult to overtake here but we are confident about our strategy so we are looking forward to tomorrow.

Juan Pablo Montoya - 8th

I have not been able to get the right balance throughout the weekend and was struggling during qualifying today. I should be higher up the grid than eighth, and I'm disappointed with this. However there is a long race tomorrow, and as we have seen before anything can happen.

David Coulthard - 11th

I think we made some improvements in qualifying compared to this morning, so I'm happy with that but obviously I'm disappointed with what happened with Montoya. He obviously made a mistake on his flying lap and then, in trying to make me pay for his pain, he drove slowly round the end of the lap before I could start mine. So, we'll have a Stewards enquiry to see what happens there, but to me it was deliberate action, which impeded another driver. Regarding Ralf, his car came up behind me when I was behind Michael Schumacher who was on an in-lap. It was unfortunate, but I couldn't get past Michael, so therefore Ralf couldn't get past me. If I'd moved, he'd have just been at the back of Michael - we were all backed up.

Mark Webber - 17th

Every now and again in this game this happens. We didn?t have enough rear grip and ultimately we weren?t quick enough. I didn?t manage to get a lap in with the balance that Nico had, so my lap time suffered. The track?s been all over the place this weekend, but that?s the same for everyone and we should have been more prepared for this eventuality. I think it?s going to be a very long race tomorrow.

Jenson Button - 19th

I'm obviously massively disappointed for myself, the team and all of the fans. My first run wasn't quick enough because we had quite low grip. If the car isn't working well on the first run, you don't want to push it to the limit because the penalty for going off the track and not completing a lap is so high. The circuit was improving massively all the time and we thought we would get a second chance to do a run, but then I got called on to the weighbridge and that effectively finished my session. Everyone wants to do well in their home race and I could have done so much better today, but I believe that points are possible and I'll be doing everything I can to get back up there tomorrow.

Jarno Trulli - 22nd

Unfortunately I could not even record a time in qualifying today because I had an engine problem on my first flying lap. I just noticed smoke coming out of the back and that was the end of my afternoon's work. It means I will be starting at the back of the grid tomorrow, which is a particular pity because our new TF106B was going well here, as it did in Monaco. Yesterday we were competitive and we were confident after this morning because we didn't use any new tyres. It will be a very difficult race tomorrow because it's practically impossible to overtake around here. Still, I will stay focused, push as hard as I can and just keep hoping my fortunes will soon turn around.

Teams

Renault - Pat Symonds

This was a really exciting qualifying session, and a great result for the Renault team. Fernando's last lap was something really special, and he took turn 1 at Copse as close to flat as makes no difference. We must not forget Giancarlo either, who is in a strong position. I am happy we have not compromised our race strategy for qualifying performance, and the high temperatures this weekend seem to be suiting both our car and its Michelin tyres. We are looking forward to a good strong race tomorrow.

McLaren - Ron Dennis

A great lap from Kimi to earn him and the whole team a well deserved front row position. Juan Pablo struggled a little with the balance of his car but will start the race knowing he has a good chance to get a strong result. Generally we struggled a little to get the best out of the tyres in the first section of the circuit, but hopefully this should not be an issue in tomorrow's race.

Ferrari - Jean Todt

At the end of a very closely fought qualifying, we have ended up with two Ferraris on the second row. It shows that our car-engine-Bridgestone tyre package is competitive even when compared to our rivals and we expect that to be the case in tomorrow?s race. The decisive factors will be the usual ones: reliability, strategy, consistent tyre performance. We have all the right elements in place to do well ? the technical package, the talent of the drivers, the competence of the team and the Bridgestone tyres. Now we have to go head to head with the others to see if we are up to the task of winning. We will get the answer tomorrow afternoon.

Honda - Gil de Ferran

We have mixed feelings about today. On the one hand we are happy with Rubens' qualifying effort; there were some anxious moments at the end of Q1 and Q2, but in the end Rubens did a fantastic job and got everything possible out of the car. With regard to Jenson, we are all terribly disappointed about what happened. In summary, his first run wasn't quick enough and when he got called to the scales it was impossible for him to complete another run. Clearly both cars are much closer in pace than their final qualifying positions would indicate, therefore we look forward to a hard-fought race with both Rubens and Jenson in front of the British crowd.

Toyota - Pascal Vasselon

That was a difficult qualifying session in terms of emotion. After yesterday's practice we were confident we would be competitive today, and it was part of the strategy that we did not run new tyres this morning. But obviously everything got off on the wrong foot with Jarno's engine failure. We are still investigating the cause of Jarno's problem but we will change his engine for tomorrow and he will start at the back. But the car's pace was strong and Ralf put together a great lap in the last minute of qualifying, so congratulations to him for that. We are now fairly confident that the race will be dry. So based on the running so far and Ralf's lap today he is in a very good position for tomorrow.

BMW Sauber - Mario Theissen

Compliments to the entire team. This will be the first time both our cars will start in the top ten on the grid. At the test in Barcelona last week we were able to see the fruit of our labours in terms of development of the car reflected in good lap times. On top of that we have proved that the faster circuits in particular are good for us. It will now be very exciting, as the question is when will the cars in front of us refuel.

Red Bull - Christian Horner

An incident took place between David and Montoya in the second part of qualifying, which I'm sure the stewards will look in to and take action accordingly. Christian was pushing very hard, but unfortunately wasn't able to put all his best sectors together, he would have been next to David on the grid if he had of done. But, we've made improvements during the course of the weekend and hopefully that will carry through to tomorrow.

Williams - Sam Michael

Obviously it was a disappointing qualifying session, but our race pace should be stronger than today. It was very tight to make it through in all of the sessions and we just missed out by a tenth with Mark in the first session and a couple of tenths for Nico in the second session. If we have a good set-up for the race tomorrow, we should be able to come through and score some points. It was very windy this afternoon and it is visible that we suffer more than most in these conditions and it is an area we are concentrating on.

Toro Rosso - N/A

MF1 Racing - James Key

It's very positive for us today to come out and go into the second qualifying session. It's the first time we've achieved that, and that's a very good step for the team and for the car. A little bit surprisingly, we're carrying some of the form we saw in Monaco over to Silverstone, which I must admit, I didn't fully expect. It's a terrible shame that Christijan lost all of his track time this morning. We tried to run him three times in qualifying today, which was theoretically possible, and in fact, if we had to do it again tomorrow, we'd probably do things a little bit better. But we just missed the cut at the end and I think had he got that third run in, he also could have been in Q2 because he was extremely close to Tiago's times during his first two runs. We're delighted with Tiago's drive - both he and his crew did a fantastic job - and we know Christijan will be motivated to push hard tomorrow, as always.

Super Aguri - Aguri Suzuki

It was unfortunate that Taku went off the track and hit the barrier in the morning which meant that we had to run with the T-car for Qualifying. Franck also left the tarmac, so we could complete our testing of the Qualifying set-ups for both cars; today was a very chaotic day. Silverstone is a high-speed circuit and the differences between the F1 cars? performances will become very clear and it will also be another very tough race for us. We will concentrate on our original goal - to have both cars finish the race tomorrow.

[<T-K>]

What is happening with Pablo? Is he getting penalized?

[Ed]

What is happening with Pablo? Is he getting penalized?

The stewards are looking into the incident. No decision made yet.

[Ed]

The stewards have decided that based on the data evidence and timesheets no further action is required.

Montoya wasn't penalised.

[Ed]

Race starting in 20 minutes.

The cars are making their way onto the track.

Jacques Villeneuve who got married last week has "Just Married" at the back of his rear wing!

[Ed]

Fernando Alonso starts from Pole with Kimi Raikkonen in 2nd.

Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa share the second row

Giancarlo Fisichella starts from 5th place with Rubens Barrichello alongside him.

Ralf Schumacher starts in 7th with Juan Pablo Montoya in 8th.

Dissapointement for Webber, Button and Trulli who all start towards the back after failing to make the second qualifying session.

Race in 10 minutes