Turkish GP: Michelin Saturday qualifying notes

ALONSO HEADS MICHELIN CHALLENGE IN ISTANBUL

World championship leader Fernando Alonso (Renault) was the fastest Michelin driver during qualifying for tomorrow's Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul Park. The Spaniard's 1m 27.321s lap put him third on the grid at the end of a closely fought session.

Alonso's team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella joins him on the second row. They head a clutch of Michelin cars in the top 10. Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) was sixth today, but will start fifth because rival Ralf Schumacher will be docked 10 grid positions in the wake of an unscheduled engine change.

Hungarian GP winner Jenson Button (Honda) will line up sixth, ahead of fellow Michelin runners Kimi Räikkönen (McLaren Mercedes, seventh), Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber, eighth) and Christian Klien (Red Bull, 10th).

Nick Shorrock, Michelin Formula One director:

"On the evidence of today we obviously need to work a little bit on our one-lap pace something we will be addressing during the forthcoming Monza test but we are very pleased with our excellent speed and consistency over a race stint."

"The track temperature increased significantly between this morning's final free practice and the qualifying session, a factor that helped tyre performance, and if conditions remain similar tomorrow I believe we'll be in good shape."

"Between them, our six partner teams have chosen five different products for the race and I'm sure the foremost among them will play a key role in what is likely to be another compelling grand prix."

Pat Symonds, executive engineering director, Renault F1 Team:

"We chose to be very aggressive with our tyre strategy yesterday slightly too much so, as it transpired. We changed to a different specification tyre this morning and that gave us a very nice balance and good consistency."

"We have done enough running to know that our cars will be suited to racing conditions. It's clear that we face a tough fight tomorrow, but we're looking forward to it."

-credit: michelin