British GP Preview: Toro Rosso

Along with the Italian Grand Prix, the British event is the oldest on the calendar, having been held every year since the World Championship began in 1950, making the 2009 event a special sixtieth race.

Massa crashes in qualifying race

• Alonso takes pole with Red Bull duo second and third• Button qualifies in eighth with Hamilton fourthFelipe Massa was airlifted to a local hospital following a crash in qualifying for the Hungarian grand prix that knocked the Brazilian unconscious.Massa ran over a piece of debris on the track towards the close of the middle 15-minute session that had been deposited earlier by Rubens Barrichello's Brawn GP. The debris appeared to lodge beneath the Ferrari, seemingly locking into place not only the steering column, but also the throttle. On-screen graphics showed the throttle was open as he straight-lined off the track at turn four, ploughing nose first into a tyre barrier.Skid marks across the considerable run-off area showed the 28-year-old had at least attempted to brake before the collision. However, the fact he made no attempt to turn away from the impact suggested a further problem with the steering.The force of the collision knocked Massa unconscious as he showed no signs of movement inside the cockpit of his car for some time before being attended to by on-track paramedics. After being taken to the circuit's medical centre in what the FIA described as "a stable condition", Massa was then flown to a city hospital for further examination, a standard procedure in formula one.To add to the drama, the timing screens went black towards the end of the top-10 shootout, throwing everybody into confusion as not even the drivers had a clue as to who had taken pole. After several minutes, it finally came through that Fernando Alonso for Renault had taken pole, followed by the Red Bull duo of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, with Lewis Hamilton fourth for McLaren.It was the double world champion's first pole since the Italian Grand Prix in 2007, and the 18th of his career. Explaining the chaos at the end, Alonso said: "We were chatting amongst ourselves in parc ferme trying to find out what happened. It was a fantastic effort from the team. We put in some new parts at the Nurburging [German Grand Prix], and we've showed we have made a step forward."Behind world champion Hamilton will be Williams' Nico Rosberg, the second McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, with championship leader Jenson Button down in eighth. The heat of Budapest was meant to aid Button's cause after the cool of Britain and Germany had led to Red Bull one-twos in the last two races. But not even the sunshine could come to Button's aid, and his 21-point lead in the title race threatens to be eroded further at the Hungaroring.Behind Button are Williams' Kazuki Nakajima, with Massa 10th as he naturally took no part in the closing 10 minutes, however, he will be in a position to race tomorrow.In the 15-minute Q2, the biggest loser was Rubens Barrichello, with the Brazilian failing to make it into the top 10 for the first time this season due to the part that broke off his car.The 37-year-old will start a miserable 13th, with that failure potentially wrecking his championship chances, which could now prompt Brawn into putting all their eggs into Button's basket.Although rookie Jaime Alguersuari became the youngest to take part in a Formula One qualifying session, there was no fairytale for the 19-year-old. Alguersuari had run faultlessly through three practice sessions, at least proving he was anything but "a danger" as suggested by triple world champion Niki Lauda.In qualifying, however, Alguersuari was undermined by an electrical fault that forced him to pull his Toro Rosso off track in the final sector. Come the conclusion of the 20-minute period, Alguersuari sat at the bottom of the timesheets, in many respects where he was expected to finish even if his car had not let him down.Grid positions after Qualifying1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1min 21.569secs, 2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1:21.607, 3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:21.741, 4 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:21.839, 5 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:21.890, 6 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 1:22.095, 7 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:22.468, 8 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 1:22.511, 9 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 1:22.835, 10 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari No time, 11 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:21.002, 12 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:21.082, 13 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 1:21.222, 14 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:21.242, 15 Nelson Piquet Jr. (Bra) Renault 1:21.389, 16 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:21.738, 17 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India 1:21.807, 18 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:21.868, 19 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:21.901, 20 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:22.359Formula OneLewis HamiltonJenson ButtonMotor sportguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Alonso takes F1 pole in Hungary

Fernando Alonso took the pole position after a chaotic finish to qualifying Saturday at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where Ferrari's Felipe Massa was airlifted to a hospital following a high-speed accident.

Lorenzo steals pole in Italy

Jorge Lorenzo took pole at the Italian Grand Prix after setting the fastest time in the qualifying session at Mugello, with Valentino Rossi down in fourth.

Bautista claims 250cc pole

Championship leader Alvaro Bautista will start Sunday's 250cc Italian Grand Prix from pole position after outpacing home star Marco Simoncelli by just 0.014sec.

Smith takes pole in 125s

Bradley Smith takes his first pole position of the 2009 125cc season with a record-breaking lap during qualifying for the Italian GP at Mugello.