Schumacher takes pole

Michael Schumacher gave his world championship ambitions a shot in the arm by taking pole position for the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis today.

The Ferrari driver, who trails Fernando Alonso by 25 points, took a dominant pole to give him the perfect platform to challenge for a fifth career win at the Brickyard.

His lap of one minute 10.832 seconds was 0.603secs quicker than team-mate Felipe Massa as Ferrari fired out a warning to title rivals Renault.

World champion Alonso’s run of five consecutive pole positions was brought to an end on a track where he has never finished a grand prix.

He had struggled in practice and continued to trail in Ferrari’s wake, trailing over a second off the pace in fifth position when the chequered flag flew.

The Spaniard was even outqualified by third-placed team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella for just the third time this season.

Rubens Barrichello lifted some of the gloom at under-performing Honda by taking fourth, with team-mate Jenson Button seventh.

Jacques Villeneuve, returning to the scene of his 1995 Indianapolis 500 triumph, posted his best qualifying result of the season for BMW-Sauber, taking sixth.

Ralf Schumacher finally had something to be pleased about at Indianapolis after qualifying his Toyota in eighth on the track where heavy accidents have seen him hospitalised in his last two visits.

Juan Pablo Montoya’s qualifying troubles continued in the second session when he missed the cut by a tiny margin.

The McLaren driver was on track for his final flying lap but ran out of time by just a few seconds, condemning him to 11th.

Scott Speed also missed that cut but he had a result to celebrate and will become the first American to race in a United States Grand Prix since 1989 from 13th on the grid.

The Midland pair of Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro also produced a surprising turn of speed, qualifying a season-best 14th and 15th respectively.

Scotsman David Coulthard will start 17th for Red Bull after continuing his disappointing practice form and missing the cut in first qualifying when Jarno Trulli also suffered.

The Toyota driver was out of his car with 90 seconds remaining and could only watch as he was relegated to 20th.

The star of first qualifying was Takuma Sato, who gave Super Aguri their best-ever Saturday performance by taking a surprise 18th in his four-year old chassis.

Formula 1 Championship United States GP, Indianoplis, United States of America

Final Qualifying Positions:

1 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1min 10.832secs,

2 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:11.435,

3 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 1:11.920,

4 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda 1:12.109,

5 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:12.449,

6 Jacques Villeneuve (Can) BMW Sauber 1:12.479,

7 Jenson Button (Gbr) Honda 1:12.523,

8 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 1:12.795,

9 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren 1:13.174,

10 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:15.280,

11 Juan Montoya (Col) McLaren 1:12.150,

12 Mark Webber (Aus) Williams 1:12.292,

13 Scott Speed (USA) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:12.792,

14 Christijan Albers (Ned) Midland 1:12.854,

15 Tiago Monteiro (Por) Midland 1:12.864,

16 Christian Klien (Aut) Red Bull 1:12.925,

17 David Coulthard (Gbr) Red Bull 1:13.180,

18 Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri 1:13.496,

19 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:13.506,

20 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:13.787,

21 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:14.041,

22 Franck Montagny (Fra) Super Aguri 1:16.036