Magny-Cours, 15th July 2006

A difficult day for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro ended with a great result, as for the second consecutive race and the third time this year, tomorrow's grid will feature an all-red front row, after Michael Schumacher recorded his fourth pole position of the season, while Felipe Massa will line up alongside him.

This fantastic result had not looked that likely earlier in the day during free practice: Felie Massa had a clutch problem that was fixed just in time for the start of qualifying, while Michael Schumacher's 248 F1 had caught fire in the pits, after some unburnt fuel in the exhausts was set alight. In both cases, the mechanics did a great job to put the cars back into shape.




With the championship in mind, this is the best possible way to start the race, but the reigning champion and current series leader, Fernando Alonso has put his Renault right behind the Ferrari duo in third place. Proving that Ferrari's tyre supplier has got its calculations right for this circuit, the two Bridgestone-shod Toyotas also did well, with Jarno Trulli fourth on the grid just ahead of team-mate Ralf Schumacher, who has the McLaren-Mercedes of Kimi Raikkonen alongside him in sixth spot. Of course, the Finn now has a new team-mate, with Juan Pablo Montoya's move to NASCAR and Pedro de la Rosa lines up eighth (alongside Fisichella's Renault) for his first grand prix since Bahrain in 2005.

Hot weather is expected so 70 laps are going to be very tough on drivers, engines and tyres. It should be a very interesting afternoon in the French countryside.