Italian GP: Midland F1 qualify at the back

By Huw Alban
September 9 2006

Judging from the third free practice times I feel that it was going to be a struggle for the team to make it into the top 16 today. A red flag didn't help their cause, with both drivers only able to put in one fast lap each.

At the start of the first 15 minute session, Tiago Monteiro was the first MF1 driver out on the track followed exactly 10 seconds later by his team mate.

At the 9 minutes and 28 seconds mark the session was red flagged to allow tyre debris from the Super Aguri of Yamamoto to be recovered from the circuit. Unfortunately both Tiago and Christijan were on hot laps at the time, so this incident wastes a set of tyres and a time on the board.

About 10 minutes later the session restarted, but neither of the MF1 drivers took to the track until there was only 3 minutes and 46 seconds remaining. Tiago Monteiro secures a 1.23.920 and Christijan Albers a 1.23.116, only good enough for 18th and 20th by the end of the session.

I guess the only good thing to take away from this session is that both should be clear of any first corner dramas - assuming they don't get 'Super Aguried' :o)

Full timesheet from the qualifying sessions for the Italian Grand Prix:

1 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes
2 Michael Schumacher Ferrari
3 Nick Heidfeld Sauber-BMW
4 Felipe Massa Ferrari
5 Fernando Alonso Renault
6 Jenson Button Honda
7 Robert Kubica Sauber-BMW
8 Pedro de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes
9 Rubens Barrichello Honda
10 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault
11 Jarno Trulli Toyota
12 Nico Rosberg Williams-Cosworth
13 Ralf Schumacher Toyota
14 David Coulthard RBR-Ferrari
15 Scott Speed STR-Cosworth
16 Christian Klien RBR-Ferrari
17 Vitantonio Liuzzi STR-Cosworth
18 Christijan Albers MF1-Toyota
19 Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth
20 Tiago Monteiro MF1-Toyota
21 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda
22 Sakon Yamamoto Super Aguri-Honda

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