Webber manages only tenth in San Marino qualifying


Mark in tenth

By Andrew Hooper
April 22 2006

WilliamsF1 team driver Mark Webber could only manage tenth grid position in qualifying for the 2006 San Marino GP. Team-mate Nico Rosberg was down in thirteenth after having failed to make the cut in the second session of qualifying.

 
San Marino GP Qualifying
 

The first fifteen minute session of qualifying for the 2006 San marino Grand
prix would get under way in sunny conditions with Nico Rosberg taking part in the teams spare car with his engine swapped into it without incurring any penalty. Liuzzi would be the first driver out followed by Rosberg, Albers, Monteiro, Speed, Sato, Ide, and Ralf Schumacher. they would be joined by Klien, Trulli.

RosbergWith ten drivers out on the circuit it would be Liuzzi who would set the first time, 1m:26.334. Ralf would move ahead with a 1m:26.332. Albers would spin his car but was able to keep going. Nico would push Ralf down one spot when he went fastest with a 1m:25.536. Liuzzi was now in second with a 1m:26.014. Ralf was back in his garage. Raikkonen, Button, and Coulthard were now out on the circuit. Kimi was on a quick lap and would move into the top spot with a 1m:24.259. Montoya, Michael Schumacher, Massa, Barrichello, and Heidfeld were all out looking to set their first timed lap.

Button was now in second with a 1m:24.480. Coulthard was now in fourth with a 1m:25.798. The rest of the drivers were now out including Mark Webber. Liuzzi was now in third with a 1m:24.879. But Rubens would move ahead of the Torro Rosso driver with a 1m:24.727.

But it would be Alonso on his first lap that would go fastest with a time of 1m:23.536. Team-mate Fisichella was now in third with a 1m:24.434. Mark's first lap would see him tenth with a time of 1m:25.068. Nico was now in fourteenth. Michael Schumacher was in fifth behind Button. Montoya was now in tenth with a 1m:24.960. Nico would put in a very quick lap that would see him move into sixth, 1m:24.495. Mark was now in fourteenth. Ralf was now in third with a 1m:24.370.

With the end of the session both WilliamsF1 drivers would progress into the next session. The drivers to drop out were Ide, Sato, Albers, Monteiro, Speed, and Klien. Heidfeld and Klien had the same time, 1m:25.410, but it would be the Red Bull driver who was dropped.
 
The second session would get under way with Heidfeld, Villeneuve, and Liuzzi coming out. Ralf was also out and he would set the quickest time, 1m:24.423. He would be passed by team-mate Trulli with a 1m:23.727. Villeneuve and Heidfeld were in third and fourth. Liuzzi was in fifth. Coulthard was out on the circuit. He was followed by Raikkonen, Montoya, and Button.
Michael, Alonso, and Fisichella were also out with just over seven minutes remaining. Kimi was on a quick lap setting fastest times in the first two
sectors. Montoya was now in second with a 1m:24.014, but Kimi would move him down one spot when he went fastest with a 1m:23.190. Barrichello was in fourth. Nico was out on the circuit. Michael would go fastest with a 1m:22.579 to be fastest by over half a second. Fisichella was in seventh.

RosbergMark and Nico were yet to set a time as the final minutes counted down. Alonso was in fourth but would be pushed down one spot when Massa went third fastest, 1m:23.595. Nico's first lap would see him in ninth with a 1m:23.966. Montoya was in tenth, 1m:24.014. Mark would finally come out to set a time in the final minutes. Talk about cutting it fine.

Nico was in twelfth while Ralf would move into third, 1m:23.565. On his first lap Mark would move into fifth with a 1m:23.718 but Nico was down in thirteenth and looked like not making the cut. Fisichella was in eleventh and also likely to be dropped. In the closing moments Heidfeld would spin his car at the second Rivazza turn crashing into the wall. So with the end of the session it would be Liuzzi, Heidfeld, Coulthard, Rosberg, Villeneuve, and Fisichella who would be dropped fro the final session.

The top ten were Michael Schumacher, 1m:22.579, Raikkonen, Ralf Schumacher, Massa, Webber, Trulli, Alonso, Button, Barrichello, and Montoya.
 
Now it was down to the final ten drivers in the final twenty minutes. Both of
the Ferraris were waiting at the end of the pit lane ready to come out. They
would be joined by Montoya. The rest of the ten drivers were also out on the
circuit. We would again have the sight of the drivers putting in laps to burn
off fuel before coming in to put on a new set of tyres and set their qualifying
time.

Massa would set the first time, 1m:27.275, followed by Michael, and Raikkonen.
Ralf would move ahead of Michael with a 1m:27.851. Mark was down in tenth with a 1m:30.125. Kimi was now in fourth followed by Alonso. Montoya would move in fourth ahead of Alonso, Barrichello, Button, and Raikkonen. Trulli was in
ninth.

As their fuel loads lightened the times would fall with Michael moving ahead of
Massa, 1m:26.751. Massa's next lap would see him move ahead of his team-mate with a 1m:26.238. Montoya was in third followed by Ralf, 1m:27.851. With ten minutes remaining Massa would move into the 1m:25 second bracket with a
1m:25.856. Mark was now in seventh with a 1m:28.449. Both of the Ferrari's were running together. both of the red cars would pit returning with new tyres.
Rubens was also in.

WebberKimi was now in third with a 1m:27.089. Button was on a quick lap, fastest in the first and second sectors. He would continue and would set the quickest time with a 1m:24.159. But it would be most unlikely that he would remain in this position. On his new tyres Michael was on a flyer and would go fastest with a time of 1m:23.471, to easily pass Jenson's time.

Rubens would move ahead of his team-mate with a time of 1m:23.667, and
encouraging return of pace for the Brazilian. Mark was now down in ninth.
Behind Button was Kimi in fourth followed by Massa, Montoya, Ralf, and Alonso
as the final minutes counted down. All the drivers were out on the circuit
looking to put in their final lap.

Alonso would move into third with a 1m:23.996. But Ralf would move ahead of the Spaniard with a 1m:23.772. Michael was on another quick lap and would cross the line with a time of 1m:22.795 putting the matter of pole position to rest. Mark was still in ninth with a 1m:24.795, ahead of Montoya. As the session came to a close Montoya would move into seventh, 1m:24.021, pushing Mark down into tenth.

So it would be Michael who would puck up his record braking 65th pole position, beating the record of Ayrton Senna. In second was Button followed by Barrichello, Massa, Alonso, Ralf Schumacher, Montoya, Raikkonen, Trulli, and Webber.
 

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