Barrichello Fastest in First Qualifying - US GP

Rubens Barrichello put himself on course for his first pole position since last year's season-ending Japanese Grand Prix when he finished significantly fastest in the pre-qualifying session for the United States Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver, who has qualified behind World Champion teammate Michael Schumacher in all eight races so far this season, posted the fastest time ever around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a lap of 1:09.454.

Williams-BMW pair Juan Pablo Montoya, of Colombia, and German Ralf Schumacher finished second and fifth respectively having had the advantage of running late in the session because of their disqualification from the last race in Canada.

Montoya finished 0.370 seconds behind Barrichello while Toyota driver Olivier Panis posted third fastest time with his Brazilian teammate Cristiano da Matta seventh as both also ran late following their Canadian disqualifications.

BAR-Honda continued their strong performance with fourth for Takuma Sato but the Japanese driver was 0.548 seconds off the pace and his British teammate Jenson Button could manage only eighth.

Spaniard Fernando Alonso finished sixth for Renault while Michael Schumacher's time of 1:10.129 was only good enough for ninth. Italian Jarno Trulli completed the top ten in the second Renault.

Pos Driver Team T1 T2 Time 1. (2) Barrichello Ferrari (B) 21.357 49.967 1:09.454 2. (17) Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 21.645 50.396 1:09.824 + 0.370 3. (19) Panis Toyota (M) 21.551 50.355 1:09.923 + 0.469 4. (11) Sato BAR-Honda (M) 21.651 50.308 1:10.002 + 0.548 5. (16) R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 21.611 50.502 1:10.003 + 0.549 6. (12) Alonso Renault (M) 21.734 50.526 1:10.078 + 0.624 7. (18) da Matta Toyota (M) 21.688 50.373 1:10.108 + 0.654 8. (3) Button BAR-Honda (M) 21.603 50.593 1:10.115 + 0.661 9. (1) M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 21.360 50.543 1:10.129 + 0.675 10. (15) Trulli Renault (M) 21.891 50.820 1:10.559 + 1.105 11. (4) Fisichella Sauber-Petronas (B) 21.918 51.339 1:10.997 + 1.543 12. (6) Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 22.085 51.268 1:11.068 + 1.614 13. (10) Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 22.154 51.646 1:11.315 + 1.861 14. (5) Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 22.025 51.548 1:11.415 + 1.961 15. (14) Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 22.127 51.533 1:11.444 + 1.990 16. (8) Klien Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 22.174 51.788 1:11.777 + 2.323 17. (20) Pantano Jordan-Ford (B) 22.276 51.915 1:12.017 + 2.563 18. (7) Heidfeld Jordan-Ford (B) 22.406 52.239 1:12.329 + 2.875 19. (13) Bruni Minardi-Cosworth (B) 23.045 53.427 1:13.776 + 4.322 20. (9) Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth (B) 23.145 53.869 1:14.396 + 4.942 All timing unofficial