By pitpass.com (20/03/2004)
March 20 2004

Pantano starts the second session in the spare car, though even team boss Eddie Jordan admits that he's unclear as to what the rules are. Ironically, the Irishman was one of the architects of this format. The words 'booze', 'up' and 'brewery' come to mind.

Pantano goes way wide at the first corner, the poor devil hasn't had time to set the car up. At the first split he posts 25.5 followed by a 32.9 at the second. The car is all over the place, consequently at the line it's 1:39.902, a dreadful time, but not too bad under the circumstances.

Zsolt Baumgartner is also having problems, the Minardi looks a real handful. At the firs split he's quicker than the Jordan, which says a lot about the Irish team's current state of affairs. At the second split it's 33, the PS04B is all over the place. At the line it's 1:39.272, the former Jordan driver takes provisional pole.

Teammate Gianmaria Bruni is next out, the Italian unable to demonstrate his undoubted talent in this woeful machine. At the first split it's 25s followed by a 32.8 at the second. The car looks awful, a real handful. At the line it's 1:38.577, 'Gimmy' goes quickest by 0.695, not a bad lap, considering.

Next out is Nick Heidfeld, a former F3000 Champion. At the first split the German posts 24.8, which under the circumstances is quite impressive. At the second split it's 31.9, followed by a 1:36.569 to go quickest by 2s. A brave lap from the German.

Last out before the break is Cristiano da Matta who is having a dreadful weekend, having spent more time in the 'kitty litter' this weekend than Bisley (don't ask!). At the first split the Brazilian posts 24.6 followed by a 31.4 at the second. At the line it's 1:34.917, provisional pole for the Toyota driver.

At the first break it's da Matta ahead of Heidfeld, Bruni, Baumgartner and Pantano.

Jaguar's Christian Klien is next out, the Austrian up against a teammate who is really on form. At the first split the youngster posts 24.6 followed by a 31.5 at the second. At the line it's 1:35.158, which puts him second, behind da Matta. A good, solid performance from the youngster.

From youngest on the grid to oldest, it's Olivier Panis' turn. At the first split the French veteran posts 24.6, he's slightly up on his teammate, who is currently on provisional pole. At the second split it's 31.9, he's lost half-a-second. Over the line it's 1:35.617, which puts him third behind Klien. He lost time in the second sector, meaning that he was slower in the second session than the first.

Felipe Massa is next out, another hot lap from the ever-hot Brazilian. 24.4 at the first split, though the Sauber is fighting him all the way. At the second split it's 31.5, he's lost a little time. At the line it's 1:35.039, failing to beat his countryman da Matta by just 0.122s.

Takuma Sato is on track in the BAR. At the first split the Japanese driver is quickest with a 24.5. He follows this up with a 31.2, quickest so far, though he appears to be fighting the car. At Turn 11 he loses it and spins off backwards into the gravel.. game over. Up until that point it was looking good, though he did appear to be working just a little too hard.

Montoya is already on track but the session is red-flagged as the BAR is extracted from the kitty litter.

After a short break while the BAR is removed from the gravel and the track cleared, Juan Pablo Montoya is back out on track. The Colombian will be keen to post a good time, especially when you consider his problems in Melbourne. The FW26 looks twitchy and at the first split it's 24.3, he's quickest so far, but that's exactly what you'd expect. At the second split it's 31.2, still quickest, but not by much. At the line it's 1:34.054, he goes quickest by 0.863. Fastest in all three sectors, but that's sure to be beaten by the Renaults and Ferraris, if not the McLarens and even Webber.

At the second break it's Montoya ahead of da Matta, Massa, Klien, Panis, Heidfeld, Bruni, Baumgartner, Pantano and Sato.

Next to go out is Giancarlo Fisichella. At the first split the Sauber driver posts 24.4 followed by a 31.4 at the second. The C23 is all over the place, sliding everywhere, it looks horrendous. 1:35.061 at the line sees the former Jordan driver go fourth behind his teammate.

All eyes on Ralf Schumacher in the WilliamsF1. At the first split it's 24.2, he's quickest so far. At the second split the German posts 31.3, he's lost time but still ahead of his teammate. He crosses the line at 1:34.235 to go second, just 0.181s down on his Colombian teammate.

BAR's hopes rest on Jenson Button who takes to the track as Sato admits to being disappointed at his own mistake. At the first split the Englishman posts 24.4 followed by a 31.0 at the second, he's quickest of the lot in that sector. At the line it's 1:34.221, which sees him go second. A strong performance from the former WilliamsF1 and Renault driver.

David Coulthard is on track, the McLaren driver no fan of the new 'hot lap' format. At the first split it's 24.4 followed by a 31.4 at the second. It's a strong lap the Scot giving 100%. He loses time at the final corner, consequently he goes fourth with a 1:34.602.

Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello is next out, all eyes are on the Brazilian. At the first split the Ferrari driver posts 24.2, he's quickest so far. At the second split he's still quickest, posting a 30.8. The F2004 looks fantastic, as though it's on rails. At the line it's 1:33.756, he takes provisional pole by 0.298s.

At the final break it's Barrichello ahead of Montoya, Button, Ralf, Coulthard, da Matta, Massa, Fisichella, Klien and Panis.

Next out is Mark Webber, who unlike Coulthard, revels in the new 'hot lap' format.

Air temperature is 36 degrees while track temperature is now 51 degrees.

At the first split the Australian posts 24.3, he's down on Barrichello but it's marginal. At the second split it's 30.8, he's quickest in that sector. It's a brilliant lap but can the Aussie maintain it? Yes he can, the Jaguar shoots to the top of the timesheets with a 1:33.715. Un-bloody-believable. Brilliant performance.

Michael Schumacher is on track in the F2004. At the first split he's quickest, posting a 24, 0.3s up on Webber. He maintain the pace, finishing the second sector 0.6s up on the Jaguar driver. At the line it's 1:33.074, the German takes provisional pole by 0.641. A typical performance from the six-time World Champion.

All eyes on Kimi Raikkonen who is on track in the McLaren. At the first split he's already down on Schumacher, posting 24.4. At the second split it's 31.3, he's lost more time. At the line it's 1:34.164, which puts him fifth.

It's now down to the two Renault drivers, and first to go out is Jarno Trulli.

At the first split the Italian posts 24.5, he's already half-a-second down on Schumacher. At the second split it's 31.2, he's lost more time, not a lot, but enough. 1:34.413, sees the Italian go eighth, not one of his strongest performances.

Last out is Fernando Alonso, the only man who can stop Schumacher adding another pole position to his impressive tally. At the first split the Spaniard posts 24.2, he's down on Schumacher, but it's marginal. At the second split it's 31, he's now half-a-second down on the German. He pushes too hard and gets it all wrong at Turn 14, spinning off into the gravel, and thus losing any hope of pole and indeed a spot at the front of the grid.

They told us that the heat would suit the Michelins, they told us that WilliamsF1, McLaren and Renault would close the gap to Ferrari, they told us that Melbourne was not a portent of the season to come.

Well, going on what we've seen thus far this weekend, Schumacher, Ferrari and Bridgestone still have an advantage over the opposition, and it could be a long time before we wee them toppled.

The session lasted two hours and eight minutes, and no broadcaster is going to dedicate that sort of time to what isn't even the main event, especially when F1 returns to Europe and races clash with other major sporting events.

Business as usual for Schumacher, but special mention must be made of Mark Webber's fantastic effort, a superb performance, especially in light of the car's failure in Melbourne.

Silly mistakes from Alonso and Sato while McLaren and WilliamsF1 still have work to do. Button deserves praise while Trulli needs to get his act together, especially after going slower in the main session than he did in the first.

As ever, strategy could be the key today and tomorrow. But at this moment who'd best on Schumacher not taking win number 72 tomorrow?

This article was written by pitpass.com and is used with permission.