Formula One Austrian Grand Prix: After scoring his first world championship point in his just his fifth race, at Barcelona two weeks ago, Ralph Firman crashed back down to earth yesterday, the Jordan rookie smashing his EJ13 into the wall at the end of his single pre-qualifying flying lap.
After completing two solid sectors of the 2.688-mile circuit in ninth and 12th-fastest times, sectors good enough to see him a few tenths of a second shy of a top-10 position, Firman pushed too hard into the final Mobilkom Kurve, running wide over the kerbs. Failing to gather the car, his EJ13 ploughed through the grass and into the wall of the pit straight.
The Jordan number two did manage to set a time, however, his crumpled car coming to rest just beyond the finish line to leave him third man out, after the two Schumachers, in this afternoon's grid-determining qualifying session.
"It's a shame," said Firman. "The car felt really good and I was pushing hard, obviously too hard in the final corner. As I came through I ran a little wide and tried to keep my foot in to get a good lap time, but I went on the grass and hit the wall.
"I'm disappointed for myself as I was on a good lap and I also feel sorry that the boys have a bit of work to do repairing the car. It was pretty good this afternoon, a lot better than the morning, maybe because the temperatures dropped off."
Salvation for Jordan came in the shape of lead driver Giancarlo Fisichella, who will today run 10th, which the Italian admitted was his target.
"That wasn't too bad," he said. "The car was quite good in qualifying but, curiously, completely different to the morning sessions, which was why, although I got a clean lap, I didn't push to the limit."
Fisichella is hoping for a profitable end to this weekend. "Because I wasn't pushing too hard, I'm sure we could have been a bit better off," he said, "so I'm quite confident for tomorrow. I hope to be in the top 10 again and then score some points."
The front of the grid is likely to be an all-Ferrari affair. After scoring full points on his maiden outing in the team's new F2003-GA car in Barcelona a fortnight ago, Michael Schumacher continued his pack-leading endeavours yesterday, claiming provisional pole position almost a second clear of his nearest non-Ferrari rival, despite running second in the qualifying session.
The world champion almost contemptuously dismissed the dusty, slippery nature of the "green" circuit to smash past current championship leader Kimi Raikkonen by a full second. Ferrari's domination continued shortly after Schumacher's blazing lap, with Rubens Barrichello coming to within three-tenths of his team leader.
Jaguar's Mark Webber was the pair's closest rival, the Australian finishing just under nine tenths adrift of the imperious champion.
Barrichello, though, will not be dismayed by a penultimate man-out spot in this afternoon's session. The Ferrari number two claimed his sixth career pole here last year and dominated the race. It was to be a controversial afternoon for Barrichello, however, as, yards from a chequered flag which would have represented his second career win, he was ordered by Ferrari team boss to let the pursuing Michael Schumacher take his only victory at the mountain circuit.
An angry reaction from the crowd grew into major controversy, which enveloped Ferrari all the way through the following Monaco weekend and eventually prompted Ferrari managing director Jean Todt to admit that the team would carefully consider such orders in the future.
With Mark Webber continuing his run of impressive qualifying performances for Jaguar by claiming second place, it was left to BAR's Jacques Villeneuve and Jenson Button to provide the day's surprise, the pair claiming third and fourth starting spots for this afternoon.
The team's engine supplier, Honda, had taken a late delivery of five development engines on Thursday night and the suspicion lingered yesterday afternoon that the team may have run the uprated engines and may revert to proven and potentially less fragile power-plants tomorrow.
If such a scenario holds true, it could benefit both McLaren and Williams, though the latter's driver Ralf Schumacher will have the hardest task of a quartet completed by his team-mate, Juan Pablo Montoya (sixth yesterday), and McLaren pilots David Coulthard (seventh yesterday) and Kimi Raikkonen (eighth).
The younger Schumacher beached his Williams FW25 at turn four and did not set a time, which leaves him starting first this afternoon, just ahead of Ralph Firman. With their respective team-mates outclassing them yesterday, the twin Ralph/Ralfs have much ground to make up.
OFFICIAL PRACTICE TIMES: 1. M Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1:07.908, 2. Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 1:08.187, 3. Webber (Aus) Jaguar-Cosworth 1:08.512, 4. Villeneuve (Can) BAR-Honda 1:08.680, 5. Button (Brit) BAR-Honda 1:08.831, 6. Montoya (Col) Williams-BMW 1:08.839, 7. Coulthard (Brit) McLaren-Mercedes 1:08.947, 8. Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1:08.978, 9. Pizzonia (Bra) Jaguar-Cosworth 1:09.024, 10. Fisichella (Ita) Jordan 1:09.281, 11. Trulli (Ita) Renault 1:09.450, 12. Heidfeld (Ger) Sauber-Petronas 1:09.479, 13. Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:09.680, 14. Panis (Fra) Toyota 1:09.764, 15. Frentzen (Ger) Sauber-Petronas 1:10.055, 16. Da Matta (Bra) Toyota 1:10.370, 17. Verstappen (Ned) Minardi 1:10.894, 18. Wilson (Brit) Minardi 1:11.056, 19. Firman (Brit) Jordan 1:11.171, 20. R Schumacher (Ger) Williams-BMW.
