Raikkonen Takes Pole In Hectic Qualifying
2006 Season

Raikkonen Takes Pole In Hectic Qualifying

Oliver White
5th August, 2006
4 comments
2 min read

Robert Kubica - 2006 Australian Grand PrixKimi Raikkonen took pole position at the Hungaroring from Felipe Massa, Rubens Barrichello, and Pedro de la Rosa. In a session that saw penalties given to seven times champion Michael Schumacher and current reigning champ Fernando Alonso, all eyes were on Ferrari and Renault number twos to pick up the pieces.

Initially, Massa set some stunning laps and really impressed keeping his scarlet car up at the top of the time sheets. Giancarlo Fisichella didn’t fair as well though, only managing seventh in the final standings. But one young man that stood out from the rest was Robert Kubica in the BMW Sauber. Standing in for ‘injured’ Jacques Villeneuve, he beat his experienced team mate Nick Heidfeld in each session, crucially getting himself into the final 10 ahead of the German. Robert – the first Pole in F1 – finally ended up ninth, and after Jenson Button was demoted for his engine change, Heidfeld was promoted to tenth. A stunning performance from the 22 year old, and Robert is for sure going to be in Formula One for a good long while – bad news for the 1997 world champion.

Michael Schumacher finished 11th after adding on his two seconds for passing under red flags earlier today. Alonso managed 15th and has the Ferrari powered Red Bulls between him and the Ferrari, as well the Honda of Jenson Button. However, the might of Ferrari has been proven by Schumacher setting a lap that was astonishingly quick in session two. In comparison, the fastest lap set during the hour was Massa in session two with 1m 19.504s. Alonso managed 1m 19.364s. Schumacher set 1m 18.875s. Both those lap times are obviously before the penalties were added and shows the incredible pace of the Ferrari under Michael Schumacher.

So on that note, Schumacher starting in 11th isn’t the end of the world, giving the fact he can fill up his car exactly as he wants and drive whatever strategy he choses. So unless Raikkonen skamps off into the distance tomorrow, my money is on a fourth straight victory for the chasing champion.

4 comments

  • this stinks. i didn’t watch qually, i won’t watch the race. how much is bernie paying msc and fernando to fake these penalties? the whole thing is such a farce.

    pathetic

  • But surely – with the current pace of Schumacher (about half a second advantage) – it is better to have him start in the mid-field than lead from the front and win it by lapping everyone…?

  • of course it’s better for the tv ratings, but that’s my point.

    if the whole thing is falsified to make the sport more enjoyable, all you’re watching is a soap opera – a pre-written soap opera with a script and everything.

    watching msc win from the front is boring, but it sure beats being lied to.

  • I don’t want F1 to become WWF (or whatever it is called) fake wrestling either, but I also cannot see how people have jumped to the conclusion of race fixing here!? Sure, Flav thinks so, but then he would – this affects his team. But as a penalty was also handed to Ferrari’s Schumacher, coupled with the U-Turn on Renault’s Mass Damper thing, surely they aren’t being biased here. I can remember when the McLaren’s were in trouble with their third brake pedal back in the late 90’s, and Honda with their reserve fuel tank thing recently.

    If Bernie had total control over all F1 television broadcasts, including advertising revenue, I might think differently. But for now, I’m happy that their is no fixing going on. Just rubbish decisions by Max Mosley regarding the 2008 season…

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