Sport

Maiden pole for Kovalainen
by Dave Maher, 05 July 2008

Heikki Kovalainen will start a Formula 1 race from pole position for the first time, after claiming top spot in qualifying for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

The Finn's late and decisive run made for a thrilling conclusion to Saturday's session, beating Mark Webber - who took a surprise spot on the front row for Red Bull - by over half a second.

World Champion Kimi Raikkonen was third quickest in his Ferrari, ahead of home star Lewis Hamilton, who could not match his McLaren team-mate's pace.

BMW's Nick Heidfeld wil start the race from fifth place, with the Renault duo of Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet in sixth and seventh respectively. Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel had an excellent afternoon and grabbed P8.

Championship leader Felipe Massa could only manage ninth in his Ferrari, a place ahead of BMW's Robert Kubica.

The entire field was on track inside the first five minutes of the session, as with the threat of rain, the teams were keen on setting banker times.

The McLarens of Kovalainen and Hamilton shot to the front, while Vettel impressively finished Q1 in third place.

There little running towards the end of part one as the rain fell, and those who had put in decent banker laps earlier were thankful.

It proved to be a very disappointing and early exit for Honda, with Rubens Barrichello and Englishman Jenson Button, along with Williams' Nico Rosberg, and Force India duo Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella, all losing out a the first elimination point.

The weather changed for the better at the start of Qualifying 2, and the McLarens again seemed to assert their dominance, while Ferrari struggled to keep up.

Meanwhile, Toyota's day ended as Q2 came to a close, with neither driver making it through to the final part of the session. Timo Glock will be comfortable enough with 12th, but qualifying expert Jarno Trulli will not be happy with having to start from 14th place on the grid.

After Raikkonen had set the benchmark time in the final shootout, Hamilton ventured out on to track and was well on his way to taking P1 off the Ferrari man when he entered into Priory corner far too hot and bounced accross the gravel. The 23-year-old, clearly desperate to grab pole at his home GP, was lucky not to do significant damage to his McLaren.

Seconds later, Kovalainen filled the void left by his team-mate, and went to the top of the time-sheets.

With time running out, it was notable that Kubica had yet to record a lap in Q3 and it soon became apparent that the Pole would not, a suspected suspension problem meaning he will start Sunday's race from 10th, a place behind Massa, who cost himself places with a mistake.

British Grand Prix - provisional qualifying results

Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3