There is a saying in the paddock that, if Formula 1 was easy, everyone would do it and today’s qualifying performance from Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro was a perfect illustration of that cliché. This is a sport where the difference between success and failure is always poised on a knife edge. Felipe Massa had a great session to make it through to the final part of qualifying, before taking fourth place in the top ten shoot out. From where he starts, with the F60 much improved with the new package brought to this race, the Brazilian has a real chance of making it to the podium tomorrow. However, bitter is the only way to describe the Scuderia’s feelings after a bad error of judgement saw Kimi Raikkonen’s qualifying end in Q1, with a start position of sixteenth. Prior to the session, the strategists calculate what lap time should be sufficient to make it through to Q2 and after Kimi’s run, it was felt he had done enough and that it was better to save a new set of the faster softer tyres for the next part of the session. It proved to be a bad choice, as the Finn dropped out of the top 15 and into the relegation zone. His afternoon was over.

Once again, championship leader and winner of three races this year, Jenson Button, steered his Brawn to another pole position, just beating Sebastian Vettel, the only other man to win so far this season, in the Red Bull Renault, in the dying moments of Q3. It was a thrilling few minutes that had the crowd on their feet. Inside Felipe on row 2 is his fellow countryman, Rubens Barrichello in the second Brawn. While behind them, Mark Webber (Red Bull Renault) and Timo Glock (Toyota) occupy row 3. There are two Ferrari engines on row 8, as Kimi finds himself alongside the Toro Rosso car of Sebastien Buemi.

It seems it would not be a Grand Prix weekend if the weather experts did not predict rain for race day and indeed, that is the case for tomorrow. Usually, drivers at the front end of the grid favour a straightforward dry race, while those at the back pray for rain to capitalise on unforeseen circumstances, therefore the two Prancing Horse drivers could line up with different aspirations on this front.