Length: 4.627 km
Number of Laps: 66 (305.256 Km)
Best Lap: G. Fisichella - 1'15''641 (2005, Renault)
Record Pole: M. Schumacher - 1'15''022 (2004, Ferrari)
2005 Pole: K. Raikkonen - 1'16''602 (Mclaren)
2005 Podium: K. Raikkonen - F. Alonso - J. Trulli

The man they came to see was Fernando Alonso and the local superstar rewarded his admirers with a superb performance in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix.

The Spaniard’s time of 1:14.648 – more than a tenth quicker than last year’s pole time – was astonishing considering the efforts that had been put into slowing cars down.

Giancarlo Fisichella was similarly impressive with a time of 1:14.709 to secure second position.

The result was a coup for Renault who closed out the front row of the grid despite Ferrari heading into the session as heavy favourites.

Surprisingly the Scuderia couldn’t even get close to their rivals pace. Michael Schumacher finished three tenths down in third, Felipe Massa a further half second back in fourth.

Ominously Michael Schumacher seemed rather pleased with his position in the press conference that followed the session.

The German said the team had ‘compromised’ qualifying pace in favour of a stronger strategy for Sunday and was confident in his prospects for the race.

Honda’s Rubens Barrichello and Toyota’s Ralf Schumacher recorded exactly the same time in fifth and sixth respectively.

Owing to the fact that Barrichello had recorded the result of 1:15.885 first, he was given the higher position in the final standings.

Jarno Trulli (Toyota) finished seventh, ahead of his much more fancied rivals in Jenson Button (Honda) and Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren).

Nick Heidfeld was the final man in the top-ten shoot out and never managed to put up a fight, his best effort two and a half seconds off the benchmark time.

Other events of note on the events second day was the row that broke out at McLaren, and David Coulthard’s shunt.

After missing out on the top ten shoot-out, a fuming Juan Pablo Montoya stormed back into the McLaren garage and involved himself in a verbal quarrel.

While Montoya himself wouldn’t talk to the press, the issue was thought to be a refuelling problem that cost the Colombian time.

Earlier in the afternoon Red Bull’s David Coulthard was the cause of a stoppage when he shunted into the barriers.

The Scot was on his out lap during the first segment when all of a sudden he lost control and went hurtling off the circuit.

Talking in the paddock, Coulthard said he thought the shunt, that saw his car suffer heavy damage to the rear, was down to a suspension failure.

Looking ahead to Sunday, a thrilling race is in prospect. Despite their performance in qualifying, Renault remain underdogs with Ferrari still tipped for the ultimate victory.

The Italian squad are thought to be running more fuel and that, coupled with their supreme speed advantage down the circuit’s main straight, makes them look the stronger prospect.