Brazilian GP Qualifying: Felipe Massa in Pole Position

Times
01 F. Massa Ferrari 1:11.931
02 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:12.082
03 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:12.322
04 F. Alonso McLaren 1:12.356
05 M. Webber Red Bull 1:12.928
06 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:13.081
07 R. Kubica BMW 1:13.129
08 J. Trulli Toyota 1:13.195
09 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:13.272
10 N. Rosberg Williams 1:13.477
11 R. Barrichello Honda 1:12.932
12 G. Fisichella Renault 1:12.968
13 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:13.058
14 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:13.251
15 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:13.315
16 J. Button Honda 1:13.469
17 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:14.078
18 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:14.098
19 K. Nakajima Williams 1:14.417
20 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:14.596
21 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:15.217
22 S. Yamamoto Spyker F1 1:15.487

Source: PlanetF1



Home hero Felipe Massa did not disappoint the Brazilian fans. Fastest in Free Practice 3, Massa carried his wonderful form into the final qualifying of the 2007 season by clinching the pole position ahead of Mclaren's Lewis Hamilton and his Ferrari teammate Kimi Räikkönen.

Lewis Hamilton was embroiled in more controversies as he was allegedly blocking Kimi Räikkönen on his flying laps twice as he came out of the pits to do his installation laps. However, the stewards did not conduct any investigations, nor were there any formal complaint filed by the Scuderia Ferrari team.

Mclaren's Fernando Alonso managed a 4th position, and will line up behind his teammate. He admitted that the hopes for any championship title is grim now, and blamed having to start Q3 behind his teammate, "The main problem was starting behind my team-mate as usual," he told Italian television RAI. He would certainly be hoping for some miracle to happen as he believes that the two Mclaren would be on identical pit-strategy, so Lewis Hamilton will have the upperhand on him by starting in the front row.

Mark Webber was a surprise in his Red Bull, taking the 5th grid, but perhaps the recent races have shown Red Bull's improvement, while his teammate David Coulthard qualified on the 9th position. Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica's BMWs were normal in their performance taking the 6th and 7th spot, while the 8th was taken by Jarno Trulli in his Toyota.

Williams' rookie Kazuki Nakajima, replacing Alex Wurz who retired with immediate effect after the Chinese Grand Prix, managed a lowly 19th position, while a surprisingly horrible performance by Renault's Heikki Kovalainen put him in the 17th position on the grid.

Chinese GP Qualifying: Lewis Hamilton Takes Pole

Qualifying Times
01 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:35.908
02 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:36.044
03 F. Massa Ferrari 1:36.221
04 F. Alonso McLaren 1:36.576
05 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:37.619
06 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:38.013
07 M. Webber Red Bull 1:38.153
08 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:38.455
09 R. Kubica BMW 1:38.472
10 J. Button Honda 1:39.285
11 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:36.862
12 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:36.891
13 J. Trulli Toyota 1:36.959
14 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:36.991
15 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:37.247
16 N. Rosberg Williams 1:37.483
17 R. Barrichello Honda 1:37.251
18 G. Fisichella Renault 1:37.290
19 A. Wurz Williams 1:37.456
20 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:38.218
21 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:38.668
22 S. Yamamoto Spyker F1 1:39.336

Source: PlanetF1

Lewis Hamilton once again convince the world why he is deserving to be the youngest world champion at his debut season, with a strong show in the Chinese Grand Prix qualifying session. Never having set a single fastest timing throughout the practices (Kimi Raikkonen took the P1 in all 3 practices), Lewis stunned the crowd with an impressive performance.

Kimi Raikkonen, on the other hand, could not match the rookie's timing and could only settle for the second spot. Ferrari's other driver Felipe Massa took the third position, while Mclaren's Fernando Alonso managed only a fourth position surprisingly, given his practice timings.

Red Bull looks set for another great weekend with David Coulthard getting the 5th position, ahead of Ralf Schumacher's Toyota, and David's teammate Mark Webber took the 7th position. Nick Heidfeld's BMW was disappointing and the German could only just manage a 8th place ahead of his teammate Robert Kubica. Jenson Button finished up the top ten position in his Honda.

Japanese GP Qualifying: Mclaren Duo Up In Front

01 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:25.489
02 F. Alonso McLaren 1:25.438
03 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:25.516
04 F. Massa Ferrari 1:25.765
05 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:26.505
06 N. Rosberg Williams 1:26.728 *
07 J. Button Honda 1:26.913
08 M. Webber Red Bull 1:26.914
09 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:26.973
10 R. Kubica BMW 1:27.225
11 G. Fisichella Renault 1:26.033
12 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:26.247
13 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:26.247
14 J. Trulli Toyota 1:26.253
15 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:26.948
16 R. Schumacher Toyota no time
17 R. Barrichello Honda 1:27.323
18 A. Wurz Williams 1:27.454
19 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:27.564
20 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:28.628
21 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:28.792
22 S. Yamamoto Spyker F1 1:29.668

* Nico Rosberg will suffer a ten-place penalty due to an engine change on Friday.

Source: PlanetF1

In the wet-weathered qualifying, nothing unexpected happened and the drivers on top are the usual suspects - Mclaren duo vs the Ferrari duo. Lewis Hamilton did a fantastic flying last lap to snatch the pole position from right under teammate/rival Fernando Alonso's nose. Kimi Raikkonen took the third position, while Felipe Massa will be lined alongside his teammate in the 2nd row of the grid at the 4th position.

Nick Heidfeld, affirming BMW's position as the third fastest car, came into the 5th position on the grid, while Williams' Nico Rosberg registered a 6th fastest timing, but due to an engine change, he will be relegated to the 16th position. Jenson Button, in a surprising strong show for the Honda team, came in 7th fastest and Mark Webber's Red Bull also did a stunning performance in the 8th position. Rookie Sebastian Vettel managed an impressive 9th fastest while Robert Kubica of BMW falls short of his expectations to come in 10th.

Spa Qualifying - Ferrari 1-2

The grid on Sunday for the Spa-Francorchamps will be as follows:

01 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:45.994
02 F. Massa Ferrari 1:46.011
03 F. Alonso McLaren 1:46.091
04 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:46.406
05 N. Rosberg Williams 1:47.334
06 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:47.409
07 M. Webber Red Bull 1:47.524
08 J. Trulli Toyota 1:47.798
09 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:48.505
10 G. Fisichella Renault 1:46.603
11 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:46.618
12 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:46.800
13 J. Button Honda 1:46.955
14 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:47.115
15 R. Kubica BMW 1:47.33415*
16 A. Wurz Williams 1:47.394
17 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:47.581
18 R. Barrichello Honda 1:47.954
19 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:47.980
20 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:48.044
21 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:48.199
22 S. Yamamoto Spyker F1 1:49.577

Ferrari gets a 1-2 qualifying for the first time this year. Kimi Raikkonen qualified on the pole position on the track where he had won twice in Mclaren, while his teammate Felipe Massa will take the second position. Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton took the 3rd and 4th spots respectively for the Mclaren team (which will receive no team points no matter what position they finish in). Robert Kubica did a good job getting 5th position, but he is penalised with an engine change and was demoted 10 places. Nico Rosberg thus takes over the 5th spot on the grid with BMW driver Nick Heidfeld taking the 6th place. Mark Webber, Jarno Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen and Giancarlo Fisichella round up the top ten places on the Spa-Francorchamps grid positions.