Maiden Pole Victory For McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen
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Jul 05, 2008
McLaren
Heikki Kovalainen produced one of the best qualifying performances in recent years to take pole position in Silverstone. His McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton could only manage fourth place after fluffing his first flying lap in Q3.
The McLaren driver crossed the line more than half a second faster than Red Bull’s Mark Webber, who also will be seeking his first win in Sunday’s race, after the bigger contenders struggled to handle the breezy and wet conditions.
World champion Kimi Raikkonen, last year’s British GP winner, was third fastest in his Ferrari ahead of home favourite Lewis Hamilton of McLaren, whose bid to take the pole was hampered when he skidded off the circuit at a left-hand bend.
Kovalainen has been based in the UK for most of his racing career and was clearly thrilled to finally grab a pole position on one of his favourite tracks.
He said: “I knew I just needed to focus 100 percent and the results would eventually come. Today is a big step towards that. I don’t think it was a perfect lap but it was quite tidy.
“I was very happy to take pole position but the race is tomorrow and the target for this weekend was to win the race. There is still a long way to go and it is going to be a long race. I look forward to it.”
Kovalainen added: “Kimi and Mark are both are very good drivers, very competitive, so of course it is not going to be easy tomorrow. But our pace has been good all week and I am sure our strategy will be a good one as well.
“As I said, it is a long race and anything can happen.”
In second place today was Red Bull’s Mark Webber, who impressed yet again, and briefly held pole position. It is his equal personal best qualifying performance, and the first time Red Bull have been on the front row.
Kimi Raikkonen managed to get third place after the Ferrari team struggled to find the sweet spot in the set-up. Under the circumstances, a third place finish is very good indeed.
Lewis Hamilton remained upbeat on Saturday after watching his McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen take pole position for the British Grand Prix.
Hamilton could only manage to secure fourth on the grid behind Kovalainen, Red Bull’s Mark Webber and world champion Kimi Raikkonen, but the 23-year-old
Brit is still optimistic that he can give the enthusiastic home crowd something to shout about in Sunday’s race.
Hamilton said: “Obviously Heikki did a fantastic job today and rightly deserves to be on pole position, I congratulate him.
”Fourth is not bad, I am quite happy with it to be honest. I am up there and it is cool. The fuel load and everything is cool and the car felt good.
