Formula One news

McLaren eyes victory from pole

McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen will start Sunday's Italian Grand Prix at Monza from pole position. In a thrilling third qualifying session he set a time of 1:21.484 and edged out Michael Schumacher's Ferrari by two thousands of a second. It's the third pole position of the season for both Team McLaren Mercedes and the Finn. It's Kimi's 11th career pole. Team mate Pedro de la Rosa qualified eighth fastest with a 1:22.280.

"A good weekend for us so far," said Raikkonen. "I'm pleased to be on pole position, and it wasn't even a particularly good lap as I had two big moments in Ascari. I was not here at the test last week, but the team, Pedro and Gary did a fantastic job, and we have a very good tyre from Michelin. The race tomorrow will be tough, but we will certainly give it our best shot. I'm confident that Michelin is well prepared for the race. The car has been working well, and I want to remain at the front and look forward to achieving that."

De la Rosa commented, "A very good qualifying for Kimi, the team and me. I was lucky not to have any traffic in my runs and I'm relieved as I just made it into the final session on my last run, and it was a bit too close for comfort. The balance of the car was excellent even with the lower downforce configuration that we ran today. I'm looking forward to a strong race tomorrow."

Team boss Ron Dennis added, "A strong performance by Kimi and the team. I'm pleased with the progress we have made since the test last week and continued throughout the weekend. We will see what happens in the race tomorrow but are confident that both Kimi and Pedro's race strategies will help to deliver a positive result."

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