Jarno Trulli salvaged what was shaping up to be a miserable weekend for the Toyota team by winning the pole on Saturday for the United States Grand Prix.
Trulli timed 1 minute, 10.625 seconds around the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to earn the first pole for Toyota. Earlier, teammate Ralf Schumacher wasn't medically cleared to race after his hard accident during a practice session.
"It has been a difficult time for everybody here," Trulli said. "For sure it is a mixed emotion weekend."
But the Italian driver gave Toyota something to briefly cheer about in its breakthrough fourth season in Formula One. Trulli, in his first season with the team, gave Toyota its previous best qualifying effort with a pair of seconds to open the season.
He finally earned his first pole of the season -- third career -- and first since the Belgium Grand Prix in 2004.
"I am really glad with the outcome today," said Trulli, third in the world championship standings. "But it is still kind of emotional."
Toyota quickly fell behind after Schumacher and test driver Ricardo Zonta both crashed in Friday practice. Both accidents were attributed to tire failure, leaving Michelin officials scrambling to figure out what was wrong with its tires.
Michelin officials said on Saturday they were trying to ship a fresh batch from its France warehouse to replace the rubber already on site in what the supplier called a safety precaution.
But other drivers using Michelin tires said they had no problem with their supply and thought Toyota's troubles may have stemmed from aggressive setups.
Either way, Trulli showed no fear on his tires, speeding around the 13-turn course and taking his Toyota to the top.
He then had to hold off late runs by Kimi Raikkonen and the Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello to keep the top starting spot.
Raikkonen, the final driver to qualify and winner last weekend of the Canadian Grand Prix, almost snatched the pole away but finished second in a McLaren-Mercedes with a time of 1 minute, 10.694 seconds.
"Yes I am happy," Raikkonen said. "Of course, I would rather be in first place."
Jenson Button, the polesitter last weekend in the Canadian Grand Prix, qualified his BAR-Honda third.
Giancarlo Fisichella was fourth in a Renault, followed by Michael Schumacher, the two-time defending race winner. World championship points leader Fernando Alonso was sixth in a Renault.
Zonta, the replacement driver for Ralf Schumacher, wound up 13th.
"Yesterday's events mean this is not an ideal situation for the whole team, and I am especially sorry for Ralf," said Zonta, who was the first driver to attempt to qualify. "Of course, I'm glad to be back with a chance to race the car."
Zonta normally only practices a third car for Toyota on the opening day of Grand Prix events. That changed following Ralf Schumacher's accident.
Schumacher wasn't seriously injured when his car spun coming out of the final turn and backed into a part of the wall protected by the energy-absorbing SAFER Barrier.
The German driver appeared to be in pain when he climbed from the car, but medical personnel checked and released him. He later went to a local hospital to have his eye examined after complaining of an irritation.
When he arrived at the track on Saturday, an FIA medical delegate ruled that it would be unsafe for Schumacher to race because of the dangers another hard impact could cause. Schumacher sustained a serious concussion and two broken vertebrae in a similar accident here last season.
"This news is obviously very disappointing for myself and for the team," Schumacher said.
Juan Pablo Montoya, the fastest driver in three of the four practice sessions, followed Zonta out on the track for qualifying.
He was forced to qualify his McLaren-Mercedes early as punishment for his disqualification last weekend in Canada. With thousands of Colombian fans cheering him on, Montoya posted a lap that put him on top of the board.
It lasted just minutes, though, as the Renaults of Fisichella and Alonso both bested him on the speed chart.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
RSS