Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Montoya Sets First Pole of the Season in Germany

Juan Pablo Montoya claimed his first pole position of the season for the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim as his Williams-BMW team claimed a one-two.

Juan Pablo Montoya claimed his first pole position of the season for the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim as his Williams-BMW team claimed a one-two.

Montoya set the pace with a lap of 1:15.167 with the penultimate run of the session, and was just 0.018 seconds ahead of teammate Ralf Schumacher in BMW's home race.

Schumacher had seemed destined to take his fifth pole of the season after going quicker than Montoya in the first two sectors but lost time in the closing stages of his run to hand the Colombian the 11th pole of his career.

Rubens Barrichello will start from third on the grid for Ferrari with Renault's Jarno Trulli joining him on the second row. Title rivals Kimi Raikkonen, of McLaren-Mercedes, and series leader Michael Schumacher will both start from the third row after qualifying fifth and sixth respectively.

Toyota's Olivier Panis, Renault driver Fernando Alonso, Toyota's Cristiano Da Matta and David Coulthard, of McLaren, completed the top-ten as Michelin drivers occupied eight of the top ten spots.

Nicolas Kiesa was the first man on the track after he failed to set a time on Friday, and the Minardi new-boy set a lap time of 1:19.174 in his first qualifying session in Formula One.

BAR-Honda's Jacques Villeneuve lowered the best time by two seconds, before Jos Verstappen finished just one-tenth ahead of new teammate Kiesa. Giancarlo Fisichella moved to top spot for Jordan, but teammate Ralph Firman finished more than 1.5 seconds down, only quicker than the two Minardi drivers.

Toyota's Cristiano Da Matta jumped to the top of the times by almost three-tenths despite running wide at the last corner and getting out of shape after running on the grass. Nick Heidfeld slotted into fourth behind Villeneuve, only for his Sauber teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen to nudge him down a place.

Jenson Button completed a troubled lap for BAR-Honda and went sixth quickest, but his problems left him behind Sauber pair Frentzen and Heidfeld and a second down on teammate Villeneuve. David Coulthard, driving the spare car after a crash in practice, failed to better Da Matta's time and slotted into second as his qualifying struggles continued.

Panis was able to overhaul teammate Da Matta at the head of the timesheets by more than half-a-second, only for Michael Schumacher to send the crowd wild as he took over at the top. Barrichello went out on the softer Bridgestone tyre to give him an advantage in qualifying and immediately went more than four-tenths of a second quicker.

Jaguar's Justin Wilson was unable to repeat his exploits on Friday as he ended 2.533 seconds down on Barrichello, and Raikkonen then split the two Ferrari drivers with second place.

Alonso was almost a second off the pace as he went fifth quickest, and Jaguar's Mark Webber went eighth as he lost time with two mistakes at the end of his run.

Trulli took second from Raikkonen with a faultless lap, Montoya then took over at the top.

Pos Driver Team T1 T2 Time 1. (19) Montoya Williams BMW (M) 16.575 51.812 1:15.167 2. (20) R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 16.522 51.616 1:15.185 + 0.018 3. (13) Barrichello Ferrari (B) 16.570 51.955 1:15.488 + 0.321 4. (18) Trulli Renault (M) 16.603 52.117 1:15.679 + 0.512 5. (15) Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 16.590 51.995 1:15.874 + 0.707 6. (12) M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 16.612 52.348 1:15.898 + 0.731 7. (11) Panis Toyota (M) 16.733 52.165 1:16.034 + 0.867 8. (16) Alonso Renault (M) 16.808 52.533 1:16.483 + 1.316 9. (6) da Matta Toyota (M) 16.735 52.352 1:16.550 + 1.383 10. (10) Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 16.799 52.448 1:16.666 + 1.499 11. (17) Webber Jaguar Cosworth (M) 16.731 52.246 1:16.775 + 1.608 12. (4) Fisichella Jordan Ford (B) 16.670 52.788 1:16.831 + 1.664 13. (2) Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 16.877 52.897 1:17.090 + 1.923 14. (8) Frentzen Sauber Petronas (B) 16.736 53.004 1:17.169 + 2.002 15. (7) Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 17.164 53.280 1:17.557 + 2.390 16. (14) Wilson Jaguar Cosworth (M) 16.897 53.042 1:18.021 + 2.854 17. (9) Button BAR Honda (B) 17.086 53.146 1:18.085 + 2.918 18. (5) Firman Jordan Ford (B) 16.960 53.645 1:18.341 + 3.174 19. (3) Verstappen Minardi Cosworth (B) 17.279 53.993 1:19.023 + 3.856 20. (1) Kiesa Minardi Cosworth (B) 17.623 54.176 1:19.174 + 4.007 Pos ----- Sector 1 ----- ----- Sector 2 ----- ----- Sector 3 ----- 1. R.Schumacher 16.522 R.Schumacher 35.094 Montoya 23.355 2. Barrichello 16.570 Montoya 35.237 Barrichello 23.533 3. Montoya 16.575 Barrichello 35.385 M.Schumacher 23.550 4. Raikkonen 16.590 Raikkonen 35.405 Trulli 23.562 5. Trulli 16.603 Panis 35.432 R.Schumacher 23.569 6. M.Schumacher 16.612 Trulli 35.514 Panis 23.869 7. Fisichella 16.670 Webber 35.515 Raikkonen 23.879 8. Webber 16.731 da Matta 35.617 Alonso 23.950 9. Panis 16.733 Coulthard 35.649 Fisichella 24.043 10. da Matta 16.735 Alonso 35.725 Frentzen 24.165 11. Frentzen 16.736 M.Schumacher 35.736 Villeneuve 24.193 12. Coulthard 16.799 Villeneuve 36.020 da Matta 24.198 13. Alonso 16.808 Button 36.060 Coulthard 24.218 14. Villeneuve 16.877 Heidfeld 36.116 Heidfeld 24.277 15. Wilson 16.897 Fisichella 36.118 Webber 24.529 16. Firman 16.960 Wilson 36.145 Firman 24.696 17. Button 17.086 Frentzen 36.268 Button 24.939 18. Heidfeld 17.164 Kiesa 36.553 Wilson 24.979 19. Verstappen 17.279 Firman 36.685 Kiesa 24.998 20. Kiesa 17.623 Verstappen 36.714 Verstappen 25.030 Top Speed: 322.7 km/h (Villeneuve, BAR-Honda) All timing unofficial

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Hockenheim Tighten Security after Track Incursions
Next article Qualifying: Montoya rains on Ralf's parade

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe