By Huw Alban
May 13 2006

Much as expected Midland F1 did not make it into the second qualifying session at the Spanish Grand Prix. Despite bettering their times from free practice Tiago Monteiro and Christijan Albers will start the race from 18th and 19th places.

The Midland F1 cars took to the track within the first 2 minutes of the first 15 minute session and immediately set encouraging times.

Christijan Albers got held up on this first flying lap by the Super Aguri of Takuma Sato, and the TV coverage cuts to show the Dutchman guesticulating wildly at the Japanese driver.

Just as soon as both drivers pitted the session was red flagged so that the marshalls could recover the sticken Red Bull of David Coulthard.

The session restarted with 7 minutes and 28 seconds to go, but it was 4 minutes 44 seconds before we saw Midland F1 out on the track again. Tiago Monteiro broke into the 1.17s on his next flying lap with a 1.17.702 and Christijan Albers managed a marginal improvement to record a 1.18.024.

The TV commentary, towards the end of the first qualifying session, noted that the Bridgestone teams all seemed to be recording quicker times on their second flying laps but this certainly doesn't seem to be the case for Midland F1. They also noted that all teams using the Japanese tyres were experiencing understeer, and this was definately something that Midand were complaining about yesterday.

Comment was also made about the Super Aguri team, with a statement claiming that their new car would be ready in time for the French Grand Prix in mid July. There's a good question for me to ask the team later.

Finishing qualifying positions for the Spanish Grand Prix

1 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:15.816
2 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 1:16.046
3 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:16.049
4 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:16.359
5 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:16.266
6 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 1:16.234
7 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:16.174
8 Jenson Button Honda 1:16.054
9 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.613
10 Nick Heidfeld Sauber-BMW 1:16.322
11 Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth 1:16.685
12 Juan Pablo Montoya McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.195
13 Nico Rosberg Williams-Cosworth 1:17.213
14 Jacques Villeneuve Sauber-BMW 1:16.066
15 Christian Klien RBR-Ferrari 1:16.627
16 Vitantonio Liuzzi STR-Cosworth 1:17.105
17 Scott Speed STR-Cosworth 1:17.361
18 Tiago Monteiro MF1-Toyota 1:17.702
19 Christijan Albers MF1-Toyota 1:18.024
20 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:18.920
21 Franck Montagny Super Aguri-Honda 1:20.763
22 David Coulthard RBR-Ferrari

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