Japan GP - Fifth, Felipe will have to fight
Mount Fuji, 11th October
Felipe Massa summed up his qualifying session perfectly, saying he was the quickest man on track, but at the wrong time. Indeed, the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver set the best time of the day in Q2, when cars run minimum fuel loads, but then lacked grip in the grid deciding Top Ten shoot-out to take fifth spot, which is not ideal in terms of the championship, as current leader Lewis Hamilton took pole for McLaren-Mercedes. However, reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen preferred the handling of his F2008 when running with his race fuel load and made a timely return to the front row in second spot. The second row is made up of Heikki Kovalainen in the second McLaren, with Singapore winner, Fernando Alonso putting his Renault on the outside in fourth place. Felipe shares the third row with the man who is behind him in the Drivers' championship, Robert Kubica in the BMW-Sauber. With the various fuel loads of all the front runners yet to be revealed, strategy will be a key factor in tomorrow's race, which like today's qualifying is expected to take place on a dry track.
Like all the teams, the Scuderia has been practicing its pit stops during the weekend and for the Prancing Horse team, this has meant a return to the "lollipop" being used to stop and release drivers into pit lane. The "traffic light" system has not been axed, but just put on ice for the final races, to take any pressure off the mechanics after a couple of problems with it. Indeed, news that other teams are now investigating similar systems, proves that it is the way to go, as it offers a performance advantage during pits stops where fractions of a second can make a difference to final positions in a race.
After the novelty and excitement of Singapore two weeks ago, the Fuji circuit offers everyone a quieter and more rural backdrop, but Kimi and Felipe were involved in a more glamorous event back on Wednesday when they stopped off in Tokyo. The two F1 drivers were present at the Italian Embassy in the Japanese capital city for this country's launch of the new California road car.
Felipe Massa summed up his qualifying session perfectly, saying he was the quickest man on track, but at the wrong time. Indeed, the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver set the best time of the day in Q2, when cars run minimum fuel loads, but then lacked grip in the grid deciding Top Ten shoot-out to take fifth spot, which is not ideal in terms of the championship, as current leader Lewis Hamilton took pole for McLaren-Mercedes. However, reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen preferred the handling of his F2008 when running with his race fuel load and made a timely return to the front row in second spot. The second row is made up of Heikki Kovalainen in the second McLaren, with Singapore winner, Fernando Alonso putting his Renault on the outside in fourth place. Felipe shares the third row with the man who is behind him in the Drivers' championship, Robert Kubica in the BMW-Sauber. With the various fuel loads of all the front runners yet to be revealed, strategy will be a key factor in tomorrow's race, which like today's qualifying is expected to take place on a dry track.
Like all the teams, the Scuderia has been practicing its pit stops during the weekend and for the Prancing Horse team, this has meant a return to the "lollipop" being used to stop and release drivers into pit lane. The "traffic light" system has not been axed, but just put on ice for the final races, to take any pressure off the mechanics after a couple of problems with it. Indeed, news that other teams are now investigating similar systems, proves that it is the way to go, as it offers a performance advantage during pits stops where fractions of a second can make a difference to final positions in a race.
After the novelty and excitement of Singapore two weeks ago, the Fuji circuit offers everyone a quieter and more rural backdrop, but Kimi and Felipe were involved in a more glamorous event back on Wednesday when they stopped off in Tokyo. The two F1 drivers were present at the Italian Embassy in the Japanese capital city for this country's launch of the new California road car.
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