Raikkonen claims French Pole

Raikkonen claims French Pole

Lewis Hamilton's 10-place grid penalty will see him start from 13th on the grid for Sunday's French Grand Prix in which Kimi Raikkonen is on pole.

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.

For Ferrari, it was the 200th pole of their illustrious Formula One history - the first in 1951 at Silverstone by Froilan Gonzalez - with Brazilian Felipe Massa completing an all-red front row.

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.

So Hamilton will be looking just to limit the damage to his title campaign as it is hard to see past a Ferrari one-two given their dominance in qualifying.

Current world championship leader Robert Kubica is only sixth on the grid, with Fernando Alonso ahead of him in third in his Renault while Toyota's Jarno Trulli is fourth. Heikki Kovalainen took fifth in his McLaren.

Behind the Pole come the Red Bull duo of Mark Webber and David Coulthard in seventh and eighth, with Timo Glock in his Toyota ninth and Renault's Nelson Piquet completing the top 10.

Nick Heidfeld will start 11th after finding himself out-qualified by BMW Sauber team-mate Kubica for the eighth time in eight races this season.

The improving Sebastian Vettel in his Toro Rosso is 12th and then Hamilton, underlining the task he faces given those in front of him.

After a dismal performance in practice, Honda failed to show any improvement in qualifying with Jenson Button a lowly 16th and team-mate Rubens Barrichello directly behind him.

Niko Rosberg, who like Hamilton was given a 10-place grid penalty after he ran into the back of the Briton in Montreal, will start at the back after only posting the 15th best time overall.

Times
01 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:16.449
02 F. Massa Ferrari 1:16.490
03 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:16.693
04 F. Alonso Renault 1:16.840
05 J. Trulli Toyota 1:16.840
06 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:16.944
07 R. Kubica BMW 1:17.037
08 M. Webber Red Bull 1:17.233
09 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:17.426
10 T. Glock Toyota 1:17.596
11 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:15.770
12 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:15.786
13 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:15.816
14 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:16.045
15 N. Rosberg Williams 1:16.235
16 K. Nakajima Williams 1:16.243
17 J. Button Honda 1:16.306
18 R. Barrichello Honda 1:16.330
19 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:16.971
20 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:17.053


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