| 13:50:34
| Welcome to F1-Live.com and our live coverage of the French Grand Prix qualifying session. The action gets underway in ten minutes. |
| 13:53:32
| Lewis Hamilton completed just two runs in practice this morning, but set the fastest lap of the weekend with a best of 1:14.843s. Team-mate Fernando Alonso was just eighth fastest as he only had one run late in the final seconds of the session. |
| 13:54:16
| Ferrari dominated the Friday running and looked strong again this morning with Felipe Massa second fastest ahead of Kimi Raikkonen. Expect the Italian team to be gunning for an all-red front row. |
| 13:56:07
| Renault looked in much better form in practice with Heikki Kovalainen and Giancarlo Fisichella fourth and fifth fastest while Robert Kubica, on his race return, was sixth best for BMW Sauber. |
| 13:58:09
| Nick Heidfeld is struggling with back pain in the second BMW while the battle between Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Honda is one of the tightest in the field. Honda aimed for a big step at this Grand Prix. We shall see. |
| 14:00:11
| The first 15 minute qualifying session is underway. |
| 14:01:11
| No one on track right now. The front runners will use just the harder tyre in this session as they have the pure speed to make it into Q2 anyway. |
| 14:02:31
| Adrian Sutil heads out in his Spyker. |
| 14:02:52
| Fisichella, Kovalainen and Albers head out. |
| 14:03:13
| Sutil is straight onto the soft tyres. |
| 14:03:34
| Others are now leaving the pit lane. |
| 14:04:55
| Sutil on a smooth looking run and he will set the first timed lap. |
| 14:05:23
| Not a fast lap from Sutil. He was four tenths quicker than that this morning. |
| 14:05:49
| A 1:16.0 is roughly the cut off point to make it into Q2. |
| 14:06:07
| Kovalainen fastest from Trulli and Coulthard. |
| 14:07:09
| Fisichella is up to third. Davidson runs a little wide on his hot lap but moves fifth. |
| 14:07:23
| Coulthard now fastest from Kovalainen. |
| 14:08:03
| Speed moves second fastest. Toro Rosso showing well. |
| 14:08:18
| Hamilton moves fastest on the hard tyre. |
| 14:08:44
| Schumacher pops second for Toyota. Wurz's first lap is way off the pace in his Williams. |
| 14:09:11
| Wurz stays out for a second lap and improves a little |
| 14:09:38
| Kubica runs too deep into the hairpin. |
| 14:10:10
| Heidfeld moves second fastest with Kubica fourth. |
| 14:10:28
| Alonso moves second. Massa and Raikkonen on their timed lap. |
| 14:10:47
| Massa runs wide as he laps a Honda. |
| 14:11:34
| Sutil, Albers, Sato, Davidson, Wurz and Barrichello need to run again to improve. |
| 14:11:49
| Massa safe as he moves second fastest. |
| 14:12:12
| Raikkonen is on his first lap. |
| 14:12:37
| A little lock up and oversteer for Raikkonen mid-lap. |
| 14:12:51
| Raikkonen seems to have some turn in oversteer. |
| 14:13:18
| Raikkonen moves P2. Wurz is back out. He has really struggled in qualifying this year. |
| 14:13:56
| The front runners remain in the pits as Ralf Schumacher and those slower head back out for a second run. |
| 14:14:52
| Fisichella is 15th and needs to find some time or risk elimination. |
| 14:15:38
| The chequered flag is out. |
| 14:15:49
| Fisichella improves to 11th. |
| 14:16:18
| Webber vaults sixth fastest. |
| 14:16:50
| Sutil (22nd) has pulled off the track with a mechanical issue. |
| 14:17:17
| The order is set, Sutil, Albers, Davidson, Sato, Wurz and Liuzzi eliminated. |
| 14:17:44
| Wurz's poor qualifying is really hurting the team this year. |
| 14:18:33
| Liuzzi will be disappointed not to make the cut as the STR Ferrari has shown great pace this weekend. |
| 14:19:11
| Hamilton set the pace in that session on a 1:14.805s on hard tyres. A pause now before Q2 gets underway. |
| 14:22:04
| Q2 is now underway. |
| 14:23:38
| No rush as the remaining 16 remain in the pits. |
| 14:25:57
| Still no track activity. They are all waiting as long as they can before their first of two runs. |
| 14:26:37
| David Coulthard is out in his Red Bull Renault. He was tenth this morning and will be looking to repeat that this afternoon. |
| 14:26:56
| Hamilton, Schumacher, Trulli and more now take to the track. |
| 14:28:00
| Coulthard slows. He made a small mistake under braking. |
| 14:28:19
| Coulthard seems to have the usual Red Bull gearbox problem. |
| 14:28:42
| The circuit is now busy with most on their first run. |
| 14:29:46
| The Toyota duo record their first laps as Hamilton moves fastest. That will be good enough for Hamilton. |
| 14:30:04
| Hamilton fastest from Raikkonen, Kovalainen, Fisichella. |
| 14:30:31
| Coulthard is having repairs carried out. Webber is in the pits as well. |
| 14:30:54
| Massa has moved second. |
| 14:31:46
| Rosberg is now fifth fastest as Massa runs wide again in the last but one turn. |
| 14:32:11
| Kubica moves fourth fastest with Heidfeld ninth. |
| 14:32:43
| Alonso moves fifth fastest. That should be fast enough to make it into Q3. |
| 14:33:22
| Red Bull in big trouble. Coulthard has a greabox problems and Webber too seems to be in trouble as he has not been out. |
| 14:34:18
| Speed, Button, Barrichello and Trulli need to improve. Heidfeld stayed out for another lap as his first run was not too good. |
| 14:34:56
| Heidfeld doesn't improve and he is tight on time. He pits with two minutes remaining. |
| 14:35:23
| Most are heading back out for one more run. |
| 14:35:45
| The fastest five remain in the pit lane. They know they have done enough to make it into Q3. |
| 14:36:04
| Webber is now out and will get just one timed lap in his RB3. |
| 14:37:11
| All now on the hot lap as the chequered flag is out. |
| 14:37:32
| This mid-field is so tight so it is all to play for. |
| 14:37:45
| Fisichella and Rosberg improve. |
| 14:37:59
| Trulli moves into the top ten. |
| 14:38:19
| Heidfeld moves sixth. |
| 14:39:00
| So Coulthard, Speed, Webber, Barrichello, Button and Schumacher are eliminated. |
| 14:39:42
| The usual suspects make up the top ten as there is a short pause before Q3 gets underway. |
| 14:40:10
| Hamilton has topped both Q1 and Q2 so far and has a best lap of 1:14.795s. |
| 14:43:12
| Race fuel has been added to the remaining ten runners. Raikkonen is first in line in the pit lane. |
| 14:45:07
| The final 15 minute session is underway. |
| 14:45:46
| They all head out to burn off a little fuel before taking new tyres for two final qualifying runs. |
| 14:46:36
| Raikkonen leads Massa, Alonso and Hamilton on track. The cars are heavy on fuel right now and the times mean little. |
| 14:46:51
| Alonso pits his McLaren. Unusual. |
| 14:47:20
| Alonso is being pushed back into the garage and it seems he has a problem. |
| 14:47:55
| Raikkonen records the first timed lap. |
| 14:48:57
| There was some smoke coming out of the back of Alonso's car a replay shows. Engine issue it seems. |
| 14:49:19
| Raikkonen is fastest from Hamilton and Massa. |
| 14:49:52
| The McLaren team are working on Alonso's McLaren. If he has to change the engine he'll be starting at the back with Sato. |
| 14:50:34
| Raikkonen and Hamilton are lapping at a smilar pace at the moment. |
| 14:51:07
| Heidfeld has moved third fastest |
| 14:52:01
| It looks like it is the end of the session for Alonso. |
| 14:52:21
| Trulli pits his Toyota and goes for a new set of tyres. |
| 14:52:50
| Soon the rest will pit having used of some fuel. |
| 14:53:27
| All pitting now with seven minutes remaining. New tyres and the first qualifying run on the way. |
| 14:54:13
| Trulli and one of the Renault's on hard tyres for the first run. |
| 14:55:06
| Alonso has now climbed out of the McLaren. His session is done and he will start at best tenth. |
| 14:55:34
| Raikkonen, Hamilton and Massa on hot laps. |
| 14:56:20
| Massa moves fastest ahead of Hamilton and Raikkonen. Rosberg is fourth in the Williams. |
| 14:57:26
| Kubica up to fourth ahead of Heidfeld, Rosberg, Kovalainen, Fisichella and Trulli. |
| 14:57:44
| All pitting for another new set of tyres and one more run. |
| 14:58:30
| So Massa is the one to beat on this final run. |
| 14:59:30
| Raikkonen is on his final hot lap but doesn't look too fast. |
| 14:59:51
| Hamilton on a fast lap. |
| 14:59:59
| The chequered flag is out. |
| 15:00:13
| Raikkonen stays third. |
| 15:00:32
| Hamilton improves but remains second. Massa has the Pole! |
| 15:00:56
| Fisichella and Trulli both improve. |
| 15:01:34
| Kubica improves to fourth, Fisichella improves. |
| 15:02:25
| So Massa has the Pole from Hamilton, Raikkonen, Kubica and Fisichella. Kovalainen is sixth ahead of Heidfeld, Trulli and Rosberg. Alonso did not set a time and is listed as tenth. |
| 15:02:50
| It remains to be seen if Alonso need a fresh engine. if he doesm he will drop to 20th on the grid. |
