Schumacher clinches Belgium pole

Michael Schumacher ended a 12-year wait as he scorched to a maiden Belgian Grand Prix pole position at Spa-Francorchamps.

Ferrari's five-time world champion was never under threat as he took top spot by just over 0.4 seconds from McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, who had been quickest in final practice.

Schumacher's team-mate Rubens Barrichello was over 0.6 secs down in third spot and he will be joined on the second row of the grid by Ralf Schumacher's Williams.

Fellow Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya was fifth while McLaren's David Coulthard was over a second adrift in sixth as he was out-qualified by McLaren team-mate Raikkonen for the ninth time in 14 attempts this season.

Eddie Irvine secured his best starting slot of the season with eighth place for Jaguar while Renault's Jenson Button was 10th fastest.

Allan McNish was 13th quickest but Anthony Davidson's hopes of boosting his F1 chances suffered a setback as he was outqualified by fellow Minardi driver Mark Webber.

The 23-year-old had targeted beating Australian Webber in only his second qualifying session as the temporary replacement for Alex Yoong.

But Davidson finished one place behind Webber in 20th spot - last on the grid with the Arrows team not taking part while boss Tom Walkinshaw tries to secure a buyer for his Oxfordshire-based outfit.