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ALONSO EDGES TRULLI FOR PROVISIONAL POLE
Fernando Alonso produced the fastest lap of the weekend so far to take provisional pole following first qualifying in Sepang.
While it came as no surprise to see the Renaults claiming two of the top three places, Melbourne winner Giancarlo Fisichella was bumped off the front row by fellow Italian Jarno Trulli.
Toyota’s form has been a revelation this weekend after its lacklustre race performance in Australia, and Trulli produced one of his trademark one-lap specials to vault to the top of the charts halfway through the session.
Alonso had to pull out all the stops to eclipse Trulli by 0.09s, while Fisichella came up a tenth of a second short and complained of a trace of understeer.
Kimi Raikkonen spearheaded McLaren's challenge with the fourth-best time, three places and some 0.5s ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya.
The team-mates were closely matched in the first two segments of the lap but an excellent final sector by Raikkonen put him well beyond JPM’s reach.
Ralf Schumacher showed that Trulli’s performance was no flash in the pan by posting the fifth fastest time in the second Toyota, while Mark Webber was the quicker of the Williams duo in sixth.
Team-mate Nick Heidfeld had to go out early in the running order due to his retirement in Australia and laid down a solid benchmark before getting shuffled back to eighth.
Jenson Button had a trouble-free lap to clock the ninth fastest time – but the same couldn’t be said of his day as a whole.
The Brit suffered an oil leak on his BAR-Honda this morning and had to miss the final practice session while his mechanics toiled to rectify the problem and avoid incurring a 10-place grid penalty.
Christian Klien earned bragging rights within the Red Bull stable, pipping his veteran team-mate David Coulthard to 10th on the overnight grid.
What, you might ask, of the Ferraris? Well, they’re 12th (Michael Schumacher) and 14th (Rubens Barrichello) – and it didn’t rain!
The Maranello team appears to be on the back foot this weekend, although its performance deficit this afternoon was undoubtedly magnified by Michelin's superiority on the first lap on new tyres.
Chances are the red cars will be much more of a factor in the race, although the searing heat in Malaysia this weekend is further playing to the advantage of the Michelin teams.
The Ferraris were split by Sauber’s Felipe Massa, while Anthony Davidson understandably took it cautiously on his first lap of Sepang in low-fuel, new-tyres trim and ended up 15th on the timesheets.
First qualifying times from Sepang
1. ALONSO Renault 1m32.582s
2. TRULLI Toyota 1m32.672s
3. FISICHELLA Renault 1m32.765s
4. RAIKKONEN McLaren 1m32.839s
5. R.SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m33.106s
6. WEBBER Williams 1m33.204s
7. MONTOYA McLaren 1m33.333s
8. HEIDFELD Williams 1m33.464s
9. BUTTON BAR 1m33.616s
10. KLIEN Red Bull 1m33.724s
11. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m33.809s
12. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m34.072s
13. MASSA Sauber 1m34.151s
14. BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1m34.162s
15. DAVIDSON BAR 1m34.866s
16. VILLENEUVE Sauber 1m34.887s
17. KARTHIKEYAN Jordan 1m37.806s
18. MONTEIRO Jordan 1m37.856s
19. FRIESACHER Minardi 1m39.268s
20. ALBERS Minardi 1m40.432s
ALONSO EDGES TRULLI FOR PROVISIONAL POLE
Fernando Alonso produced the fastest lap of the weekend so far to take provisional pole following first qualifying in Sepang.
While it came as no surprise to see the Renaults claiming two of the top three places, Melbourne winner Giancarlo Fisichella was bumped off the front row by fellow Italian Jarno Trulli.
Toyota’s form has been a revelation this weekend after its lacklustre race performance in Australia, and Trulli produced one of his trademark one-lap specials to vault to the top of the charts halfway through the session.
Alonso had to pull out all the stops to eclipse Trulli by 0.09s, while Fisichella came up a tenth of a second short and complained of a trace of understeer.
Kimi Raikkonen spearheaded McLaren's challenge with the fourth-best time, three places and some 0.5s ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya.
The team-mates were closely matched in the first two segments of the lap but an excellent final sector by Raikkonen put him well beyond JPM’s reach.
Ralf Schumacher showed that Trulli’s performance was no flash in the pan by posting the fifth fastest time in the second Toyota, while Mark Webber was the quicker of the Williams duo in sixth.
Team-mate Nick Heidfeld had to go out early in the running order due to his retirement in Australia and laid down a solid benchmark before getting shuffled back to eighth.
Jenson Button had a trouble-free lap to clock the ninth fastest time – but the same couldn’t be said of his day as a whole.
The Brit suffered an oil leak on his BAR-Honda this morning and had to miss the final practice session while his mechanics toiled to rectify the problem and avoid incurring a 10-place grid penalty.
Christian Klien earned bragging rights within the Red Bull stable, pipping his veteran team-mate David Coulthard to 10th on the overnight grid.
What, you might ask, of the Ferraris? Well, they’re 12th (Michael Schumacher) and 14th (Rubens Barrichello) – and it didn’t rain!
The Maranello team appears to be on the back foot this weekend, although its performance deficit this afternoon was undoubtedly magnified by Michelin's superiority on the first lap on new tyres.
Chances are the red cars will be much more of a factor in the race, although the searing heat in Malaysia this weekend is further playing to the advantage of the Michelin teams.
The Ferraris were split by Sauber’s Felipe Massa, while Anthony Davidson understandably took it cautiously on his first lap of Sepang in low-fuel, new-tyres trim and ended up 15th on the timesheets.
First qualifying times from Sepang
1. ALONSO Renault 1m32.582s
2. TRULLI Toyota 1m32.672s
3. FISICHELLA Renault 1m32.765s
4. RAIKKONEN McLaren 1m32.839s
5. R.SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m33.106s
6. WEBBER Williams 1m33.204s
7. MONTOYA McLaren 1m33.333s
8. HEIDFELD Williams 1m33.464s
9. BUTTON BAR 1m33.616s
10. KLIEN Red Bull 1m33.724s
11. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m33.809s
12. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m34.072s
13. MASSA Sauber 1m34.151s
14. BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1m34.162s
15. DAVIDSON BAR 1m34.866s
16. VILLENEUVE Sauber 1m34.887s
17. KARTHIKEYAN Jordan 1m37.806s
18. MONTEIRO Jordan 1m37.856s
19. FRIESACHER Minardi 1m39.268s
20. ALBERS Minardi 1m40.432s
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