Webber tenth in Turkish GP Qualifying


Mark in tenth

By Andrew Hooper
August 27 2006

WilliamsF1 driver Mark Webber would finish tenth in qualifying for the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix. Team-mate Nico Rosberg would finish in fifteenth. But both driversw ill move one place up the grid come race time due to a ten place grid penalty for Ralf Schumacher, who qualified fifth.

 
Turkish GP Qualifying
 

Under hot and sunny conditions qualifying for the Turkish Grand Prix would get under way. Based on their practice times the session is going to be a difficult one for the WilliamsF1 drivers. Monteiro would be the first driver out on the track followed by Yamamoto. Alonso would come out early. Trulli would also take to the track, joined by team-mate Ralf Schumacher. There would be a rush of drivers including Coulthard, Albers, Speed, Sato, and Klien who would also come out. The first time was set by Monteiro with a 1m:30.255. Nico would also leave the pit lane, joined by
Mark Webber.

RosbergAlonso would go fastest with a 1m:29.087. Trulli would move ahead of the Renault with a 1m:28.926. Coulthard was in third from Speed, Albers and Monteiro. Only three drivers had yet to come out, Fisichella, Massa, and Kubica. Klien was now in second, 1m:28.982. Button was in fifth but Mark would put in a time that would see him in third, 1m:29.069. Nico was down in ninth with a 1m:29.674. Michael Schumacher would move to the top of the times with a 1m:27.385. Raikkonen was now in second, 1m:28.236. But Heidfeld would move ahead of Kimi with a time of 1m:28.200. Mark was now in sixth and Nico twelfth.

Massa would move ahead of team-mate Michael with a time of 1m:27.306. Trulli was fifth and Klien sixth. Mark was now in seventh and Nico thirteenth, but with three quick drivers yet to set a time Nico was facing the prospect of been dropped after Q1. Alonso would move into fourth and Fisichella fifth. On his next lap ralf would move up to be in third, 1m:27.668. This would see mark down in thirteenth and Nico eighteenth. This would become nineteenth as Kubica moved into seventh. Mark was now in sixteenth and only just made it through into Q2. But in the final moments of the session Mark and Nico would set times that would see them move up into eleventh and fifteenth positions.

Those who failed to make the cut included Coulthard, Speed, Liuzzi, Monteiro, Yamamoto, and Sato. At the top of the times it was Massa leading from Michael, Ralf, Alonso, Fisichella, Heidfeld, Kubica, Button, Raikkonen, and Klien in tenth.

 
Q2 would get underway with Kubica the first driver to exit the pit lane. He would be joined by his team-mate Heidfeld. Trulli, Nico, and Albers would also come out. Mark would also take to the track. Klien was also out early in the period. Kubica would set the first time, 1m:27.861. Ralf was also out on the track. Heidfeld would go fastest with a 1m:27.286. Trulli was in third followed by Nico, 1m:28.386. Ralf would go fastest with a 1m:27.062. Mark was now in third, 1m:27.608.

Nico was now in seventh. Massa was the only driver yet to take to the track. Alonso would move to the top of the times with a 1m:26.917. A stunning lap from the Spaniard. But Michael was on a very quick lap and would move ahead of Alonso with a 1m:25.850. He was over a second faster than Alonso. Button was now in fifth and Mark was now down in sixth. Raikkonen would move into fourth on his first lap, 1m:27.202. Massa was now in third on his first lap, 1m:27.059.

Mark was now in eighth but Nico had dropped to be in fourteenth and facing the prospect of not making it into Q3. Both Mark and Nico were on the track with a minute to go. Fisichella was in seventh from Button. As the session came to an end Mark was in ninth but for Nico his lat lap would not see an improvement and his qualifying would be over. Button was now in second with a 1m:26.872 on his final lap. Thos who failed to make it through to the next period were Klien, de la Rosa, Trulli, Barrichello, Nico, and Albers.

Fastest was Michael from Button, Alonso, Massa, Ralf, Raikkonen, Heidfeld, Fisichella, Kubica, and Mark in tenth. It was a great effort by Mark to make it into the top ten.
 
Q3 and it would be Button waiting at the pit lane exit. he would lead the queue of drivers out onto the track with the start of the period. Now would begin the process of the drivers lightening their fuel loads. Michael would be fastest with a 1m:29.837 but it was expected that the drivers would stop for new tyres twice.

WebberWith eight minutes remaining Michael still lead but Massa was now in second but it would be Alonso to be first to pit. He was followed by Fisichella and Raikkonen. Michael, Massa and Button would also stop. Both BMW Sauber's would also come in. Six minutes remaining and it would be Fisichella who would be on a quick lap. He would go fastest with a 1m:27.878. Alonso was in second with a 1m:28.071. Raikkonen was in third. Massa was now fastest with a time of 1m:27.307. This was half a second faster than Fisichella. Raikkonen would pit. Michael would run wide at Turn one ruining his lap.

Alonso and Button would pit. Button was now in fourth from Heidfeld. Massa, Fisichella, and Kubica would also pit with a minute thirty left. These would be the drivers final runs. Michael was down in eighth, ahead of Ralf and Mark in tenth.

But Michael would move to the top of the times with a 1m:27.284. Massa was in second and Fisichella third. Mark was now in ninth with a 1m:29.436. Alonso was in fourth leading Button and Heidfeld as the session came to an end. But several drivers had yet to complete their laps and Massa would move ahead of Michael to take his first pole, 1m:26.907. Michael would make it an all Ferrari front row. Alonso and Fisichella were in third and fourth. Ralf would finish in fifth from Heidfeld, Button, Raikkonen, Kubica, and Mark in tenth.

But with Ralf facing a ten grid position penalty for an engine change Mark will start the race from ninth and Nico from fourteenth.

 
Pos  Driver        Team                     Time
 1.  Massa         Ferrari             (B)  1:26.907
 2.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari             (B)  1:27.284
 3.  Alonso        Renault             (M)  1:27.321
 4.  Fisichella    Renault             (M)  1:27.564
 5.  R.Schumacher  Toyota              (B)  1:27.569
 6.  Heidfeld      BMW-Sauber          (M)  1:27.785
 7.  Button        Honda               (M)  1:27.790
 8.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes    (M)  1:27.866
 9.  Kubica        BMW-Sauber          (M)  1:28.167
10.  Webber        WilliamsF1-Cosworth (B)  1:29.436
11.  Klien         Red Bull-Ferrari    (M)  1:27.852
12.  de la Rosa    McLaren-Mercedes    (M)  1:27.897
13.  Trulli        Toyota              (B)  1:27.973
14.  Barrichello   Honda               (M)  1:28.257
15.  Rosberg       WilliamsF1-Cosworth (B)  1:28.386
16.  Albers        MF1-Toyota          (B)  1:28.639
17.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Ferrari    (M)  1:29.136
18.  Speed         Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M)  1:29.158
19.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M)  1:29.250
20.  Monteiro      MF1-Toyota          (B)  1:29.901
21.  Yamamoto      Super Aguri-Honda   (B)  1:30.607
22.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda   (B)  1:30.850
 

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