France: Michelin disappointed not to take pole

By Michelin Sport
July 15 2006

Fernando Alonso was the fastest Michelin runner during qualifying for tomorrow's French Grand Prix. The Spaniard lapped in 1:15.510 to secure third place on the grid as he prepares to secure his second consecutive Formula One success at Magny-Cours.

Five Michelin drivers from three partner teams will line up in the top 10. Kimi Raikkonen was sixth ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella, Pedro de la Rosa and David Coulthard.

BMW Sauber team-mates Jacques Villeneuve and Nick Heidfeld were quickest in this morning's final free practice session.

World title contender Michael Schumacher missed most of free practice after the rear end of his car briefly ignited in the pits. No serious damage was inflicted and the German went on to take pole position.

This week heralds the dawn of F1's revised qualifying format. The final element of the three-part session has been cut from 20 minutes to 15, in an effort to spice up the show.

Vitantonio Liuzzi, Jacques Villeneuve, Jenson Button, Tiago Monteiro, Franck Montagny and Takuma Sato were eliminated during the first part of the qualifying shoot-out. Mark Webber, Nick Heidfeld, Christian Klien, Rubens Barrichello, Scott Speed and Christijan Albers fell in the second.

Nico Rosberg qualified ninth today but will be handed a 10-position grid penalty in the wake of an unscheduled engine change.

Nick Shorrock
Formula One Director
Michelin

"It is obviously disappointing not to take pole position, but I am extremely encouraged by our prospects for the race. Our partner teams are using six different Michelin products this weekend and our long-run consistency has been very good.

"It is the first time this season that we have qualified in conditions that are almost identical to those we experienced during pre-race testing and that has given us a valuable database. That said, tyre evolution has not been quite what we expected. The wear rate usually diminishes as the weekend progresses, but it appears to be the same today as it was yesterday morning. We need to examine the reasons for that, but it doesn't dilute our confidence as we chase our 101st Formula One victory."