Raikkonen edges Alonso to take pole for Spanish GP

BEIJING, April 27 -- Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari edged Renault's Fernando Alonso yesterday to take pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix.

Raikkonen will start first on the grid for the 15th time today after going around in 1 minute, 21.813 seconds ?? just under one-tenth of a second faster than Alonso.

Raikkonen, the defending world champion who leads the championship standings and won the Malaysian GP, earned his first pole of the season. The last seven pole sitters have won at Barcelona, and only four have failed to win in 17 races here.

"We have a good chance for tomorrow. It's a good place to be," said the Finn, who won here in 2005. "I've been more happy with the car than I have been in the previous races."

Alonso, a two-time world champion, knew he was on the front row when he crossed the line with his time of 1:21.904, since Raikkonen was the only driver still to finish.

"It's amazing to do this in front of my Spanish fans," said Alonso, a Spaniard who won here in 2006. "It's something we didn't expect. Not in this race but for the whole season."

Ferrari's Felipe Massa, who is coming off a victory at the Bahrain GP, will start from third after clocking 1:22.058 on his final lap. BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica, coming off his first pole at Bahrain, had yesterday's fourth best qualifying time.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top five with a time of 1:22.096 to start one place ahead of teammate Heikki Kovalainen.

It's the first time since 1983 that four different drivers have held poles in the season's first four races.

Alonso was boosted by a sea of blue and yellow Asturias flags around the Circuit de Catalunya track, as he hails from the northern Spanish province that shares the same colors as the Renault team.

"It's unbelievable. It's difficult to describe," the 26-year-old Alonso said. "The team did an incredible job to improve the car. Second place today is far more than we expected for the whole weekend so the job is nearly there."

Alonso, who returned to Renault this year after a turbulent season at McLaren, won here in 2006 on his way to a second straight world championship. At the last GP in Bahrain, Alonso finished out of the points for the first time in 40 races.

Massa looked slightly disappointed.

The Brazilian driver is looking to emulate 2007 when he won at Barcelona on the heels of a victory at Bahrain.

"I put the lap together at the wrong moment," said Massa, who started on pole last year. "I put it together on the first one but it was a little too early. In the small time you lose, you can lose one or two positions."

Raikkonen has 19 points in the overall standings, with BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld second on 16. Hamilton, Kovalainen and Kubica all have 14, while Massa is next with 10.

"Qualifying is one part but tomorrow is where we get the points," Raikkonen said. "Get a clean start and we'll see what we can do. We have to be clean at first corners and then try to maximize our positions."

Red Bull's Mark Webber, who experienced a throttle problem and completed only two laps in Saturday practice, will start seventh ahead of Jarno Trulli of Toyota.

(Source: Shanghai Daily)