Qualifying Times
01 S. Vettel Red Bull 1:32.160
02 J. Trulli Toyota 1:32.220
03 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:32.395
04 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:32.466
05 R. Barrichello Brawn GP 1:32.660
06 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:32.945
07 J. Button Brawn GP 1:32.962
08 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:32.980
09 H. Kovalainen McLaren no time
10 S. Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso no time
11 N. Rosberg Williams 1:31.103
12 F. Alonso Renault 1:31.638
13 R. Kubica BMW 1:32.341
14 T. Glock Toyota no time
15 J. Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso no time
16 G. Fisichella Ferrari 1:31.704
17 K. Nakajima Williams 1:31.718
18 R. Grosjean Renault 1:32.073
19 V. Liuzzi Force India F1 1:32.087

Revised grid & declared weights

1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 658.5kg
2. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 655.5
3. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 656
4. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 660
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 661
6. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP, 660.5
7. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 684.5
8. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 650
9. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 686
10. Jenson Button, Brawn GP, 658.5
11. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 675
12. Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso, 682.5
13. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 665.4
14. Giancarlo Fisichella, Ferrari, 661.5
15. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 695.7
16. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 689.5
17. Romain Grosjean, Renault, 691.8
18. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Force India, 682.5
19. Mark Webber, Red Bull, n/a

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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Giancarlo Fisichella - 16th: “I am very disappointed not to have made it through to Q2. We only had this morning’s free practice to prepare the car in the dry, but I think all the same, I improved my performance level, growing ever more confident in the F60. On my final timed lap, I made a mistake which probably cost me the time I needed to get into the next part. Tomorrow, the aim is to get into the points: I know it will be very difficult, starting from the eighth row, but with a good strategy, maybe I can do it.”

Kimi Raikkonen - 8th: “I don’t think we could have expected much more today. We know what our potential is and we have to accept that. Here, the situation is definitely better than in Singapore, but we continue to struggle, especially with a lack of aerodynamic downforce, which makes itself felt especially in the first sector. Overall, the car is working well and it’s nice to drive on such a demanding track as this, where the slightest error is heavily punished, as we saw today. It’s a shame I didn’t have new soft tyres for Q3, but we had to use them earlier to avoid being knocked out: all in all it was a good qualifying. Tomorrow, we will try and have a good race: it will be difficult to fight for the top spots, but we will try and we can count on having a good strategy.”

Chris Dyer: “A really close fought qualifying. Another great performance from Kimi, at every stage of the session. It’s a shame that, for just a few hundredths in Q3, he could have got a better grid position. We were the only ones to get to the final part without any new soft tyres, as we didn’t want to take any risks in Q1, but we are happy with how things went all the same, partly because we have a lot of fuel on board and think we have a good strategy for tomorrow’s race. It’s a bit disappointing for Giancarlo who missed out on Q2 by a whisker: he is improving day by day and we are sure that tomorrow, he will make another step forward and therefore have a good race.”

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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Qualifying Times

01 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:47.891
02 S. Vettel Red Bull 1:48.204
03 N. Rosberg Williams 1:48.348
04 M. Webber Red Bull 1:48.722
05 R. Barrichello Brawn GP 1:48.828*
06 F. Alonso Renault 1:49.054
07 T. Glock Toyota 1:49.180
08 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:49.307
09 R. Kubica BMW 1:49.514
10 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:49.778
11 K. Nakajima Williams 1:47.013
12 J. Button Brawn GP 1:47.141
13 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:47.177
14 S. Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:47.369
15 J. Trulli Toyota 1:47.413
16 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:48.231
17 J. Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:48.340
18 G. Fisichella Ferrari 1:48.350
19 R. Grosjean Renault 1:48.544
20 V. Liuzzi Force India F1 1:48.792

* Rubens will take a 5 place penalty tomorrow for a gear box change.

Fuel loads for tomorrows race

Pos  Driver                             Weight (kg)

1.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes         660.5

2.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault         651.0

3.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota          657.5

4.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault         654.5

5.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes           655.5

6.  Alonso       Renault                  658.0

7.  Glock        Toyota                   660.5

8.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber               650.0

9.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber               664.0

10.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes         664.5

11.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota          680.7

12.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes           683.0

13.  Raikkonen    Ferrari                  680.5

14.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari       678.0

15.  Trulli       Toyota                   690.9

16.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes     693.0

17.  Alguersuari  Toro Rosso-Ferrari       683.5

18.  Fisichella   Ferrari                  678.5

19.  Grosjean     Renault                  683.0

20.  Liuzzi       Force India-Mercedes     656.0

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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Giancarlo Fisichella - 18th: “Obviously, I am disappointed with this result. I really wanted to do well, but I still haven’t managed to find the right level of confidence in this car: it’s almost as if it is driving me rather than the other way round. Especially on such a difficult track, I don’t have the confidence to go right to the limit. Naturally starting from eighteenth place means I can expect a very difficult race. I will try and make up some places at the start and then make the most of the race pace. Getting into the points would be the maximum, but even that will be a very tough target to reach.”

Kimi Raikkonen - 13th: “Unfortunately, today we were just not quick enough to get into Q3 and there was not much we could do about it. It’s logical that, as other cars improve, race after race, we pay a higher price for our decision to stop developing the F60. Tomorrow, we can expect a tough race as it is very difficult to overtake here, so getting into the points will be very difficult. It’s true that anything can happen on a track like this and we will have to do our best to make the most of every opportunity, maybe getting some help through a good start as we have usually managed in the last few races. As for the tyres, I think that tomorrow, there could be a problem with wear on the softer tyre, even if the situation could improve during the race.”

Stefano Domenicali: “Our target today was to get at least one car through to Q3 and the other to Q2, but we did not succeed and we have to accept that our package just wasn’t quick enough in this qualifying session. Furthermore, if so many of our competitors continue to develop their cars, while we stopped doing so with ours several weeks ago, then the more time goes by, the more we will find ourselves in an ever more difficult situation. However, what really matters is the race result, where reliability is always the key factor, especially in a race that looks like being very tough and where all sorts of things could happen. Clearly, we will be trying to fight our way towards the front, which means it will be difficult to reach our minimum target of finishing in the top eight.”

Chris Dyer: “A really difficult qualifying for us, even more so than we expected. We knew it would be tough, but we felt we could have made it through to the final part of the session. But honestly, today we did not have the performance to do that. Kimi did two good laps in Q2, but it was not enough. Tomorrow’s race will be very long, so let’s hope we can make up some places at the start and then try and get into the points.”

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Lewis Hamilton took pole position for tomorrow’s Italian GP. Sutil will start from P2 and Kimi Raikkonen from 3rd.

Below is the weight of each car following qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix, sorted by qualifying position.

Pos  Driver                             Weight (kg)

1.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes         653.5

2.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes     655.0

3.  Raikkonen    Ferrari                  662.0

4.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes         683.0

5.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes           688.5

6.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes           687.0

7.  Liuzzi       Force India-Mercedes     679.5

8.  Alonso       Renault                  677.5

9.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault         682.0

10.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault         683.0

11.  Trulli       Toyota                   703.0*

12.  Grosjean     Renault                  699.8*

13.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber               697.5*

14.  Fisichella   Ferrari                  690.0*

15.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber               697.5*

16.  Glock        Toyota                   709.8*

17.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota          706.2*

18.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota          708.6*

19.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari       706.0*

20.  Alguersuari  Toro Rosso-Ferrari       706.0*

* Declared weight

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

12th September 2009

Kimi Raikkonen: 3rd 1.24.523 8 Laps. Giancarlo Fisichella: 14th 1.23.901 9 Laps Chassis: K. Raikkonen 279. G. Fisichella 280. Weather: air temperature 27 °C, track temperature 38 °C, partially cloudy.

One Ferrari on the second row and the other on the seventh: that was the outcome of qualifying for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, with Kimi Raikkonen starting from third place and Giancarlo Fisichella from fourteenth. Given how the day started, we can be reasonably happy with how things turned out, said Stefano Domenicali. I am very happy for Kimi, who produced an amazing performance. Giancarlo did the best he could given the circumstances: he was unable to prepare for qualifying as well as possible during FP3, which was a significant handicap on his Ferrari debut. Tomorrows race will be tough and difficult, fighting against very strong opposition, which now includes Force India, hardly a surprise any more. The choice of strategies could be different from one driver to the next, so it will be vital to fully exploit every opportunity. Our aim is to pick up as many points as possible to consolidate our third place in the Constructors’ classification, but it would be very nice to produce a crowd pleasing result in front of all our fans at this our home race.

Giancarlo Fisichella - 14th: “Overall, I am reasonably happy, even if I’m aware that a fourteenth place on the grid is not up to the Ferrari standard. Yesterday, I drove the F60 for the first time and this morning, because of a mistake by me, I lost valuable time to prepare for qualifying, as I crashed into the barriers. I want to thank all the mechanics who did a fantastic job of rebuilding the car for qualifying. I was a bit tense before the session, as I knew I didn’t yet have enough confidence in the car. Unfortunately, in Q2, I never managed to put together a perfect lap and so I couldn’t make it through to Q3. It’s a shame, as the potential was there, but tomorrow there is still time to have a good race nevertheless. Maybe, I can try and immediately make up some places at the start thanks to the KERS.”

Kimi Raikkonen: That was one of my best qualifying sessions of the year and we hope that tomorrow things can go even better. I am pleased with this result, for the team and for our fans. The car is not yet perfect, but it is good all the same. We knew the hardest task would come in Q2 as after that, the car is always very competitive with a race fuel load on board: all the same, it was a pleasant surprise to see how it handled in the final part. I am confident for tomorrow: at the start it will not be as easy to make up a lot of places as it was at Spa, because there are other cars fitted with KERS near me, but if everything goes well, we can fight for a place on the podium.

Stefano Domenicali: “Given how the day started, we can be reasonably happy with how things turned. I am very happy for Kimi, who produced an amazing performance. Giancarlo did the best he could given the circumstances: he was unable to prepare for qualifying as well as possible during FP3, which was a significant handicap on his Ferrari debut. Tomorrow’s race will be tough and difficult, fighting against very strong opposition, which now includes Force India, hardly a surprise any more. The choice of strategies could be different from one driver to the next, so it will be vital to fully exploit every opportunity. Our aim is to pick up as many points as possible to consolidate our third place in the Constructors’ classification, but it would be very nice to produce a crowd pleasing result in front of all our fans at this our home race.”

Chris Dyer: First of all, I want to compliment Giancarlo. After this mornings accident, the task facing him in qualifying was not an easy one and managing to take fourteenth place despite this is a good way to start his career with Ferrari. Compliments also go to all the mechanics who did a great job of repairing the car in a very short space of time. Kimi had a great qualifying, especially in Q3. Possibly, other drivers behind him have more fuel and that means we will try and make the most of the first stages of the race to make up ground. Yesterday, we saw that we have a good race pace and I think we can fight for a place on the podium.

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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