2008 SANTANDER BRITISH GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Heikki Kovalainen will start
Sunday’s Santander British Grand Prix, the first of
the team’s two consecutive home races, from his first
Formula 1 career pole position. In an exciting final part
of Saturday’s qualifying, Heikki set a time of 1m21.049
and was more than half a second faster than Mark Webber (Red
Bull Renault) in second place. Heikki’s team mate Lewis
Hamilton had a brief off on his first run in Q3 after setting
two best sector times; he eventually ended up fourth with
a time of 1m21.835. Heikki’s pole is the 57th for the
McLaren Mercedes partnership and third for the team this year.
Q1: Q2: Q3:
Lewis: 4 laps, 1:20.288 (2nd) 3 laps, 1:19.537 (1st) 6 laps,
1:21.835 (4th)
Heikki: 6 laps, 1:19.957 (1st) 3 laps, 1:19.597 (2nd) 6 laps,
1:21.049 (1st)
HEIKKI KOVALAINEN
"We’ve been going really well all weekend after
finding some good pace during testing last week. I’ve
spent a lot of time racing in the UK so it feels great to
have scored my first ever Formula 1 pole position at Silverstone.
The car feels just fantastic at the moment; I was able to
steadily improve throughout all three qualifying session and
I’m confident our pace is going to be strong tomorrow."
LEWIS HAMILTON
"Congratulations to Heikki on his first Formula 1 pole
position. I felt comfortable in the car and the speed was
there; however, on my first flying lap in Q3 I ran a bit wide
at the exit of Priory and went onto the gravel. Obviously
I just pushed a little bit too hard and it's a pity that I
missed the front row. However, with our strategy and the predicted
rain for tomorrow's race everything will be possible and I
very much look forward to racing here in front of my home
crowd tomorrow."
RON DENNIS
"Heikki showed great determination and a lot of skill
to master the gusty, tricky conditions so well. The result
was his first pole position in Formula 1 - and it was thoroughly
well deserved because he's been driving beautifully all weekend.
Lewis made a small mistake in sector three, and his P4 grid
position doesn't therefore reflect his latent pace, but he
remains confident that he can put in a strong performance
tomorrow. Overall, then, we feel we're in a good position
and are looking forward to doing very well at McLaren's home
race tomorrow."
NORBERT HAUG
"We saw Heikki driving superbly all weekend so far and
the lap that resulted in his first ever Formula One pole position
was very special. Congratulations to Heikki and his guys on
this great result. Lewis is starting from row two and everything
is possible for him tomorrow. He will be strong in front of
his home crowd, as will Heikki."
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