Indianapolis, 16th June 2007

This year's qualifying sessions continue to produce some thrilling action for the spectators, but it seems the current trend is for the F2007 to just lack that final bit of pace over a single lap which makes Saturday's battle between Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro and its closest rivals a tough one for Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen. For the third consecutive time this season, the front row is an all McLaren-Mercedes affair, with remarkable rookie Lewis Hamilton taking his second consecutive pole position ahead of Fernando Alonso. In fact the Englishman's performance seems to have captured the imagination of an American public, whose reception for Formula 1 has tended to be lukewarm compared to the enthusiasm they show for other motorised sports.

Right behind the silver cars comes the Ferrari red of Felipe Massa third and Kimi Raikkonen fourth. Second in the Canadian Grand Prix, Nick Heidfeld is fifth for Sauber-BMW while Heikki Kovalainen took his Renault around the Brickyard in a time quick enough for sixth spot. A worthy performance came from Sebastian Vettel who will compete in his first ever grand prix tomorrow here in Indianapolis after putting his Sauber-BMW in seventh place on the grid.



The circuit here, which uses part of the famous banked oval, but run the "wrong" way, is not the most exciting, but it does provide some interesting technical challenges, mainly the compromise between a low downforce configuration for maximum speed on the straight - the usual best race option as it allows for overtaking or running with more wing that gives the car more stability through the slower part and is thus less hard on the tyres as they slide around less. The way the various cars deal with the inevitable compromise will be one of the determining factors in tomorrow's seventh round of the Formula 1 World Championship.