UpdateF1 >> Formula 1 News > Qual 1: Fisichella fairytale

Italian on provisional pole

Giancarlo Fisichella will be one of Mother Nature’s fondest companions after a fairytale twist in the Australian weather on Saturday afternoon.

Renault’s new Italian recruit – whose only grand prix victory came in a rain soaked Sao Paulo two years ago – claimed provisional pole in the opening set of qualifying runs for the first round of the 2005 Formula One world championship.

The session begun under blue skies but with a wet track and it appeared that the drivers running last would have a supreme advantage.

The session proceeded according to plan and driver after driver went straight to the top of the table.

But conditions were to change and at the culmination of Fisichella’s flying lap – on which he went to the top of the timesheets by over two seconds – the heavens opened and the fight for pole was effectively over.

Sauber’s Felipe Massa and Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher lucked out as the first men to sample the torrid conditions.

Massa couldn’t set a time – he had headed onto the circuit with dry rubber – and Schumacher finished a full 24 four seconds down on Fisichella’s result.

But it was Takuma Sato who came off worst. BAR’s young Japanese ace lost control through the sweeping turn eight and connect with the opposing barrier, heavily damaging his car.

The accident caused the red flag allowing the worst of the weather to pass to the (slight) advantage of the final five runners.

Ralf Schumacher (Toyota) and Fernando Alonso (Renault) struggled but Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari), Juan Pablo Montoya (McLaren) and Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren) were able to give their diminishing Australian hopes a short in the arm.

The final trio of men finished in the middle of the order and, with a strong drive on Sunday, could still finish with weekend on the podium, or at the least with a high points finish.

But the ambitions for race victory took a setback for many with Fisichella now the firm favourite for pole and the eventual win.

QUALIFYING SHORTS

* Tyre gamble. Jacques Villeneuve took a gamble ahead of his qualifying run and elected to equip his Sauber with dry-weather tyres.

It was a gamble that seemingly didn’t pay off when the former champ spun and almost hit the barriers on his out lap.

But Villeneuve survived and, with some help from the Australian weather, finished the afternoon a satisfying fourth.

* Down but not out. Michael Schumacher was in good spirits despite recorded the slowest qualifying time on Saturday afternoon.

When asked for his thoughts for Sunday morning’s second set of runs, the Ferrari ace replied with a smile: “All we have to do is make up 24 seconds”.

Written: Sat, 05 Mar 2005 03:07:04