Alonso stunner as Kimi pulls fast one

Apr 27 2008 By Greg Roberts

FERNANDO ALONSO had 115,000 Spanish fans in a frenzy yesterday as he grabbed a front row place on the grid for today's F1 Grand Prix in Barcelona.

And the Spaniard echoed the thoughts of Nigel Mansell that the backing of an enthusiastic home crowd can shave time off the laps.

Alonso - who just lost out on pole by 0.091 seconds to world champion Kimi Raikkonen - said:

"Because of the fans the difference to me is a couple of tenths of a second, that's for sure."

He has been far from happy this year on his return to a Renault team who helped him become world champion in 2005 and 2006.

There has even been talk Alonso will quit the French outfit at the end of the season, with Ferrari a preferred destination, although the Italians' president Luca di Montezemolo last week dismissed the possibility.

Nevertheless, Alonso has made noises regarding a potential departure due to the fact his car has been uncompetitive in comparison to Ferrari, McLaren and BMW Sauber.

So out of the blue came a qualifying performance that might just convince him to stay and that Renault are not so bad after all.

For the first time since the Chinese Grand Prix of 2006 a Renault is on the front row.

For a handful of seconds Alonso was at the front, which sent the vast majority of the crowd at Spain's Circuit de Catalunya into delirium.

But Raikkonen crossed the line to become the fourth driver in four races this season to take pole.

It was still not enough to silence the Spanish hordes who roared their approval as Alonso made his way into the pits.

Alonso, who has previously written off his chances of a podium finish this season, is still cautious ahead of the 66-lap race.

Acknowledging Ferrari, McLaren and BMW Sauber still have the edge he said: "Seventh is the aim. It's good but we need to keep calm.

"Whatever the result is I will go into the next Grand Prix with more confidence, and hopefully being on the front row, Renault are coming back.

"The next step is to be in the top five and then to be on the podium."

Confident Raikkonen, who holds a three-point cushion at the top of the drivers' standings, said:

"It's nice to be on the front because it always makes life a bit easier in the race."

On the second row are Ferrari's Felipe Massa and the BMW Sauber of Robert Kubica with Britain's Lewis Hamilton a lowly fifth, his worst qualifying position of the season.

Grid positions: 1 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1min 21.813secs, 2 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:21.904, 3 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:22.058, 4 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:22.065, 5 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:22.096, 6 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 1:22.231, 7 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:22.429, 8 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:22.529, 9 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:22.542, 10 Nelson Piquet Jr. (Bra) Renault 1:22.699, 11 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda 1:21.049, 12 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 1:21.117, 13 Jenson Button (Gbr) Honda 1:21.211, 14 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:21.230, 15 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:21.349, 16 Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:21.724, 17 David Coulthard (Gbr) Red Bull 1:21.810, 18 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:22.108, 19 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India 1:22.516, 20 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:23.224, 21 Anthony Davidson (Gbr) Super Aguri 1:23.318, 22 Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri 1:23.496.