Kimi On Pole As Montoya Spins Off - Sat 23rd Jul 2005
After starting the last two races from the midfield, McLaren-Mercedes' Kimi Raikkonen has taken pole position for the German Grand Prix.
Coming through practice and qualifying without the engine problems that saw him take a 10-place grid penalty at both the French and British GPs, the Finn lapped the 2.842-mile circuit in a time of one minute 14.320 seconds.
The time was set despite Raikkonen surviving a scare in the last two corners, the 25-year-old having to correct a spectacular slide as his car oversteered its way towards the start-finish straight.
But team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya, last out in the qualifying session, could not repeat the feat when caught out in similar fashion as he attempted to beat Raikkonen's time - the Colombian spinning off the track at the last corner and into the barrier.
The mistake means that Montoya will start the race from the back of the grid - a situation sure to damage his team's hopes of challenging Renault for the constructors' title.
BAR-Honda's Jenson Button was thus promoted to second quickest, with championship leader Fernando Alonso third fastest in his Renault, just ahead of team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella.
World Champion Michael Schumacher was fifth fastest in his Ferrari, the German's grid position partly reflected by a probable lower fuel load and softer choice of tyre than team-mate Rubens Barrichello, who will start the race way down in 15th slot.
After showing poor form in both France and Great Britain, the Williams duo of Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld showed some improvement with sixth and seventh places respectively - the Australian three-tenths of a second ahead.
Button's team-mate Takuma Sato qualified in eighth place, ahead of Toyota's Jarno Trulli. Red Bull's Christian Klien ended the session tenth, with team-mate David Coulthard only four one-hundredths of a second down.
Ralf Schumacher was 12th quickest in his Toyota, with the Sauber duo of Felipe Massa and Jacques Villeneuve 13th and 14th.
Behind Barrichello, came the Minardi duo of Christijan Albers and debutant Robert Doornbos, ahead of Jordan's Tiago Monteiro and Narain Karthikeyan - the latter deciding not to complete his error-strewn lap.
