Barrichello scorches to Monza pole

Rubens Barrichello took pole position for tomorrow’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza with Formula One’s fastest-ever qualifying lap.

Sat, 11 Sep, 2004 - 15:05

Rubens Barrichello took pole position for tomorrow’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza with Formula One’s fastest-ever qualifying lap.

Barrichello put newly-crowned world champion Michael Schumacher in the shade on Ferrari’s home turf with a superb lap which left his team-mate half a second down the road and earned him a piece of Formula One history.

Barrichello’s lap of one minute 20.089 seconds is the fastest pole position time in Formula One history.

Juan Pablo Montoya had held the record after a blistering effort in 2002, before new regulations came in to force drivers to qualify with several laps of fuel in the tank.

Montoya did his best to keep the mark but was 0.531secs behind Barrichello on his way to second for Williams.

Schumacher, who suffered a major testing accident last week at Monza, was a fraction further back in third with Renault’s Fernando Alonso fourth.

Jenson Button suffered the rare indignity of being outqualified by BAR team-mate Takuma Sato, who took fourth to Button’s fifth.

David Coulthard will start 10th for McLaren, three places behind team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, who won two weeks ago in Belgium.

Early in the session, Toyota’s Olivier Panis was the first serious runner to qualify after the Minardi and Jordan drivers had their turn.

The Frenchman, who announced his retirement from grand prix racing earlier this week, dutifully set the fastest lap by nearly half a second. He was usurped by team-mate Ricardo Zonta before the true pole position contenders, which this weekend numbered 10 after particularly close practice sessions, got their chance.

Jarno Trulli put his Renault at the top with a solid lap but it was nowhere near quick enough to keep Barrichello at bay and the Ferrari driver went fastest by almost a second.

Schumacher was next out and despite going faster than his team-mate in the first sector, he ended his lap over half a second adrift.

Raikkonen too improved on Barrichello’s effort in the early part of the lap but was unable to knock the Brazilian off top spot.

The likes of Coulthard, Giancarlo Fisichella and Alonso also fell short before Button hit the track. The Englishman was unable to even trouble the top three though.

Sato and Antonio Pizzonia were well over Barrichello’s time, leaving Montoya as the only man left able to challenge.

The Colombian looked like taking the honours after a fast first section but like so many of his rivals, he could not match Barrichello in the middle of the lap and had to settle for second.

Positions after Final Qualifying:

1 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari 1min 20.089secs,

2 Juan Montoya (Col) Williams BMW 1:20.620,

3 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1:20.637,

4 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:20.645,

5 Takuma Sato (Jpn) BAR Honda 1:20.715,

6 Jenson Button (Gbr) BAR Honda 1:20.786,

7 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren Mercedes 1:20.877,

8 Antonio Pizzonia (Bra) Williams BMW 1:20.888,

9 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Renault 1:21.027,

10 David Coulthard (Gbr) McLaren Mercedes 1:21.049,

11 Ricardo Zonta (Bra) Toyota 1:21.520,