UpdateF1 >> Formula 1 News > Kimi on pole as Alonso surprises

Renault bounce back

Kimi Raikkonen may have taken pole for the Spanish Grand Prix in his Ferrari, but the performance of the session came from the local hero as Fernando Alonso drove his Renault superbly to join the World Champion on the front row.

It was a session of sorrow for some – David Coulthard, for instance, so good all weekend and then caught out by traffic to find himself eliminated in the first segment, and the Force India duo, who simply failed to produce the form shown in practice – but the familiar Alonso punch to the air showed his unbridled joy at a continuing Renault renaissance.

Out in session one along with the aforementioned went the obligatory pair of Super Aguris – possibly for the last time if a backer is not forthcoming – and a disappointing Sebastian Vettel in the Toro Rosso.

Honda were joyful at getting both cars through to the second part, only to fail to progress any further – Rubens Barrichello starts 11th and Jenson Button 13th – while Williams also shone in practice only to fade when it mattered most, hence Kazuki Nakajima will line up 12th and Nico Rosberg 15th.

The other fallers at this stage were Timo Glock in the Toyota and Sebastien Bourdais, who took the Toro Rosso to as far as it would go.

So to the final ten minutes, and while Nelson Piquet would have been delighted to make it to the knock out, ultimately he finished bottom of the pile, with a surprisingly lacklustre (or heavy?) BMW of Nick Heidfeld beside him on the fifth row.

The singleton runners Mark Webber and Jarno Trulli take row four, and a bemused and concerned McLaren pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen on the third row.

The MP4-23 is clearly not a great one-lap machine, and one can only presume they have gone for optimum race pace. Either that, or they are simply off the pace. The latter does not ring true, however, when one notes the gap between Felipe Massa – in third – and Hamilton is a mere few thousandths of a second.

Robert Kubica – who traditionally runs BMW’s ‘light’ strategy – joins Massa on row two, but it is the front row that commands the attention.

Renault has – to be honest – been nowhere this season, so this performance is something of a revelation. The question, naturally, is of fuel loads, and whether Alonso is considerably lighter than the cars behind, and the one alongside, or whether Ferrari have taken the option of putting Raikkonen – in the class of the field car – on a short first stint.

Whatever the outcome the appearance of Alonso on the front row is a Spanish crowd pleaser, and promises an interesting angle on tomorrow’s race.

Written: Sat, 26 Apr 2008 13:18:50