Coulthard and Hakkinen on Front Row - San Marino GP

McLaren's David Coulthard put in a tremendous lap to claim McLaren's first pole of the year after a frantic end to qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix.

Briton Coulthard's quickest time of 1:23.054 knocked his team-mate Mika Hakkinen off the provisional pole with a final flying lap as the McLaren pair secured their first front row double since Canada last year.

The McLaren revival soured the atmosphere in the garage of home heroes Ferrari as German Michael Schumacher had to settle for fourth despite being at the head of the times for much of the session, and Rubens Barrichello could only claim sixth.

Schumacher's younger brother Ralf claimed third spot in the hectic final minutes for Williams, and Jarno Trulli was in fifth for Jordan.

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya ended a promising but ultimately disappointing session in seventh, and the Honda runners of Olivier Panis in the BAR and Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the Jordan, claimed eighth and ninth with Raikkonen filling out the top ten.

Threatening clouds forced all 22 drivers out in the opening minutes as the teams attempted to take advantage of the conditions in case of rain later in the session.

Schumacher's Ferrari team-mate Barrichello then posted the fastest time five minutes into the session before Ralf Schumacher, Frentzen, Hakkinen and Barrichello again improved the best time before Coulthard settled on top spot.

Hakkinen then improved but then the elder Schumacher topped the field as he chased a record eighth successive pole position.

Jaguar's Eddie Irvine struggled with a poorly handling Jaguar and the Ulsterman was the only man out on track midway through the session, trying to improve from 21st and eventually ending in 13th spot.

But Hakkinen challenged Schumacher to improve when the Finn moved into provisional pole with a time of 1:23.381 on his ninth lap.

But he could do nothing and it was Coulthard who took up his team-mate's challenge to claim pole.

Pos. Driver Team Times 1. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (B) 1:23.054 213.822 km/h 2. Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes (B) 1:23.282 + 0.228 3. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:23.357 + 0.303 4. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:23.593 + 0.539 5. Trulli Jordan Honda (B) 1:23.658 + 0.604 6. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:23.786 + 0.732 7. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:24.141 + 1.087 8. Panis BAR Honda (B) 1:24.213 + 1.159 9. Frentzen Jordan Honda (B) 1:24.436 + 1.382 10. Raikkonen Sauber Petronas (B) 1:24.671 + 1.617 11. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:24.769 + 1.715 12. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:25.007 + 1.953 13. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:25.392 + 2.338 14. Alesi Prost Acer (M) 1:25.411 + 2.357 15. Burti Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:25.572 + 2.518 16. Bernoldi Arrows Asiatech (B) 1:25.872 + 2.818 17. Verstappen Arrows Asiatech (B) 1:26.062 + 3.008 18. Alonso European Minardi (M) 1:26.855 + 3.801 19. Fisichella Benetton Renault (M) 1:26.902 + 3.848 20. Mazzacane Prost Acer (M) 1:27.750 + 4.696 21. Button Benetton Renault (M) 1:27.758 + 4.704 22. Marques European Minardi (M) 1:28.281 + 5.227 All timing unofficial