2006 German Grand Prix - Kimi commands Pole…
Jul 29th, 2006 by Haas
Kimi Raikkonen showed a spirited comeback for the Mc Larens as he took pole for tomorrow’s German Grand Prix. The Mc Laren picked up the pace slowly in the session and did a magical 1m 14.070s lap of the circuit, almost two-tenths of a second faster than the nearest competitor.
Ferrari took 2nd and 3rd led by Michael who put the fastest lap of the entire qualification in the second session. Massa looked strong as well providing the German the required buffer to the Renaults. Button will lineup next to Massa in the second row, the Hondas impressed right through the session with very quick laps.
Fisichella and Barrichello form the 3rd row. Giancarlo was quicker than Fernando in every session of qualification probably indicating that the engine change between the Renaults might be quiet significant. Barrichello followed his team mates footsteps to take respectable 6th in qualification.
The current world champion, on his 25th birthday managed only 7th in qualification… If this position is representative of his fuel load or his strategy towards the race has to be seen. Ralf managed 8th after an incident with Pedro De La Rosa in the midpart of the final session. Pedro could not continue and ended up in 9th spot and Ralf who lost a lot of track time managed 9th. The incident also probably put an end to a Pedro’s qualification which looking at Kimi’s pace could hv been close to the Ferraris.
Coulthard took the 10th spot on the grid with an eye clearly on securing as many points as possible. Earlier in qualification Yamamoto had a disappointing start to his F1 career when he crashed his SA06 in Saturday morning Free Practice. He took to the qualification in the SA05 and managed 21st ahead of Scott Speed who crashed out before he could complete a single hot lap.
Things look interestingly poised for the return of Mc Laren to the top of the pecking order. Kimi looks really strong and a race win is on the cards. Michael will want to finish as much ahead of Fernando as possible and will be looking at his team mate for support, something he could only half do in France. Renault looks really weak in this race and the removal of their damper system before quali might be one of the reasons. Alonso’s times looked very nervous and lets hope that he can take back most places to the first corner. Giancarlo looks impressive in the Renault and will be aiming for a podium… Im not certain of Renault’s fuel loads but it looks like they might be hoping to stop one time lesser than the Ferraris.
My Predictions:
1. Kimi Raikkonen (Its been a while since we saw him on top and frankly Im getting a bit bored with Alonso and Michaels overtakings in the pits 
)
2. Michael Schumacher (If he finishes lower that this tomorrow come what may, I believe he would hv possibly given up his title chase. He needs this chance to get as much closer to Alonso as possible)
3. Fernando Alonso / Giancarlo Fisichella (Sorry Massa but Alonso is just that damn good to come back from a bad grid position and even in an ill handling car. Giancarlo looks good and might hv strategy up his sleeve which will help him jump Massa)