By BMW Sauber F1
July 15 2006

Despite the promising performance in all the free practice sessions of the weekend, neither Nick Heidfeld nor Jacques Villeneuve succeeded in securing a top-ten grid position for the French Grand Prix. Nick secured 12th place in qualifying, Jacques had to settle for 18th position. Leg 1: While Nick made it easily to the second leg of the qualifying session by going out twice and crossing the line on his fastest lap in 1:16.686 minutes to finish 11th, Jacques failed to advance into leg two. The Canadian made only one effort and for a long time, his 1:17.304-minute lap seemed to be enough to qualify for the second phase. In the closing seconds of the session, however, the times dropped again and again - with Jacques having no more chance of striking back and finishing in 18th position. Quickest man of the session: Toyota's Jarno Trulli (1:15.776 minutes).

Not qualified for leg two: Vitantonio Liuzzi, Jacques Villeneuve, Jenson Button, Tiago Monteiro, Franck Montagny, Takuma Sato.

Leg 2: Despite battling hard and giving his very best, Nick failed to secure a top-ten qualifying position. The German went out twice, and on his second effort he set a 1:16.294-minute lap. At the end of the session, this time wasn't enough to secure a top-ten grid position and Nick had to settle for 12th place. The fastest lap time of the second leg (1:15.111 minutes) was set by Michael Schumacher (Ferrari).

Not qualified for the top qualifying: Mark Webber, Nick Heidfeld, Christian Klien, Rubens Barrichello, Scott Speed, Christijan Albers.

Top Qualifying: In the thrilling final leg of the session - that was shortened from 20 to 15 minutes - Ferrari's Michael Schumacher (1:15.493 minutes) secured pole position for the French Grand Prix, with Felipe Massa (1:15.679 minutes) and Fernando Alonso (1:15.785 minutes) finishing second and third respectively.

Result: 1st Michael Schumacher, 2nd Felipe Massa, 3rd Fernando Alonso , 4th Jarno Trulli, 5th Ralf Schumacher, 6th Kimi Räikkönen 7th Giancarlo Fisichella, 8th Pedro de la Rosa, 9th Nico Rosberg, 10th David Coulthard.

Times:

1 M. Schumacher Ferrari 1:15.493
2 F. Massa Ferrari 1:15.510
3 F. Alonso Renault 1:15.785
4 J. Trulli Toyota 1:16.036
5 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:16.091
6 K. Räikkönen McLaren 1:16.281
7 G. Fisichella Renault 1:16.345
8 P. de la Rosa McLaren 1:16.632
9 N. Rosberg Williams 1:18.272
10 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:18.663
11 M. Webber Williams 1:16.129
12 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:16.294
13 C. Klien Red Bull 1:16.433
14 R. Barrichello Honda 1:17.027
15 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:18.063
16 C. Albers Midland F1 1:17.105
17 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:17.164
18 J. Villeneuve BMW 1:17.304
19 J. Button Honda 1:17.495
20 T. Monteiro Midland F1 1:17.589
21 F. Montagny Super Aguri 1:18.637
22 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:18.845