Kimi Raikkonen led Ferrari 1-2 in qualifying Saturday for the French Grand Prix.
Raikkonen finished 0.041 seconds ahead of teammate Felipe Massa to give Ferrari its 200th pole and third 1-2 start of the season. The defending world champion set a fastest lap of 1 minute, 16.449 seconds around the Circuit de Nevers.
“The main thing is to be fastest ... and that worked out very well for us,” said Raikkonen, who also won here last year. “The car has been working very well all weekend.”
Massa, who set the fastest time in the practice session, will start on the outside of the front row.
“I was a little bit overdriving (in the final session) trying to get the best out of the car and lost a bit of time in the corners,” the Brazilian said. “We had a lot more fuel compared (to the first two sessions) and lost a bit of time. But front row is good.”
Hamilton could only manage third fastest overall in his McLaren, and his punishment for running into the back of Raikkonen’s Ferrari in the Canadian Grand Prix 13 days ago meant he was demoted to midfield at the Circuit de Nevers.
Hamilton had stated in the build-up to the race he could win from such a lowly position, but in truth the odds are stacked high against him.
In F1 history, just 24 of 792 races have been won from 11th place or lower, while no-one has taken the chequered flag at Magny-Cours from a similar position since the first Grand Prix at this circuit in 1991.
If Hamilton needs a good omen then he only has to look at Mika Hakkinen and Raikkonen, who both finished second from 14th and 13th in 1999 and 2005 respectively - both driving McLarens.
Fernando Alonso’s Renault will share the second row of the grid with Jarno Trulli, in the Toyota. The current championship leader Robert Kubica qualified seventh fastest so will start in sixth.
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