Michael takes back pole in final qualifying

Michael Schumacher maintained his perfect qualifying record this season as he scorched to pole position for tomorrow's inaugural Bahrain Grand Prix.

Sat, 03 Apr, 2004 - 14:20

Michael Schumacher maintained his perfect qualifying record this season as he scorched to pole position for tomorrow's inaugural Bahrain Grand Prix.

The six-time world champion spearheaded another Ferrari domination of the front row after finishing almost 0.4 seconds ahead of team-mate Rubens Barrichello.

Schumacher looks set to make it three wins out of three this year in the race and extend his seven-point advantage in the championship standings over the Brazilian.

Williams duo Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher will occupy the second row of the grid at the £100m (€152m) circuit in the desert south of the capital Manama.

BAR's Jenson Button qualified sixth fastest while fellow Brit David Coulthard was back in 10th place after a nightmare weekend so far for his McLaren-Mercedes team.

Button had raised his hopes of scorching to his first pole just two weeks after claiming his maiden podium finish when he set the fastest time in both practice sessions today.

But the 24-year-old Brit, who was third in Malaysia last time out, dropped to eighth fastest in the pre-qualifying session where Ralf Schumacher was quickest in his Williams.

In the end, Button was outqualified by team-mate Takuma Sato for the first time as the Japanese driver claimed his best ever starting position of fifth.

Coulthard's troubled weekend has seen him ditched in the sand yesterday after a rear tyre blew while he also lost vital track time when he slid off the circuit this morning and spent virtually all the second session kicking his heels in the garage.

The lost track time proved vital as he qualified well down the grid, but from where he could still score points with tomorrow's historic race expected to be high on attrition as the heat and dust take their toll on the cars.

But he is still ahead of team-mate Kimi Raikkonen who will start from the pit-lane or the back of the grid after aborting his qualifying lap before the start and pulled into the pit-lane.

The Finn would have been penalised 10 places under the new regulations after needing an engine change because his Mercedes powerplant was wrecked by a fire in practice yesterday.

McLaren's decision protected their engine, though it means Raikkonen, yet to score a point this season after finishing runner-up to Schumacher last year, is likely to begin with a heavy fuel load.

Colombia's Montoya will start from third having been quickest in the first two timed sectors before losing a massive amount of time to the Ferrari duo on the last sector.

Montoya eventually finished almost half-a-second adrift of Schumacher and just fractions ahead of his team-mate.

Schumacher said after his 58th pole - just seven off Ayrton Senna's record: "It was not my best lap.

"I didn't get the best line, but I think a few of us had that problem. It is a very technically demanding circuit.

"It is very difficult, but that is okay, we do not just want an easy business. I hope we can put on a good show for all the people.

"The conditions are okay and the circuit is very well prepared. Everybody I have spoken too is happy about coming here."

Barrichello said: "I was a bit too conservative and the last quarter is where I lost it. Michael had a phenomenal time in sector three."

Montoya said: "It was good until the last corner when I just lost the time, but it is still looking quite good."

Final qualifying times:

1 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1min 30.139secs,

2 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 1:30.530,

3 Juan Montoya (Col) Williams BMW 1:30.581,

4 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Williams BMW 1:30.633,