Schumacher takes pole in Bahrain

Michael Schumacher equalled Ayrton Senna’s pole position record to take top spot on the grid for the Bahrain Grand Prix today as Kimi Raikkonen’s title challenge got off to the worst possible start.

Former world champion Schumacher responded to the loss of his title last year with a lightening display in qualifying as Ferrari fired an ominous warning to their rivals.

Schumacher’s lap of one minute 31.341 seconds took him to 65 career pole positions, level with Brazilian great Senna.

Felipe Massa took second on his Ferrari debut while Honda’s Jenson Button was an encouraging third and world champion Fernando Alonso took fourth.

Raikkonen became the first victim of Formula One’s new qualifying system today.

He suffered a suspension and rear wing failure at high speed, pitching him into a spin which almost resulted in a roll as his stricken car bounced over his trailing tyre.

He was condemned to starting from the back thanks to a new knock-out qualifying system, which made its debut today.

The six slowest cars are eliminated after each of two 15-minute sessions before a top-10 shoot-out determined the front of the grid.

As Raikkonen had yet to set a lap time, and his McLaren was too damaged to resume the short session, he must start last.

Raikkonen’s team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya was fifth with Honda driver Rubens Barrichello sixth.

Scotsman David Coulthard starts from 13th place after failing to avoid the cut in the second session.

Red Bull have struggled for pace this weekend and Coulthard fell short as six drivers were eliminated. Rookie Nico Rosberg will start from 12th in his Williams after joining Coulthard in missing the cut.

Suggestions an unlikely podium could come Scuderia Toro Rosso’s way this weekend looked wide of the mark as both their cars went out in the second session. Vitantonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed will start 15th and 16th respectively.

Predictably, the two Super Aguri cars were among the six eliminated at the end of the first 15-minute session.

After a race against time just to make it to Bahrain, the Honda-backed team expected to struggle with their four-year-old ex-Arrows chassis.

They propped up the standings, with Takuma Sato and Yuji Ide qualifying 21st and 22nd respectively, more than six seconds off the pace.

Aside from Raikkonen, Toyota’s Ralf Schumacher was the most high-profile eviction after clocking the 17th fastest lap in the scramble to set a time in a frantic final few minutes.

Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix, Sakhir, Manama, Bahrain

Final positions after Qualifying: 1 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1min 31.431secs, 2 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:31.478, 3 Jenson Button (Gbr) Honda 1:31.549, 4 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:31.702, 5 Juan Montoya (Col) McLaren 1:32.164, 6 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda 1:32.579, 7 Mark Webber (Aus) Williams 1:33.006, 8 Christian Klien (Aut) Red Bull 1:33.112, 9 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 1:33.496, 10 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:33.926, 11 Jacques Villeneuve (Can) BMW Sauber, 12 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams, 13 David Coulthard (Gbr) Red Bull, 14 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota, 15 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Scuderia Toro Rosso, 16 Scott Speed (USA) Scuderia Toro Rosso, 17 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota, 18 Christijan Albers (Ned) Midland, 19 Tiago Monteiro (Por) Midland, 20 Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri, 21 Yuji Ide (Jpn) Super Aguri, 22 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren