Budapest, Aug 24: Spain's Fernando Alonso put his Renault Formula One car onto pole position for the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix. Spain's Fernando Alonso, seeking to become the youngest race winner in Formula One history, put his Renault on pole position for Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix. The 22-year-old roared to the second pole position of his career, his first was in Malaysia in March, with a lap of one minute 21.688 seconds. Alonso shares the front row with Williams's Ralf Schumacher, who had been due to start 10 places further down the grid before his punishment for causing an accident at the last race was translated into a 50,000 U.S. dollar fine. Mark Webber of Australia put his Jaguar into third place with a fine effort, and championship contender Juan Pablo Montoya starts fourth on the grid in his Williams. Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, last year's winner in Hungary in the second Ferrari, starts on the third row as the highest placed driver on Bridgestone tyres with Alonso's Italian team mate Jarno Trulli. Trulli ran last in the session, having been fastest on Friday, but he tried too hard on Saturday and slid down the order.


McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen was seventh fastest while Michael Schumacher, Ferrari's overall leader and five times world champion, endured his worst qualifying of the season with eighth place on the grid. Schumacher leads Montoya in the championship with 71 points to the Colombian's 65. Raikkonen is third with 62.



The Sauber team announced that Italy's Giancarlo Fisichella, currently with Jordan, would be one of their drivers in 2004. Fisichella hustled his ill-handling car into 13th place on the grid. His team mate Ralph Firman of Great Britain was ruled out of qualification and Sunday's race after crashing heavily in morning practice, suffering concussion and an ankle injury.



His Jordan lost its rear wing early in the session and Firman could not brake the car as it flew over the outfield and into a tyre barrier. Britain's Justin Wilson qualified well in 12th place for his second race with Jaguar.


Both BARs suffered from lack of grip with Jenson Button 14th and Jacques Villeneuve 16th. Zsolt Baumgartner, Hungary's first Formula One driver, was recruited as stand-in for Firman. This was approved by the Formula One commission as he had tested for Jordan earlier in the season. He qualified 19th on his grand prix debut.


Provisional grid positions after Saturday's final qualifying for Sunday's Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix: 1. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault one minute 21.688 seconds 2. Ralf Schumacher (Germany) Williams 1:21.944 3. Mark Webber (Australia) Jaguar 1:22.027 4. Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia) Williams 1:22.180 5. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Ferrari 1:22.180 6. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Renault 1:22.610 7. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) McLaren 1:22.742 8. Michael Schumacher (Germany) Ferrari 1:22.755 9. David Coulthard (Britain) McLaren 1:23.060 10. Olivier Panis (France) Toyota 1:23.369 11. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) Sauber 1:23.621 12. Justin Wilson (Britain) Jaguar 1:23.660 13. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Jordan 1:23.726 14. Jenson Button (Britain) BAR 1:23.847 15. Cristiano da Matta (Brazil) Toyota 1:23.982 16. Jacques Villeneuve (Canada) BAR 1:24.100 17. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Germany) Sauber 1:24.569 18. Jos Verstappen (Netherlands) Minardi 1:26.423 19. Zsolt Baumgartner (Hungary) Jordan 1:26.678 20. Nicolas Kiesa (Denmark) Minardi 1:28.907


Bureau Report