Full Throttle

Spain’s Fernando Alonso won the pole position for the French Grand Prix in clocking 1 minute, 14.412 seconds on an overcast day — his third pole of the season and the sixth of his career.

Toyota’s Jarno Trulli, who held pole in the U.S. Grand Prix, was second with 1:14.521 and is anxious for talk to return to action on the track. A performance that should lay to rest thoughts of Toyota having pre-knowledge of the Indy boycott and grabbing that pole with a minimal fuel load.

Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren-Mercedes was third in qualifying in 1:14.559 but will be penalized 10 spots on his qualifying position, having changed his engine following its failure during Friday’s practice.

Ferrari’s Schumacher will start fourth, but he will move up a spot and start behind Alonso as a result of the Raikkonen penalty.

French Grand Prix lineup:
1. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Renault, 1 minute, 14.412 seconds, 132.629 mph.

2. Jarno Trulli, Italy, Toyota, 1:14.521.

3. x-Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, McLaren-Mercedes, 1:14.559.

4. Michael Schumacher, Germany, Ferrari, 1:14.572.

5. Takuma Sato, Japan, BAR-Honda, 1:14.655.

6. Rubens Barrichello, Brazil, Ferrari, 1:14.832.

7. Giancarlo Fisichella, Italy, Renault, 1:14.887.

8. Jenson Button, Britain, BAR-Honda, 1:15.051.

9. Juan Pablo Montoya, Colombia, McLaren-Mercedes, 1:15.406.

10. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Sauber-Petronas, 1:15.56.

11. Jacques Villeneuve, Canada, Sauber-Petronas, 1:15.699.

12. Ralf Schumacher, Germany, Toyota, 1:15.771.

13. Mark Webber, Australia, Williams-BMW, 1:15.885.

14. Nick Heidfeld, Germany, Williams-BMW, 1:16.207.

15. David Coulthard, Britain, Red Bull-Cosworth, 1:16.434.

16. Christian Klien, Austria, Red Bull-Cosworth, 1:16.547.

17. Narain Karthikeyan, India, Jordan-Toyota, 1:17.857.

18. Patrick Friesacher, Austria, Minardi-Cosworth, 1:17.960.

19. Tiego Monteiro, Portugal, Jordan-Toyota, 1:18.047.

20. Christijan Albers, Netherlands, Minardi-Cosworth, 1:18.335.