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| September 4, 2005 | Sunday | Rajab 29, 1426 |
Motor Racing: Raikkonen fastest as Montoya takes pole for Italian GP
MONZA (Italy), Sept 3: Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya put race favourites McLaren on pole position for the Italian Grand Prix with Renault’s championship leader Fernando Alonso alongside.
Montoya’s team mate Kimi Raikkonen, winner of the last two races but 24 points behind Spaniard Alonso with five grands prix left, was fastest in qualifying but an earlier engine failure cost him 10 places.
Raikkonen won in Canada from seventh on the grid and finished second from 13th place in France.
The Finn felt the power drain from his engine on the last lap of final practice and Mercedes traced the problem to an inlet valve.
Montoya, winner at Monza with Williams in 2001, lapped 0.176 of a second slower than Raikkonen’s time of one minute 20.878 seconds.
Briton Jenson Button, in a BAR, shares the second row with Japanese team mate Takuma Sato.
Ferrari’s seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher qualified sixth, one place ahead of team mate Rubens Barrichello, and shares the third row with Italian Jarno Trulli in a Toyota.
German Schumacher will be out of title contention mathematically for the first time since 1999 if he fails to score more points than Alonso on Sunday. He is 40 adrift at present.
Montoya said he was happy with his lap, with McLaren clearly faster than their rivals.
The pole was the 12th of his career and first of the season, boosting McLaren’s chances in the constructors’ championship. They currently trail Renault by nine points.
While ready to help Raikkonen’s title battle with Alonso, the Colombian clearly hoped to win on Sunday.
Alonso, winner of six races and easily the most consistent driver this season, said he was surprised to be on the front row after McLaren’s pace in practice. His team mate Giancarlo Fisichella starts eighth after a ragged qualifying lap.
The 24-year-old Alonso is well on the way to becoming the youngest champion in Formula One history.
Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia, whose last race was at Monza in 2004 when he stood in for injured Ralf Schumacher, returned as a late replacement for another German at Williams.
Nick Heidfeld crashed heavily in testing last week at Monza and complained of a headache on Saturday morning. Doctors advised him not to drive.
Pizzonia qualified 16th.
Qualifying results:
1. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) McLaren 1:20.878; 2. Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia) McLaren 1:21.054; 3. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 1:21.319; 4. Jenson Button (Britain) BAR 1:21.369; 5. Takuma Sato (Japan) BAR 1:21.477; 6. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 1:21.640; 7. Michael Schumacher (Germany) Ferrari 1:21.721; 8. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Ferrari 1:21.962; 9. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Renault 1:22.068; 10. Ralf Schumacher (Germany) Toyota 1:22.266; 11. David Coulthard (Britain) Red Bull 1:22.304; 12. Jacques Villeneuve (Canada) Sauber 1:22.356; 13. Christian Klien (Austria) Red Bull 1:22.532; 14. Mark Webber (Australia) Williams 1:22.560; 15. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Sauber 1:23.060; 16. Antonio Pizzonia (Brazil) Williams 1:23.291; 17. Tiago Monteiro (Portugal) Jordan 1:24.666; 18. Robert Doornbos (Netherlands) Minardi 1:24.904; 19. Narain Karthikeyan (India) Jordan 1:25.859; 20. Christijan Albers (Netherlands) Minardi 1:26.964.—Reuters
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