Barrichello clinches pole position

Rubens Barrichello clinched his first pole position since the end of last year to head an all-Ferrari front row of the grid at tomorrow’s United States Grand Prix.

Barrichello, who last headed the field at the final race of the 2003 season in Japan, pipped team-mate Michael Schumacher by less than two tenths of a second as he clocked one minute 10.233 seconds for the 4.192km Indianapolis Motor Speedway circuit.

The Brazilian had been dominant in practice, topping the standings in the first three sessions, and deservedly clinched pole for the 10th time in his career.

The BARs of Takumo Sato (3rd) and Jenson Button (4th) make up the second row, followed by the Williams of Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher.

The Jordan pair of Nick Heidfeld and Giorgio Pantano qualified in 16th and 17th respectively.

Final qualifying:

1 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 1min 10.223secs,

2 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1:10.400,

3 Takuma Sato (Jpn) BAR Honda 1:10.601,

4 Jenson Button (Gbr) BAR Honda 1:10.820,

5 Juan Montoya (Col) Williams BMW 1:11.062,

6 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Williams BMW 1:11.106,

7 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren Mercedes 1:11.137,

8 Olivier Panis (Fra) Toyota 1:11.167,

9 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:11.185,

10 Mark Webber (Aus) Jaguar 1:11.286,

11 Cristiano Da Matta (Bra) Toyota 1:11.691,

12 David Coulthard (Gbr) McLaren Mercedes 1:12.026,

13 Christian Klien (Aut) Jaguar 1:12.170,

14 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Sauber Petronas 1:12.470,

15 Felipe Massa (Bra) Sauber Petronas 1:12.721,

16 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Jordan Cosworth 1:13.147,

17 Giorgio Pantano (Ita) Jordan Cosworth 1:13.375,

18 Gianmaria Bruni (Ita) Minardi Cosworth 1:14.010,

19 Zsolt Baumgartner (Hun) Minardi Cosworth 1:14.812,

20 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Renault no time