Kovalainen Claims Monaco Pole
Heikki Kovalainen was the fastest man in an action-packed qualifying session in Monaco, which ended with the top three drivers split by less than one tenth of a second
Kovalainen's time of 1:24.665 was just good enough for pole, edging out Gianmaria Bruni by half a tenth of a second, and Adam Carroll by less than a tenth of a second.
But the talking point of the session was Nelson Piquet Jr's collision with Can Artam, who moved over on the clearly faster Piquet coming down the hill towards Mirabeau.
Piquet, who was one of the fastest drivers on track in free practice, looked set for a very good laptime until the move put him out with broken suspension, and he will now start near the back of the grid tomorrow in his first ever race in Monaco, the town in which he grew up.
The weight of expectation was clearly evident on the Brazilian's face when he returned to the pits - after shaking his fist at Artam as he drove along the pitlane, Piquet subsequently looked close to tears before leaving the circuit.
Jose Maria Lopez and Hiroke Yoshimoto will share his pain - both men were unable to run a single lap, Lopez due to gearbox problems and Yoshimoto owing to the continuation of his engine maladies.
Ernesto Viso will also be disappointed - he hit the wall on approach to St. Devote, putting himself out of the session immediately with a severely damaged car.
Olivier Pla also found the wall - he ran slightly too far to the left at Portier and clipped the barriers. His DPR team will have a lot of work on their hands today - teammate Ryan Sharp retired with a smoking engine, which will need to be replaced.
Despite Pla's accident he managed to set the fourth fastest time, just three tenths off Kovalainen's pole time, which will set up an intriguing battle off the line in tomorrow's race.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Kovalainen Arden International 1:24.665 17
2. Bruni Coloni Motorsport 1:24.724 + 0.059 14
3. Carroll Super Nova International 1:24.751 + 0.086 17
4. Pla DPR 1:24.996 + 0.331 13
5. Speed iSport International 1:25.405 + 0.740 18
6. Piccione Durango 1:25.483 + 0.818 17
7. Rosberg ART Grand Prix 1:25.494 + 0.829 18
8. Pantano Super Nova International 1:25.709 + 1.044 15
9. Jani Racing Engineering 1:25.918 + 1.253 14
10. Lapierre Arden International 1:26.083 + 1.418 16
11. Premat ART Grand Prix 1:26.287 + 1.622 18
12. Alvarez Campos Racing 1:26.463 + 1.798 13
13. Monfardini Durango 1:27.168 + 2.503 17
14. Garcia Racing Engineering 1:27.260 + 2.595 15
15. Viso BCN Competicion 1:27.307 + 2.642 3
16. Lauda Coloni Motorsport 1:28.401 + 3.736 19
17. Fauzy DAMS 1:28.853 + 4.188 12
18. Hernandez Campos Racing 1:28.947 + 4.282 15
19. Artam iSport International 1:29.941 + 5.276 17
Did Not Qualify (over 107%):
Sharp DPR 1:36.477 + 11.812 4
Negrao Hitech Piquet Sports 1:55.008 + 30.343 8
Piquet Jr. Hitech Piquet Sports 2:01.514 + 36.849 3
Lopez DAMS No Time 2
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Movin' On Up: The 2007 GP2 Season Preview
The Son Rising: Interview with Nelson Piquet Jr
Catch A Fire: Interview with Lewis Hamilton
The plot twist that gave Arrow McLaren’s Ward his first IndyCar win as team principal
Formula E’s new Gen3 Evo car breaks cover
The weekly reality check that has kept MotoGP hype off of Acosta so far in 2024
F2 veteran Ghiotto to make IndyCar debut with Dale Coyne Racing at Barber
Why Alpine’s rigorous training camp yields telling insights into its juniors
Can F2's relaxed title favourite prove a point to Alpine?
Why F1's junior logjam isn't entirely a product of current issues
Inside the racing university moulding F1 drivers and engineers alike
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments