UpdateF1 >> Formula 1 News > Massa takes pole at home

Showdown is set

There has not been this level of anticipation for a race for a long time, and qualifying for tomorrow’s Brazilian Grand Prix, in the heat of Interlagos, provided smiles for some, and concern for others ahead of the world championship showdown.

With the rain staying away, an uninterrupted qualifying session provided more questions with answers, although it is fair to say the presence of the Spyker pair – Sakon Yamamoto and Adrian Sutil – on the back row was far from unexpected. No detriment to the team, as they do a great job, but this is as much as they could have expected here.

Anthony Davidson will start 20th, alongside a somewhat disappointing Kazuki Nakajima on his race debut for Williams, with the second Super Aguri of Takuma Sato joining Heikki Kovalainens Renault on row nine. The young Finn may consider he has been brought down to earth with a bang after his recent impressive performances.

Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello book-end the 11th to 16th segment, the Brazilian at the front, the Englishman at the back, the Honda – as usual – a handful.

Between them come – alongside Barrichello – Giancarlo Fisichella in a clearly below par Renault, the Toro Rosso duo of Sebastian Vettel and Tonio Liuzzi with row eight to themselves, and Ralf Schumacher – on his last appearance for Toyota – joining Button at the back of this group.

So to the top ten knock-out, and Felipe Massa had staked his claim to pole position by running fastest in the preceding two sessions. He duly delivered, with a time that looked as if it would not be matched.

However, matched it almost was, by a determined and focused Lewis Hamilton, the championship leader all but pipping the local hero in the dying seconds of the session, the gap a mere one tenth and a little more. Front row, then, for the Ferrari without a chance, and the Mclaren leading the chase.

Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso engaged in a similar fierce battle, the Finn in the Ferrari securing third ahead of the Spaniard in the Mclaren by three one-hundredths of a second. Notably, these two were quarter of a second down on the pair ahead, leading to the obvious conclusion that the front row may be a little lighter on fuel than the second; all will be revealed tomorrow.

Alonso is perhaps the one with the right to be disappointed, for his chance of the title – a third in succession- is very real, while Raikkonen would need a very odd set of circumstances to claw back seven points. It will be fascinating to see how these four approach the start tomorrow – particularly the second row men – and how Ferrari utilise the team player Massa as the race unfolds.

Fifth place was well deserved for Mark Webber, the Red Bull looking on the pace here from the off and proving so as the Australian used all of his much regarded qualifying pace to pip the BMW pair to the place. As a measure of just how much of an advantage the Mclaren and Ferrari have over the field, Webber came in over half a second slower than the next man.
Nick Heidfeld headed team mate Robert Kubica for sixth and seventh, with Jarno Trulli joining the Pole on row four in the Toyota. Trulli’s future is – so the stories say – far from certain at Toyota, and one must wonder why when he continues to perform well above the ability of the car.

Row five sees David Coulthard put the second Red Bull in the top ten – his time three tenths down on Webber – with Nico Rosberg doing his usual excellent job for Williams to round out the top ten.

Tomorrow, then, sees the first three man showdown for many a year, and while Raikkonen may look to have an impossible job on his hands, bear in mind that a failure – or two – in the Mclaren camp could throw it all his way. Logically, however, one has to say that it is Hamilton who has the upper hand here, and an intriguing race is in prospect.

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Written: Sat, 20 Oct 2007 17:29:35