Kovalainen leaps ahead of Hamilton to take first pole

Mistake in final qualifying session relegates home favourite to fourth after high winds help Webber join Finn's McLaren onthe front row of the grid. By David Tremayne at Silverstone

(EPA)

As far as most of the fans are concerned, the wrong McLaren will start the British Grand Prix from pole position. The sell-out audience came to see their hero, Lewis Hamilton, do the business but he was upstaged by his team-mate, Heikki Kovalainen.

The Finn won his first F1 pole position the hard way, fighting spits of rain and high crosswinds which pushed cars all over the place during their first runs in the final session of qualifying. Kovalainen admitted that his first effort left much to be desired, but he nailed it on his second. Prior to that Mark Webber had staged a major surprise by snatching pole from Kimi Raikkonen, after pushing his Red Bull round in 1 minute 21.554 seconds to trump the Finn's 1m 21.706s in a Ferrari. Kovalainen's 1m 21.049s trumped that, however.

"When my engineer told me I was P1 when I was going through Becketts, I knew that wasn't going to continue," Webber said. "I'm happy for Heikki and delighted to be second." So was Webber's partner, Ann, who had gone all the way back to their home in Woburn to let their dog out and just made it back to the track in time to see his moment of glory.

The Australian was not too disappointed to miss out. "I have £200 on Heikki to win at 23-1," he said. Kovalainen deadpanned that news. "I prefer not to gamble and to earn my money the safe way," he said. Safe... at 200mph through Becketts.

"It's been going really well all weekend, and we managed to put some more pace to the car last week," Kovalainen said. "I have been going round Silverstone for many years in my life so it is great to make my first pole here. The dark sky at the start of qualifying meant it was possible to get some rain, and on my very first run in Q1 I had some traffic and could not do the good lap I wanted before any rain came."

Nevertheless he finished that opening session fastest, played second fiddle to Hamilton in the second, and then got the job done in the third.

"The second part of qualifying went much better, but on the first run in the last session the wind picked up and it was very difficult as the car was all over the place. But I managed to put the second one together much better.

"Our car is very quick in the final sector, in the three slow corners. Our team have done a brilliant job to sort out what was wrong there and to put the necessary changes in place. We have made really good steps forward with the car."

Quick enough to leave Ferrari feeling a little surprised, one sensed. The unusual front row left Raikkonen to head the second, from Hamilton, whose first run in the final session was nothing short of disastrous as he slid wide. He made up for it on his second with a lap of 1m 21.835s, but that dropped him from second to fourth as Kovalainen and Webber hit their stride.

If Hamilton was disappointed, it was nothing to the emotions of Felipe Massa and Robert Kubica, both of whom could have been expected to challenge for leading positions. Neither was able to launch a challenge after missing the cut. Their misfortunes, however, finally cut Nick Heidfeld a break in an increasingly bruising year alongside Kubica. The German was much happier than of late with the performance of his BMW Sauber and took fifth place ahead of the improved Renaults of Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet, the second generation Brazilian whom Hamilton vanquished here when he so sensationally won the GP2 race in 2005.

Eighth place fell to the promising German Sebastian Vettel, who impressed again with his handling of Toro Rosso's Red Bull lookalike.

The one certainty about today's race is that the weather will be unpredictable. That could render it something of a lottery. "Kimi and Mark are both very good, competitive drivers so it won't be easy [today]," Kovalainen said, "but our pace has been very good all weekend and I am confident our strategy will be a very strong one. My only aim is to win the grand prix."

It could have been Hamilton talking.

There is uncertainty over the venue of the British race beyond 2009. The future of the grand prix itself has been secured via a 10-year contract with Donington Park but the British Racing Drivers' Club, who own Silverstone, remain hopeful of a reprieve if the Leicestershire circuit fails to complete development work in time.

The BRDC president, Damon Hill, said: "The BRDC are proud of our contribution to the sport we love and of our very own circuit, Silverstone. The British Grand Prix's future is very important to all of us. Anything which indicates a secure future for the British Grand Prix must be welcomed.

"Nevertheless, the timing of this announcement is disappointing and a blow to the excellent and hard-working staff of Silverstone, and to the local and national government authorities who have supported us in our development plans to deliver the demanded improvements from Formula One Management. It is my opinion that it is not through any lack of effort on behalf of the BRDC and Silverstone that we have been denied the opportunity to see those plans through to the concluding of a contract for the Formula One Grand Prix beyond 2009."