Raikkonen takes pole

Kimi Raikkonen will be hoping the demons that have previously haunted him at the German Grand Prix do not return again after clinching pole position for tomorrow’s race.

McLaren star Raikkonen claimed the seventh pole of his career, and fourth this season with a time of one minute 14.320 seconds and will be joined on the front row of the Hockenheim grid by Jenson Button following a dramatic end to qualifying.

Last man out and McLaren team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya, seemingly back on form following his win at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone a fortnight ago, was poised to clinch an all-McLaren frontline.

But the Colombian, pushing his car to the limit as is his character, made a mistake at the final turn coming into the home straight and careered across the gravel and into the tyre wall, ensuring he will now start from the pit lane.

Raikkonen had previously dominated practice, emerging as the fastest race driver in the two sessions yesterday before completing a clean sweep in both runs this morning.

After the engine problems that had afflicted Raikkonen at the recent French and British races, such trouble-free motoring will have come as a relief to the Finn.

But now all the 25-year-old has to do is finish the race, something that has eluded him in his four previous attempts at Hockenheim.

Last year the rear wing inexplicably detached itself from Raikkonen’s car down the home straight, sending him careering across the gravel and into a tyre wall.

In 2003, Raikkonen failed to even make it to the first corner as he was involved in an accident caused by Ralf Schumacher, then driving for Williams.

In 2002, he spun out eight laps from home, although was struggling at the rear of the field anyway as he had suffered a blown tyre midway through the race, while in 2001, the car sustained a rear driveshaft failure after just 15 laps.

Raikkonen has to now be hoping this is his year as he looks to close the 26-point gap on championship leader Fernando Alonso.

Button, after his first points finishes of the season for BAR at Magny Cours and Silverstone, managed to at least get himself in the mix as he has the Renaults behind him.

The 25-year-old Briton posted the second fastest time of 1:14.759, almost half a second down on Raikkonen, with Alonso ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella.

As for the Ferraris, seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher will be on the third row as he set a time of 1:15.006, albeit a staggering 1.7 seconds slower than his pole of last year when he went on to win the race for the third time.

Schumacher’s time came immediately after a woeful run for team-mate Rubens Barrichello, who finds himself down in a lowly 15th as the Brazilian finished just under two seconds off the pace.

David Coulthard will start 11th for Red Bull Racing, albeit directly behind team-mate Christian Klien as the Austrian outpaced the Scot for the fourth time this season.

Robert Doornbos, who earlier this week was taken on by Minardi from his role as Jordan test driver, will at least avoid the ignominy of starting at the back of the grid on his debut.

That distinction falls to Jordan’s birthday boy Tiago Monteiro, who tomorrow turns 29, which is hardly the ideal present for the Portuguese driver.

In a miserable qualifying for the Silverstone-based outfit, team-mate Narain Karthikeyan will start from the pits as he failed to set a time following a ragged lap in which he twice went wide.

Raikkonen is aware of his miserable record at this circuit as he said: ``I've never finished a race here so far.

“Now we’re in a good position, although I was not happy with my qualifying lap at all, but despite the good weekend we’ve had so far, it doesn’t change my confidence level.

“We now just need everything to go well tomorrow and we will be in a position to win the race.”

Button also mentioned his lap “was not perfect,” adding: “I had quite a moment coming into the stadium which probably lost me a bit of time.

“But it’s a good position and our main aim is to be closer to the Renaults and McLarens because we finished quite a way behind them at Silverstone.

“The team have done a great job since then and it’s good to be back on the front row again.”

Alonso, meanwhile, is promising a closer race than can perhaps be expected in light of Raikkonen’s dominance to date.

“McLaren have been strong all weekend, quicker than everybody,” said Alonso.

“But we know we are quicker and I feel the race will be a lot closer than it has been this weekend.”

Formula 1 German Grand Prix, Hockenheim, Germany

Leading Final Positions after Qualifying: 1 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1min 14.320secs, 2 Jenson Button (Gbr) BAR-Honda 1:14.759, 3 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:14.904, 4 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 1:14.927, 5 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1:15.006, 6 Mark Webber (Aus) Williams-BMW 1:15.070, 7 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Williams-BMW 1:15.403, 8 Takuma Sato (Jpn) BAR-Honda 1:15.501, 9 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:15.532, 10 Christian Klien (Aut) Red Bull-Cosworth 1:15.635, 11 David Coulthard (Gbr) Red Bull-Cosworth 1:15.679, 12 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 1:15.689, 13 Felipe Massa (Bra) Sauber-Petronas 1:16.009, 14 Jacques Villeneuve (Can) Sauber-Petronas 1:16.012, 15 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 1:16.230, 16 Christijan Albers (Ned) Minardi-Cosworth 1:17.019, 17 Robert Doornbos (Ned) Minardi-Cosworth 1:18.313, 18 Tiago Monteiro (Por) Jordan-Toyota 1:18.599, 19 Narain Karthikeyan (Ind) Jordan-Toyota no time, 20 Juan Pablo Montoya (Col) McLaren-Mercedes no time