Double blow to Schuey's Monaco hopes

The German, who has won this race four times, was sitting with his damaged car near Portier bend when David Coulthard fired in a blistering last lap to steal pole at Monte Carlo for the first time in his career.

Coulthard's pole means that Schumacher starts the race behind his main championship rival on a track where overtaking is close to impossible. But although the Ferrari driver had a glum look on his face at being outdone by Coulthard, he still managed a joke about hitting the barrier exactly where Ayrton Senna famously crashed out while leading.

"I thought someone had moved the barriers as I arrived there. No, I was just too tight," Schumacher said with a laugh. "It was not perfect, I was one-tenth up after the first sector, but who knows what would have happened at the end of it."

The German also saw his first qualifying run spoiled by both Arrows.

"The two Arrows went out of the pits and didn't watch their mirrors well enough and I had to abort the lap," he said. "But the third run was my best. It was clean."

But was he happy to be on the front row?

"Yes and no. I'd rather be on pole than second position, but David did a better job than I did. We'll have to see what we can do tomorrow."

For full qualifying results click here.