GP – Qualification: Räikkönen on pole, Alonso 2nd!

The Finnish Kimi Räikkönen secured a new position this season. The Ferrari driver was the fastest during the qualifying session of the Spanish Grand Prix at the Barcelona circuit. He leads by just 91 thousandths over an extraordinary Fernando Alonso, who surprised at home in front of numerous fans who came to support him. Massa is third.

The Ferrari drivers once again demonstrated their superiority by clocking times in the top 3. They could have even secured a double if Alonso hadn’t entered the battle for qualification.

The Spaniard, double reigning world champion, highlighted the significant progress made by Renault this week. The French team, through aerodynamic and technical improvements, managed to somewhat catch up with the leaders and allowed its two drivers to enter the final phase of qualifying.

Alonso was even able to secure a very beautiful second place in front of his fans, who came exclusively for him. The Spaniard was even on pole position just two seconds before the end of the session… and Räikkönen’s time by less than a tenth.

Massa, in the second Ferrari, is therefore third, more than two-tenths behind, but the prancing horse brand is already considered the favorite for the win in the 4th race of 2008 tomorrow.

The McLarens were more withdrawn this weekend: verdict, they were outpaced by Robert Kubica’s BMW. The Pole is 4th ahead of Hamilton and Kovalainen. The battle, however, raged during the last lap where ultimately less than 40 thousandths of a second separated Felipe Massa from Lewis Hamilton.

Further down the grid, Jarno Trulli achieves the 8th best performance. He is preceded by Mark Webber and the Red Bull Renault. The Australian driver did not participate in the morning practice due to a mechanical issue. He therefore had limited track time but still managed to qualify for Q3. It’s the opposite for his teammate: Coulthard isn’t even in Q2. He is only 17th.

Nick Heidfeld in the second BMW is ahead of the second Renault. Nelson Piquet, by taking the 10th position, demonstrates the encouraging progress made by the diamond brand and qualifies for the first time in his career in Q3.

Honda also delivers encouraging performances. The team that aimed to participate in Q3 was not far off with Barrichello. The Brazilian missed it by just 0.065 seconds and thus ends up 11th. Button is 13th.

Between the two Hondas slips Kazuki Nakajima. The Japanese driver, in the Williams, is ahead of his teammate, Nico Rosberg, by two-tenths—only in 13th place—even though the team had shown very good performance in practice at the start of the weekend.

The Frenchman Sébastien Bourdais delivered another strong performance today by reaching Q2. The Toro Rosso driver, still using the 2007 SRT02, made it to Q2 for the second consecutive time. He is in 16th place and was six-tenths faster than his teammate, who was favored earlier this year within the team. Vettel is only 18th.

« I have 6 tenths of a second lead over Vettel, that’s pretty good for me », commented Bourdais after his qualifying. « We witnessed a continuous improvement of the track, and our car was not able to improve at the same pace as the circuit, so it became increasingly difficult to drive. »

Force India, despite good testing, is not in the right pack. The two drivers from the Indian brand are at the back of the grid, just ahead of the Super Aguri, which are still behind. It is worth noting, however, that Sato is in last place, this time behind Davidson, his teammate.

Qualifying Results – 2008 Spanish GP