21/07/2007
NEWS STORY
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Ahead of qualifying, the air temperature is 21 degrees C, and the track temperature is 36 degrees.
For much of the weekend it's been McLaren v Ferrari, however, Robert Kubica was right up there in this morning's free practice session. BMW would very much like a podium - at the very least - in their home race.
When the lights go green, Wurz in one of the first out, along with Sutil and Winkelhock.
As the Austrian posts 1:33.049, Hamilton leaves the pits. Sutil, predictably goes second, ahead of Winkelhock.
Rosberg goes second, but Kovalainen is already on a hot lap. Fisichella takes third, as his teammate can only manage sixth, the Finn having lost loads of time in the final sector.
Schumacher goes quickest overall, but Hamilton is already on a hot lap, as is Takuma Sato. The Japanese driver fleetingly holds the top spot, before being demoted by Hamilton, who crosses the line at 31.587.
Sadly, the timing screens are having a hissy fit, and are running behind the live picture.. Nonetheless, Barrichello goes second ahead of Trulli.
Alonso goes quickest in the first sector, as Heidfeld goes second quickest overall. Alonso crosses the line at 1:31.074 to take the top spot, ahead of Raikkonen, as Massa starts his flying lap.
The Brazilian is quickest in the first sector, finally crossing the line at 31.447, to take second from his teammate.
With three minutes remaining, Coulthard, Button and Rosberg are still in the drop zone, along with the Spykers and Liuzzi.
Coulthard looks to have failed at the first hurdle, the Scot not appearing to have left himself enough time for a final run.
Winkelhock gets all out of shape, as Rosberg and Button look set to improve.
Webber goes eighth, and Davidson thirteenth, while Rosberg goes seventh. However, it's bad news for Button, who like Coulthard, appears to have missed the cut.
At the end of the first phase we lose Winkelhock, Sutil, Coulthard, Liuzzi, Speed and Button.
Quickest was Alonso, ahead of Massa, Raikkonen, Hamilton, Heidfeld, Kubica, Rosberg, Wurz, Fisichella and Trulli.
Interesting to note that both Super Aguris made the cut, though that will come as little consolation to Jenson Button.
The second phase begins, but as is often the case nobody seems too eager to get to work. Indeed, it is almost four minutes before the first engine bursts into life. It's Jarno Trulli's Toyota.
The Italian, on softs, is soon followed by his teammate, the Renaults, the Super Aguris and Webber.
Trulli goes to the top of the timesheets with a 31.843, but is quickly demoted by Kovalainen. Sadly the timing screens are still playing up.
Raikkonen takes top spot with a 31.237, but his Brazilian teammate is already on a superfast lap. Sure enough, the Ferrari driver goes quickest with a 30.912, the fastest lap of the weekend, thus far.
Hamilton goes second, despite a minor mistake. Moments later however, the Englishman is edged out by his Spanish teammate.
With just over four minutes remaining, Fisichella, Barrichello, Webber and Wurz are in the drop zone, along with the Super Aguris. Massa, Alonso, Hamilton and Raikkonen all seem totally safe, and therefore won't come out for a final run.
Having taken am massive gamble at Silverstone, both BMW drivers opt to go out for a final run, just in case.
Fisichella goes eleventh, but is instantly edged out by Wurz. Kubica takes fifth ahead of his teammate, while Jarno Trulli spins. Kovalainen takes seventh, while Trulli, despite the spin, still manages to get through to the final phase.
Therefore we lose Rosberg, Wurz, Fisichella, Barrichello and the Super Aguris.
The final phase gets underway, with Massa leading Hamilton. It is some time before Alonso opts to join his nine rivals on track. Most of the drivers are on the harder compound.
Hamilton goes quickest, not that it really matters at this stage, the Englishman posting 33.833.
With eight minutes remaining, the first round of stops gets underway. On track however, Hamilton is keen to get past Massa and into clear air. The Brazilian has other ideas, however. Both drivers are on the softs.
As Hamilton realizes it's best to drop back, Massa begins his first flying lap. The best lap of the session, up to now, belongs to Alonso (33.054).
While Massa continues his hot lap, Hamilton goes quickest in the first sector. However, the Englishman goes off and into the tyre barriers. It's quite while before he begins to extract himself from the damaged MP4-22.
The session is red-flagged.
The replay appears to show a failure of the right-front tyre. That said, there is a puff of smoke that hints at a possible wheel bearing failure. Back in the McLaren garage the crew checks Fernando Alonso's car.
A medical team is soon on the spot, as it was quite a high impact crash. Lewis looked absolutely fine, but is sure to be shaken, this is his first accident of any significance during the season.
As the clock ticks, the photographers gather. The scene is eerily reminiscent of those witnessed at Silverstone in 1999 when Michael Schumacher crashed. The Englishman is placed on a stretcher, and as he is placed in the ambulance he give a wave and a 'thumbs up'. A relief to his fans and to his mates on the McLaren team.
This is the last thing the team, and indeed Ron Dennis, needed right now. Hopefully it's not an omen for what is a vital weekend for the Woking team.
Having already lost around fifteen minutes, it is announced that there will be a further 15 minute delay.
Ron Dennis reveals that the problem has been traced to a faulty wheel gun, which means that the wheel was not properly fitted to the car. However, the English veteran is quick to add that it was an equipment failure and not down to human error.
When the session does resume, with 5:13 on the clock there will be time for just one really hot lap. Alonso is currently on provisional pole, but his time of 33.054 is sure to be well and truly demolished.
Hamilton's MP4-22 is brought back to the pits. It's cover - used for reasons of security more than anything else, has the appearance of a shroud.
As the cars line up in the pitlane, Ron Dennis reveals that Hamilton is "fine", that he's "ok," that there are "no broken bones" and that he "never lost consciousness". He also confirms that the World Championship leader will be kept under observation for a couple of hours.
The lights go green and the session resumes. Once again, as his rivals rush to get to work, Alonso bides his time.
The drivers do one lap then dive back in for new 'boots'. There is now just under three minutes on the clock.
Massa begins his flying lap, but it is Raikkonen who goes quickest in the first sector. However, moments later, Alonso goes quicker.
Massa takes provisional pole but Raikkonen and Alonso are both on track. The Finn goes quickest (31.450) but Alonso is still looking good. However, the Spaniard fails, and the Finn takes pole ahead of the McLaren and his own teammate.
Nick Heidfeld will start from fourth, ahead of Kubica, Webber, Kovalainen, Trulli and Schumacher. Assuming he starts, Lewis Hamilton would start from tenth on the grid.
In a session overshadowed by the accident befalling Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen takes his second pole of the season, and looks ahead to scoring his third successive win. Judging by his pace in most of the preceding sessions, few would bet against him.
It should be a good race, let's hope Lewis is a part of it.
To check out our Nurburgring qualifying gallery, click here