Formula 1
US GP: Michelin Friday qualifying notes
FLYING TRULLI TAKES PROVISIONAL POLE Michelin runners set pace at rain-hit Indy; Montoya quickest world title pretender Jarno Trulli might not figure in Formula One's three-way championship fight, but the RenaultF1-Michelin driver stole the ...
Published: Sep 29, 2003, 1:13 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
FLYING TRULLI TAKES PROVISIONAL POLE
Michelin runners set pace at rain-hit Indy; Montoya quickest world title pretender
Jarno Trulli might not figure in Formula One's three-way championship fight, but the RenaultF1-Michelin driver stole the headlines on the opening day of the United States Grand Prix meeting at Indianapolis with a pace-setting 1m 09.566s lap. The Italian has started from the front row of the grid four times in his Formula One career but is chasing a first pole position this weekend.
Trulli was 0.269s clear of the field -- and it was Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello who put up the stiffest challenge, rather than the Italian team's talismanic world champion Michael Schumacher. The German was only eighth fastest, sandwiched between world championship rivals Juan Pablo Montoya (BMW WilliamsF1 Team/Michelin, fourth) and Kimi Räikkönen (Team McLaren Mercedes/Michelin, ninth).
Showers affected this morning's first free practice session, but although the circuit dried out before the start of qualifying it began to rain again halfway through the session -- and mild drizzle quickly turned into a deluge. Michelin runners didn't all enjoy the best of the conditions, but the French company's partner teams took seven of the top 10 positions.
Mark Webber (Jaguar) made the most of his car's ability to generate tyre temperature on a cool track to set third fastest time, ahead of Ralf Schumacher (BMW WilliamsF1 Team, fourth), Montoya, David Coulthard (Team McLaren Mercedes, sixth), Fernando Alonso (Renault, seventh) and Räikkönen. Having been forced to miss the recent Italian GP in the wake of a serious testing accident, Schumacher was back to peak form on his return to the frontline.
Of the remaining Michelin runners, Cristiano da Matta (Toyota, 11th) was one of the first to cope with the mild rain -- and team-mate Olivier Panis (14th) was first to be caught in the eye of the storm. Justin Wilson (Jaguar) also ran at the end of the session and the deteriorating conditions left him stranded in 18th position.
Dutchman Jos Verstappen was the only driver who failed to set a time. His Minardi developed a technical problem and he pulled into the pits at the end of his warm-up lap.
Michelin's day: Pierre Dupasquier -- Michelin Motorsport Director
DELIGHTED STATES OF AMERICA -- MICHELIN SETS THE PACE
Michelin and its partner teams had the upper hand on the rain-hit opening day of the United States Grand Prix. Renault driver Jarno Trulli took provisional pole position and was quickest of seven Michelin drivers in the top 10. The Italian was also fastest in this morning's free practice and he qualified ahead of Rubens Barrichello then Mark Webber (Jaguar, third), Ralf Schumacher (BMW WilliamsF1 Team, fourth), Juan Pablo Montoya (BMW WilliamsF1 Team, fifth -- and fastest of the three world championship contenders), David Coulthard (Team McLaren Mercedes, sixth), Fernando Alonso (Renault, seventh), Michaël Schumacher (Ferrari, eight) and Kimi Räikkönen (Team McLaren Mercedes, ninth).
The remaining Michelin drivers ran in the rain and had to cope with deteriorating track conditions. Michelin motorsport director Pierre Dupasquier said: "It is always satisfying to set the fastest time, but it has been very difficult to draw any firm conclusions in today's variable conditions."
ON FORM -- AND INFORMED
Although intermittent showers have interfered with teams' preparations, Michelin was able to glean a valuable amount of information about its two dry-weather compounds. Pierre Dupasquier said: "We completed a number of long runs during this morning's test session and the dry part of free practice. From what we have seen so far, both types of dry-weather tyre should be usable in the race -- although we will be able to confirm as much tomorrow morning. The track was quite abrasive early on but appeared to become less so as more rubber was laid down. After this afternoon's heavy rain, however, we might be back to square one when practice resumes."
WATER MARGINS
Two Michelin drivers -- Olivier Panis (Toyota) and Justin Wilson (Jaguar) -- had to cope with the worst of today's track conditions. Pierre Dupasquier said: "From our perspective it was encouraging to see that Olivier was nine tenths of a second faster than Jacques Villeneuve, one of our rivals, after they went out on shallow wet tyres in very similar conditions."
-michelin-
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article US GP: Honda race notes
Next article US GP: Friday press conference
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Juan Pablo Montoya
Team Penske and Chevrolet announce multi-year extension of IndyCar partnership
IndyCar
IndyCar
Team Penske and Chevrolet announce multi-year extension of IndyCar partnership
Juan Pablo Montoya admires Franco Colapinto's "aggressive" approach despite Baku crash
Formula 1
Formula 1
Azerbaijan GP
Juan Pablo Montoya admires Franco Colapinto's "aggressive" approach despite Baku crash
Williams tipped for "huge step" forward at Azerbaijan GP with major upgrade
Formula 1
Formula 1
Spanish GP
Williams tipped for "huge step" forward at Azerbaijan GP with major upgrade
More from
Ferrari
Fred Vasseur "not sure" if Red Bull is currently F1's best team
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
17 h
Fred Vasseur "not sure" if Red Bull is currently F1's best team
Charles Leclerc admits he missed a chance against Max Verstappen – but not the obvious one
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Charles Leclerc admits he missed a chance against Max Verstappen – but not the obvious one
Latest news
Gibbs, Spire and Gabehart argue over contempt and injunction
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
2 h
Gibbs, Spire and Gabehart argue over contempt and injunction
William Byron to run Jeff Gordon throwback Axalta scheme at Phoenix
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
3 h
William Byron to run Jeff Gordon throwback Axalta scheme at Phoenix
Alexander Rossi takes over IR-28 testing as IndyCar pushes new chassis to the limit at Sebring
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 3 h
Alexander Rossi takes over IR-28 testing as IndyCar pushes new chassis to the limit at Sebring
Daniel Suarez will return to Spire Motorsports for 2027 NASCAR Cup season
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
3 h
Daniel Suarez will return to Spire Motorsports for 2027 NASCAR Cup season
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe