Formula One news

Raikkonen grabs pole at Spa

Kimi Raikkonen will start Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix from pole position. At Spa-Farncorchamps he scored his second pole of the season with a time of 1,45,994. He was slightly faster than team mate Felipe Massa who will join the Finn in first row. Alonso and Hamilton had to settle down for third and fourth.

Qualifying got underway under a sunny sky in Belgium. In the first knock-out session Fernando Alonso was the fastest driver. In the final minute of the first knock-out session Scuderia Toro Rosso driver Sebastian Vettel jumped to P7, but unfortunately for the young Germany he didn't expect the following ten drivers to go faster than him pushing him out of the top 16. Adrian Sutil also looked strong, but the German had to settle down for P20.

The second qualifying session was extremely close. Kimi Raikkonen completed the fastest lap, right ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa. Jarno Trulli did well with his Toyota as he managed to set the ninth fastest time, bringing him to the final qualifying round. At Renault the team must be disappointed with Fisichella's results as the Italian qualified in eleventh.

In the final qualifying round the drivers started once more covering the laps to empty their fuel tanks. Felipe Massa was the first driver in the final minutes to set the fastest lap. Fernando Alonso was unable to come up with an answer. The only driver that managed to improve Massa's time was his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen. Alonso and Hamilton will start Sunday's race from the second row in third and fourth position.

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• 20 Aug.
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  • Valencia technical preview
  • Barrichello sees chance of points
• 19 Aug.
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  • Glock still smiling after Hungarian podium
  • Piquet targets top ten qualifying slot
  • Toyota confidence high for Valencia
• 18 Aug.
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  • Trulli hopeful of fighting for podium
  • BMW boss hoping to revive campaign
  • Brawn hopeful having done Valencia homework
  • Kubica ready to get down to business
• 17 Aug.
  • McLaren boss relies on methodical approach
  • Heidfeld unconcerned by new venue
• 16 Aug.
  • Button excited for Valencia debut
  • Kovalainen - win doesn't change much
• 15 Aug.
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  • Trulli set for streets of Rotterdam
  • Hamilton puts focus on consistently scoring points
• 14 Aug.
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  • Red Bull goal is fourth
  • Berger: Vettel will win the championship one day
• 13 Aug.
  • Former Renault aero guru passes away
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• 12 Aug.
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• 11 Aug.
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  • Theissen: Friday sessions in Valencia will be busy
• 10 Aug.
  • Coulthard wants to ban refuelling
  • Heidfeld calls for less testing and more races
• 09 Aug.
  • Bridgestone confirms tyre specs for final rounds

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