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2008 Barcelona qualifying |
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Saturday, 26 April 2008 |
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen
will start Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona from fifth and
sixth positions on the grid respectively. In the third part of
Saturday's qualifying, Lewis set a time of 1m22.096 whilst Heikki's
time was 1m22.231.
LEWIS HAMILTON
“I am actually quite surprised that we are not higher up the grid as
the car felt very good, and I put in some strong laps. Throughout
qualifying one and two the car felt extremely well balanced, but it’s
so close which means that it will be an exciting race tomorrow. Being
on the third row is not the end of the world as we are surrounded by
good drivers who all want to finish the race. The key is now to make a
strong start and hopefully gain a couple of positions, and I am
confident as I believe our race pace is competitive, and we have a good
strategy.”
HEIKKI KOVALAINEN
“I didn’t expect to be on the third row as I thought the last part of
qualifying wasn’t too bad. However the times are very close and with
just a tiny bit more I would have been able to gain a few positions,
but that is life. We will now dig deep, and tomorrow is another long
day where anything can happen. I don’t know if the lack of running
yesterday had any influence as the more laps you have the more
confident you are – but I don’t think it would have made too much of a
difference, and the team has done a great job in getting the car ready
and competitive. I believe we should be able to go for it in the race
tomorrow.”
RON DENNIS
“Of course we would have preferred to be higher up the grid, but from
row three anything can happen. We are well prepared, and I believe our
strategy will prove competitive. The race will be interesting as there
are a number of drivers capable of winning which is great for the fans,
and I am sure that Lewis, Heikki and the entire team will put in strong
performances.”
NORBERT HAUG
"Positions five and six are not our dream result and as less than three
tenths are missing to pole position we have to wait who of the four or
five competitors ahead of us are running how long in the first stint.
Both Lewis and Heikki feel confident in the car, our long runs during
testing produced consistent lap times, so the aim is to get better
positions tomorrow in the race than today in qualifying."
| Pos |
Driver |
Constructor |
Time |
| 1 |
Kimi Raikkonen |
Scuderia Ferrari |
1m21.813 |
| 2 |
Fernando Alonso |
Renault |
1m21.904 |
| 3 |
Felipe Massa |
Scuderia Ferrari |
1m22.058 |
| 4 |
Robert Kubica |
BMW Sauber |
1m22.065 |
| 5 |
Lewis Hamilton |
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes |
1m22.096 |
| 6 |
Heikki Kovalainen |
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes |
1m22.231 |
| 7 |
Mark Webber |
Red Bull Racing |
1m22.429 |
| 8 |
Jarno Trulli |
Toyota |
1m22.529 |
| 9 |
Nick Heidfeld |
BMW Sauber |
1m22.542 |
| 10 |
Nelson Piquet Jr |
Renault |
1m22.699 |
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| 11 |
Rubens Barrichello |
Honda Racing |
1m21.049 |
| 12 |
Kazuki Nakagima |
Williams F1 |
1m21.117 |
| 13 |
Jenson Button |
Honda Racing |
1m21.211 |
| 14 |
Timo Glock |
Toyota |
1m21.230 |
| 15 |
Nico Rosberg |
Williams F1 |
1m21.349 |
| 16 |
Sebastien Bourdais |
Toro Rosso |
1m21.724 |
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| 17 |
David Coulthard |
Red Bull Racing |
1m21.810 |
| 18 |
Sebastien Vettel |
Toro Rosso |
1m22.108 |
| 19 |
Giancarlo Fisichella |
Force India |
1m22.516 |
| 20 |
Adrian Sutil |
Force India |
1m23.224 |
| 21 |
Anthony Davidson |
Super Aguri |
1m23.318 |
| 22 |
Takuma Sato |
Super Aguri |
1m23.496
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courtesy of www.mcclaren.com
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