ITALIAN GRAND PRIX SATURDAY
Monza,
Kimi Raikkonen MP4-21 05
Pedro de la Rosa MP4-21 06
T-car (Kimi) MP4-21 04
Team McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen will start Sunday's
Italian Grand Prix at Monza from pole position. In a thrilling
third qualifying session he set a time of 1:21.484 and edged
out Michael Schumacher's Ferrari by two thousands of a second.
It's the third pole position of the season for both Team McLaren
Mercedes and the Finn. It's Kimi's 11th career pole. Team
mate Pedro de la Rosa qualified eighth fastest with a 1:22.280.
Qualifying Session One: Qualifying Session Two: Qualifying
Session Three:
Kimi: 4 laps, 1:21.994 (4th) 3 laps, 1:21.349 (3rd) 11 laps,
1:21.484 (1st)
Pedro: 5 laps, 1:22.422 (7th) 6 laps, 1:21.878 (10th) 11
laps, 1:22.280 (8th)
KIMI RAIKKONEN
"A good weekend for us so far. I'm pleased to be on pole
position, and it wasn't even a particularly good lap as I
had two big moments in Ascari. I was not here at the test
last week, but the team, Pedro and Gary did a fantastic job,
and we have a very good tyre from Michelin. The race tomorrow
will be tough, but we will certainly give it our best shot.
I'm confident that Michelin is well prepared for the race.
The car has been working well, and I want to remain at the
front and look forward to achieving that."
PEDRO DE LA ROSA
"A very good qualifying for Kimi, the team and me. I
was lucky not to have any traffic in my runs and I'm relieved
as I just made it into the final session on my last run, and
it was a bit too close for comfort. The balance of the car
was excellent even with the lower downforce configuration
that we ran today. I'm looking forward to a strong race tomorrow."
RON DENNIS
"A strong performance by Kimi and the team. I'm pleased
with the progress we have made since the test last week and
continued throughout the weekend. We will see what happens
in the race tomorrow but are confident that both Kimi and
Pedro's race strategies will help to deliver a positive result."
NORBERT HAUG
"A good pole position lap of Kimi's even if it's only
two thousandths of a second to the second placed Ferrari of
Michael Schumacher. This is the perfect basis for tomorrow's
Italian Grand Prix. This is Kimi's third pole in the last
four races, and ideally we want to achieve the same result
tomorrow. Pedro did a good job, he has to run the second race
with his engine which is always a small handicap for any driver."
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