Despite $400M budget, Ferrari admits cars are junk
Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa will start what could be the last British Grand Prix to be held at Silverstone, from the fifth and sixth rows of the grid, with Kimi Raikkonen lining up ninth, directly ahead of teammate Felipe Massa in eleventh place.
Three words sum up the problems faced by our duo, the same problem that has dogged them for much of this year – lack of grip. Running the same Bridgestone tire compounds as in Turkey a fortnight ago, but at much lower ambient and track temperatures, getting them to work was always going to be difficult, as the F60 in its current form isn’t generating enough downforce from its aero package to stick the tires to the track surface and make them work at their best.
The man who did make the best job of it today was Sebastian Vettel, who claimed his and Red Bull Renault’s third pole of the season, the German’s career fourth. Always something of a Silverstone specialist, Rubens Barrichello will also start from the front row tomorrow in the Brawn-Mercedes, while third place went to the other Red Bull of Mark Webber. The Australian is joined on the second row by Jarno Trulli in the Toyota, while Row 3 features Kazuki Nakajima in the Williams – Toyota, alongside series leader and crowd favorite at his home race, Jenson Button. At least Kimi is in good company on Row 5 as it is reserved for World Champions! He shares it with the Renault of Fernando Alonso. One row further back, Felipe has Robert Kubica’s BMW alongside him.
As Felipe said after the session, it will need some exceptional circumstances in the race, to help the Ferrari duo move up the field. At the moment, it does not look as though this help could come from the weather, because although there was a short shower today, no rain is forecast for tomorrow afternoon, when the eighth round of the world championship gets underway at 13h00 local time. Ferrari.com