British GP pole a first for Kovalainen

2008-7-6  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

HEIKKI Kovalainen captured his first Formula One pole position as fastest qualifier for today's British Grand Prix and now chases his first victory.

The McLaren driver crossed the line yesterday more than half a second faster than Red Bull's Mark Webber, who also is chasing his first win, after the bigger contenders struggled to handle the breezy and wet conditions at Silverstone.

Last year's British GP winner and world champion Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari was third fastest ahead of Lewis Hamilton, whose bid to capture pole was hampered when the McLaren driver skidded off the circuit at a lefthand bend.

Felipe Massa, who leads the world championship by two points in a Ferrari, labored to ninth place on the grid despite posting the fastest practice time on Friday. His best time in the third round of qualifying was more than 2 1/4 seconds slower than Kovalainen.

One spot behind him in a BWM Sauber will be Robert Kubica, who is second in the drivers championship but failed to post a time in the last of the three rounds of qualifying. The Polish driver didn't even leave the pits because of mechanical trouble.

Kovalainen managed consistently fast times on both days of practice and qualifying, however, and conditions were difficult yesterday when Silverstone was left damp after a heavy shower two hours before the sessions began.

"They were quite difficult qualifying conditions, with dark skies and blustery winds," said Kovalainen, whose best was 1 minute 21.049 in the final qualifying round. "But in the second part (of qualifying) it was much better without any problems, before a great run in the final part which I'm very happy about.

"Tomorrow is still a long race and anything can happen, but the balance in high and low speeds is as good as it's been all season."

Webber, who has never finished higher than third in 111 starts, tied his best previous qualifying performance at Monaco two years ago after a time of 1:21.554.