First pole for Fernando Alonso

Published on 22 March 2003 by Huub Rothengatter

Twenty year old Fernando Alonso will be starting from pole, for the first time in his short F1 career. Not only he was surprised, his team mate Jarno Trulli could not believe his eyes: he is on the first row too. For now Renault has beaten Ferrari, Michael Schumacher is third nad next to him is the McLaren of David Coulthard. Rubens Barrichello came fifth, next to him stands the Sauber of Nick Heidfeld.

Fernando Alonso first time pole sitter tomorrow

Jos Verstappen will be starting from 18th, just in front of Justin Wilson and Ralp Firman. Jos complained about oversteer, the rear end of the car slipped a couple of times. The problem is grip and it will not be solved this weekend, something that can be blamed to the tyres. In the first sector Jos's time of 25.2 is comparable with the rest but in the second section he is losing a lot of time. He nearly lost out to Justin Wilson in that section. In the end he manages to stay in front of his team mate who placed himself next to Ralph Firman on the last starting row. The Jordan driver made a lot of mistakes in the last sector and that resulted in the slowest time.


Jarno Trulli on second position: first full first row for Renault

Both Renaults surprisingly in front of a Ferrari and a McLaren. This can be due to strategy (light on fuel?) but for now they will be very happy with this achievement. The changes in regulations appear to work. Juan Pablo Montoya qualified 3rd in Melbourne but today he manages only 8th. His team mate Ralf Schumacher had a really bad day. In Melbourne he just managed to get himself in the top ten, now he is 17th in his Williams-BMW.