With ace retired, F1 race wide open

Michael Schumacher has left a void, but Lewis Hamilton is trying to fill it.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The one constant in the seven years since the United States Grand Prix came to Indianapolis has been Michael Schumacher.

The German ace drove his Ferrari to five victories and two runner-up finishes on the road course at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

But now that the seven-time Formula One champion is retired to a consulting position with his former team, the door is wide open for another driver to put his imprint on this event.

“This was Michael’s track,” said two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso. “Now, it could be much more of a race for everyone.”

Alonso and Mercedes McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton, a 22-year-old rookie who has taken F1 by storm, are the favorites heading into today’s 73-lap event on the 2.605-mile, 13-turn circuit.

Hamilton, showing little respect for his elders, outran Alonso and Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen Saturday to win his second pole in a row.

“Getting my second pole is even better than last week,” said Hamilton, the first black driver in F1 history.

Battle for the lead

After Massa and Raikkonen took the top two spots briefly with about four minutes to go in the 15-minute final qualifying session, Alonso jumped to the top with a lap of 1 minute, 13.500 seconds.

Seconds later, Hamilton took the top spot at 1:13.385 and stayed out front to the end, posting a final lap of 1:13.331 to wrap up his second F1 pole in only his seventh try.

The pole was unexpected since Alonso had been faster than Hamilton in two days of practice, but Hamilton, who keeps one-upping himself, said it was just hard work paying off.

“I was quite surprised (to win the pole), to be honest, mainly because it’s my first time here,” the young Englishman said. “I haven’t really been performing as good as Fernando has. But, going into qualifying, just throughout the whole weekend I’m always trying to find that little bit more, little bit more. And each time I go out I improve and improve.”

“Experience is everything here. The more I get out on the track, the faster I get.”

Not news they wanted

That’s bad news for both his teammate, whom he leads by eight points in the season standings, and Massa and Raikkonen, who hope to challenge the McLaren drivers today.

Alonso, who moved from Renault to McLaren over the winter, has raced here four times — with last year’s fifth his best finish. But, even after losing the pole to Hamilton, the Spaniard remained upbeat heading into the race.

“Yeah, it’s been a good weekend for me, no doubt. I was fastest in every session but not the important one,” he said “But being fastest all weekend gives me a lot of confidence for tomorrow. ... I think for tomorrow we can have a strong race and I’m totally confident.”

Massa, second to then-teammate Schumacher last year, and Raikkonen, who took over Schumacher’s vacated seat at Ferrari, will start right behind the McLarens in row two.