Schumacher on pole

Michael Schumacher moved a step closer to a record 12th win of the season by claiming pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Sat, 14 Aug, 2004 - 15:09

Michael Schumacher moved a step closer to a record 12th win of the season by claiming pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Schumacher cruised to the fastest time of today’s qualifying session at the Hungaroring to give Ferrari a clean sweep of the front row, with Rubens Barrichello taking second.

The German’s lap of one minute 19.146 seconds was 0.177secs quicker than his team-mate and sets Ferrari well on their way to tying up the constructors’ championship.

Takuma Sato eclipsed BAR team-mate Jenson Button to line up third, with the Englishman set to start his first race since announcing his decision to join Williams from fourth.

Scotsman David Coulthard starts 12th after being forced to take his qualifying lap early having registered a lacklustre pre-qualifying effort which left him down in 16th.

Even with only four drivers out before him – including the two Minardis – he was still unable to put his name on top of the timing sheets, falling just short of Mark Webber’s effort for Jaguar.

Last year’s winner Fernando Alonso was the first front-runner on track and he quickly upped the pace, taking nearly three quarters of a second off Webber’s previous best.

Light rain began to fall soon after but that did not deter Button, who took over top spot with a tidy effort.

Sato usurped his team-mate though by just 0.007secs despite running onto the grass at one stage.

Schumacher went quicker than the Japanese driver from the start and breezed to the fastest lap of the session.

Barrichello hit the track last courtesy of his pace in pre-qualifying – when he went over half a second faster than second-placed Schumacher – but he was unable to keep his team-mate from a 62nd career pole position.

Antonio Pizzonia out-qualified Williams team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya thanks to a consistent lap which left Ralf Schumacher’s stand-in in a fine sixth. Montoya was seventh.

Sauber’s Felipe Massa will start from the back of the grid after opting not to take part in qualifying following his penalty for an engine change earlier today.

Ricardo Zonta’s first qualifying run for Toyota since being promoted to replace Cristiano da Matta delivered a tidy lap which was only fractionally slower than team-mate Panis. The Brazilian ended up 15.

Hungarian Grand Prix, Hungaroring - positions after final qualifying:

1 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1min 19.146secs,

2 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 01:19.323,

3 Takuma Sato (Jpn) BAR Honda 01:19.693,

4 Jenson Button (Gbr) BAR Honda 01:19.700,

5 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 01:19.996,

6 Antonio Pizzonia (Bra) Williams BMW 01:20.170,

7 Juan Montoya (Col) Williams BMW 01:20.199,

8 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Sauber Petronas 01:20.324,

9 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Renault 01:20.411,

10 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren Mercedes 01:20.570,

11 Mark Webber (Aus) Jaguar 01:20.730,