Alonso Adds Notch to Growing Reputation

Spain's Fernando Alonso put flesh on the bones of a promising reputation today by making Formula One history as the youngest driver to qualify on pole position.

The 21-year-old, who scored his first Formula One points only two weeks ago in Australia, was clearly helped by rule changes since last year but he was not about to let that dilute his delight ahead of Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix.

"The feeling is fantastic," said the Spaniard, in his second race for Renault after a fruitless but highly impressive debut season with Minardi in 2001. "For me it's a very special day. It's my first pole position. I'm 21-year-old. It's my first year in a big team like Renault and at the second race to get the pole is an amazing feeling.

"The important thing is tomorrow, we have to score some more points, but at the moment I'm dreaming."

He might have been surprised but others were less so.

Even before he replaced Briton Jenson Button at Renault at the end of last season after a year as test driver, team principal Flavio Briatore was proclaiming him as a potential champion. The man who presided over Michael Schumacher's first pole at Benetton in 1994 has compared the young Spaniard's talents to those of Ferrari's five-times champion.

Qualifying is no longer a straight flat-out run for pole as before, with cars carrying different fuel loads under new regulations for strategic purposes. But the record books will still show that Schumacher took 42 races to get his first pole while Alonso has taken 19, only two of them with a top team.

Minardi Cheers

One of the biggest cheers as the single-lap qualifying session finished on Saturday came from the Minardi garage, where Alonso had his first break.

"I feel quite proud actually," said Minardi team boss Paul Stoddart. "They will surprise a few people tomorrow, I don't think they are on low fuel. Fernando being on pole today was I believe well-earned...I just go back to what I said in 2001, the guy is going to win races and in the right set of circumstances could be a champion of the future.

"His head is that of a 10 years older mature racing driver, never mind human being. The guy is absolutely spot on. He's level-headed, he's mature well beyond his age, his technical feedback is excellent and his ability is second to none. He's gone out there and showed that he can do it."

At Minardi in 2001, the Oviedo native made Brazilian Tarso Marques look almost pedestrian in comparison. Michelin boss Pierre Dupasquier, who has worked with some of the greats in his decades in Formula One, joined in the congratulations.

"I'm not that surprised to see him at the front," he said. "He is an extraordinarily determined young man and a genuine talent."

Alonso said he had simply done a normal lap.

"It wasn't a fantastic lap but it was not a disaster like yesterday," said the Spaniard, who was only 10th fastest in Friday's first qualifying that determined the starting order for Saturday's decisive run.

"When qualifying was finishing, with the last five or six cars, I thought that maybe I would finish fifth or sixth. But then the cars went down and down and in the end I saw Michael's lap and when he crossed the line I thought 'I'm on pole.'

"It's a very strange feeling."