Again provisional pole for Raikkonen
Both the track conditions and the temperature were beneficial for the front runners today, except however for the first three. Just before them, Ralf Schumacher made a crash leaving oil on the track which caused the next drivers to be careful at "La Piscine". Raikkonen however still got pole in front of Fernando Alonso.
As soon as the first five cars had run, it was clear that Rubens Barrichello was not lying when he expected it possible a Ferrari will get lapped during tomorrow's race. Jacques Villeneuve drove a wonderful lap, leaving both Ferrari's and his teammate Massa behind.
It is worth noting that for the first time this season both Minardis are in front of both Jordans. It seems that Minardi have found their way with the new PS05 and it is paying off. However it may well be about the tires too, since none of the Bridgestone shod teams are performing well at Monaco this year.
Jacques Villeneuve eventually is in 9th place leading a whole pack of drivers but well behind David Coulthard who is 8th. There may thus be some pressure on the Canadian tomorrow as almost nothing can be gained but very much lost.
Further down the starting order were Giancarlo Fisichella who put in a decent lap but lost several tenths in the "Anthony Noghes" corner where he was unable to get the inside.
Mark Webber on the other hand proved that Wiliams is not to be counted out as a starting position is very important at Monaco. He is however already half a second down on Alonso and 0.9s down on Raikkonen.
Here are the complete results:
1 K. Räikkönen McLaren 1:13.644
2 F. Alonso Renault 1:14.125
3 M. Webber Williams 1:14.584
4 G. Fisichella Renault 1:14.783
5 JP. Montoya McLaren 1:14.858
6 N. Heidfeld Williams 1:15.128
7 J. Trulli Toyota 1:15.189
8 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:15.329
9 J. Villeneuve Sauber 1:15.921
10 R. Barrichello Ferrari 1:16.142
11 M. Schumacher Ferrari 1:16.186
12 F. Massa Sauber 1:16.218
13 V. Liuzzi Red Bull 1:16.817
14 P. Friesacher Minardi 1:18.574
15 C. Albers Minardi 1:19.229
16 T. Monteiro Jordan 1:19.408
17 N. Karthikeyan Jordan 1:19.474
18 R. Schumacher Toyota no time
