Alonso prospers but Button is undone

Fernando Alonso clinched his fourth successive pole position on a day of disaster for Jenson Button.

Sat, 10 Jun, 2006 - 15:51

Fernando Alonso clinched his fourth successive pole position on a day of disaster for Jenson Button.

Reigning world champion and current championship leader Alonso, who has a 21-point cushion over Michael Schumacher, will lead the field for Sunday’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

The Spaniard grabbed the 13th pole of his career in the dying moments with a lap of one minute 20.253 seconds in his Renault, with McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen joining him on the front row for the first time this season.

As the last car on track, Raikkonen clocked 1:20.397 to nip in front of Schumacher, who will start third in his Ferrari, with team-mate Felipe Massa fourth.

The second Renault of Giancarlo Fisichella was fifth, followed by the Honda of Rubens Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher in the Toyota in sixth and seventh.

But it was a nightmare for Button, who came into the event carrying the hopes of a nation and with fans looking for the 26-year-old to revive his season, only to be left bitterly disappointed.

Button will start the race down in a miserable 19th place, easily one of the lowest qualifying positions of his career, with only the Super Aguris behind him, and the Toyota of Jarno Trulli.

However, Button was called onto the weighbridge by the race stewards following his only timed lap, and that clearly proved a hindrance.

Following that, though, he sat parked in the garage for the closing three minutes as other drivers beat his poor time of 1:23.247.

It appeared he had the chance to post another quick lap, but did not emerge, and when the initial 15-minute session expired he eventually angrily stepped from his car.

It was not surprising given the two Midland drivers of Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro are ahead of him in 18th and 16th respectively, along with Toro Rosso duo Vitantonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed, 13th and 15th.

David Coulthard, the last British winner of the race in 2000 and who clinched a fine third in Monaco a fortnight ago, will start 11th for Red Bull Racing.

Coulthard, though, claims he was blocked at one stage in the second 15-minute stint by Juan Pablo Montoya in his McLaren, with stewards currently investigating.

Trulli’s qualifying session lasted just five minutes, with the engine blowing as he made his way down the pit lane en-route to the garage.

The Italian, who had qualified in the top 10 in each of his last five races, will start at the back of the grid behind Takuma Sato as the engine on his Super Aguri was replaced following morning practice.

Alonso was undoubtedly happy with his ’four-in-a-row’ in qualifying as he said: “Four times consecutive on pole is a fantastic effort from us.

“We have full confidence in our tyres, we have the strategy in our hands, but it will be an interesting race for sure.”

Raikkonen, who moaned bitterly about his car yesterday, was content with the McLaren on Saturday, with the Finn stating: “It was as good as it could be.

“I was very happy with the car, and it was good for us to get a better result in qualifying.”

Schumacher, though, was not so pleased with third place, even if it was a distinct improvement on starting from the pit lane as he did in Monaco when he was penalised for the incident that dominated the weekend.

“I’m not so sure it’s such a strong qualifying,” grumbled Schumacher. “We would have expected to be closer in the lap time, but you have to consider the fuel level, and we will see tomorrow what the situation is.”

F1 Grand Prix, Silverstone, grid positions after qualifying:

1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1min 20.253secs,

2 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren 1:20.397,

3 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1:20.574,

4 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:20.764,

5 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 1:20.919,

6 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda 1:20.943,

7 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 1:21.073,

8 Juan Montoya (Col) McLaren 1:21.107,

9 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:21.329,

10 Jacques Villeneuve (Can) BMW Sauber 1:21.599,

11 David Coulthard (Gbr) Red Bull 1:21.442,