Schumacher and Barrichello put Ferrari in the driving seat

WORLD champions Ferrari made the perfect start to their home race yesterday as Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello claimed the top two spots in the first qualifying session.

Schumacher, who has endured his worst start to a Formula One season after failing to finish on the podium in the opening three races, set the pace with a best lap of 1min 20.628sec to take provisional pole.

The German, who lowered team-mate Rubens Barrichello’s lap time by almost half-a-second after the Brazilian had set a blistering pace, admitted the result was expected.

“It’s great to have both cars on the front row today,” said Schumacher. “We thought we could get this result, but the opposition, particularly Williams, is very close.

“We think we have a good car for the rest of the weekend and are capable of winning. We always knew that Malaysia and Brazil would be difficult for us, as that was the case last year.

“Back then, we came to Imola and had the upper hand and it looks to be the case this year too.”

The Williams of Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya were the only two cars within one second of Schumacher’s lap time, with the pair third and fourth quickest respectively.

Australia’s Jaguar driver Mark Webber underlined his growing reputation with the fifth fastest time to finish ahead of BAR pair Jenson

Button and Jacques Villeneuve, but immediately admitted his position does not reflect his team’s true pace.

“We’re happy, but I think it’s unfair to say we are truly fifth, because the McLarens and the other top boys had to go out on a dirty track,” he said.

“We’re definitely in the top 10, but not fifth, and I think Saturday will be more realistic, because there’s the warm-up in the morning ahead of qualifying and that tends to bunch things up a bit more.”

McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard, winners in Malaysia and Australia respectively, could only set the eighth and ninth best times after running first on the track.

But Coulthard was not surprised by Ferrari’s pace.

“Ferrari have a quick car. We have all seen that for the last couple of years and here the track suits them,” said the Scotsman.

“The goal for Friday was to be close to the front group and we are just not getting the laps times out of the car here. But this is only stage one and I think we’ll still be in with a chance of a podium.”

Sauber’s Heinz-Harald Frentzen completed the top 10, while Jordan’s Brazilian Grand Prix winner Giancarlo Fisichella, of Italy, was 11th.

Raikkonen, the championship leader, went out on track first and posted a lap of 1:22.147, which Coulthard was unable to better as he ran second.

Renault driver Fernando Alonso, back on track after his race-ending crash in Brazil two weeks ago, then completed his run more than six-tenths slower than Raikkonen.

Fisichella had been on course to take top spot, but lost more than five-tenths of a second on the final sector after running wide, while Renault's Jarno Trulli was nine-tenths of a second off the pace.

Montoya moved to the top of the times with a lap more than six-tenths quicker than Raikkonen, despite making a minor error late during his run.

But Barrichello, the next man on track, shattered Montoya’s time by almost half-a-second, before Schumacher then lowered his team-mate’s mark by 0.454 seconds.