Alonso grabs pole at Silverstone

Fernando Alonso stole pole position for the British Grand Prix with a stunning lap at Silverstone today to add to world championship rival Kimi Raikkonen’s woes.

Sat, 09 Jul, 2005 - 14:52

Fernando Alonso stole pole position for the British Grand Prix with a stunning lap at Silverstone today to add to world championship rival Kimi Raikkonen’s woes.

Renault driver Alonso arrived at Silverstone expecting to need a rearguard action to protect his 24-point lead in the standings but a 10-place penalty for Raikkonen eased the pressure.

The Spaniard made sure of top spot though with a lap of one minute 19.905 seconds, beating Raikkonen by 0.027secs.

The sun finally shone over Silverstone after a grey morning and home hero Jenson Button added further cheer to the afternoon by claiming his second front-row start of the season.

The BAR-Honda driver made a slow start to his lap but picked up speed to briefly hold top spot before Alonso and Raikkonen dropped him down the order.

Raikkonen’s penalty means Button starts second though with a dream podium finish on home soil firmly in his sights when he starts on the front row at Silverstone for the first time in his Formula One career.

Raikkonen’s chances of victory have been ruined for the second week in succession by a Mercedes engine failure.

Just a week after being handed a 10-place grid penalty in France, the Finn suffered a repeat of that heartache when his engine ground to a halt in second practice this morning with an oil pump failure.

The unit was changed before qualifying, which Raikkonen started knowing the best he could achieve was 11th on the grid, severely hapering his chances of cutting Fernando Alonso’s 24-point championship lead.

Just like in France, Raikkonen overcame that disappointment to record a superb qualifying lap, especially so considering he is likely to be running heavy on fuel.

He was second in the session, meaning he starts 12th.

McLaren at least have Juan Pablo Montoya in the hunt for victory after earning third place on the grid, alongside the Toyota of Jarno Trulli.

Rubens Barrichello enjoyed a rare session as Ferrari’s top driver by claiming fifth on the grid while Giancarlo Fisichella, who threatened to take spot for Renault with a rapid first sector before his lap swiftly faded away, starts sixth.

World champion Michael Schumacher was way off the pace for Ferrari and will start tomorrow’s race from ninth, helped by Raikkonen’s penalty.

David Coulthard’s first competitive session since securing his immediate future with Red Bull saw the Scotsman slip down the order after encouraging practice form, leaving him 13th.

Ralf Schumacher put himself in prime position to claim more points for Toyota with a solid effort to claim eighth, although he was once again overshadowed by team-mate Trulli.

Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve clocked an impressive lap in his Sauber to comprehensively beat team-mate Felipe Massa, leaving him 10th on the grid tomorrow.

Mark Webber battled through the pain barrier to get his Williams on to the grid. The Australian badly burned his hip at Magny-Cours six days ago but shrugged off that injury to qualify 11th.

Leading Final positions after Qualifying:

1 Laps: 1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1min 19.905secs,

2 Jenson Button (Gbr) BAR 1:20.207,

3 Juan Montoya (Col) McLaren 1:20.382,

4 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:20.459,

5 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 1:20.906,

6 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 1:21.010,

7 Takuma Sato (Jpn) BAR 1:21.114,

8 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 1:21.191,

9 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1:21.275,

10 Jacques Villeneuve (Can) Sauber 1:21.352,

11 Mark Webber (Aus) Williams 1:21.997,