Barrichello Fastest in Wet First Qualifying - Canada

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello posted the fastest time in Friday's qualifying session for the Canadian Grand Prix as torrential rain marred the running at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Ferrari driver Barrichello, fourth on the track, completed his run with a best lap time of 1:30.925 before the already wet conditions worsened to render times meaningless as drivers attempted to merely complete their runs.

His teammate, World Champion Michael Schumacher, qualified in second place, more than a second down after leaving the track temporarily during his one lap. Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, running well down the order, produced the most impressive performance as he qualified third, less than two seconds down on Barrichello, with Jordan's Ralph Firman also shining with the fourth best time.

Renault driver Fernando Alonso went fifth fastest ahead of McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen and Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who produced another solid run in the second Sauber. McLaren's David Coulthard was outqualified by teammate Raikkonen as he ended eighth in the times ahead of Jaguar driver Mark Webber with Toyota's Olivier Panis completing the top ten.

Home favourite Jacques Villeneuve had been set to better teammate Jenson Button, who qualified 14th, but he ran over the barriers at the end of his lap and crossed the line slowest of the drivers after a 360 degrees spin.

Raikkonen, on the track first as the championship leader, struggled in the conditions and set a time of 1:35.373 - more than 18 seconds slower than Antonio Pizzonia's quickest time in the earlier free practice. Schumacher went off track after locking his wheels in the wet conditions but used the tarmac run-off area and still completed his lap almost three-and-a-half seconds quicker than Raikkonen's time.

Alonso went marginally quicker than Raikkonen into second, before Barrichello benefited from the three runners on track before him as he took a second off Schumacher's best time. Monaco Grand Prix winner Juan Pablo Montoya made a mistake early in his run and ran over the grass and the Colombian failed to recover as he ended bottom of the times, more than six-and-a-half seconds down on Barrichello.

Coulthard also had a trip onto the grass and the McLaren driver was more than a second slower than teammate Raikkonen.

Ralf Schumacher completed a trouble-free lap but with weather conditions worsening was slower than BMW-Williams teammate Montoya and Renault's Jarno Trulli completed his run more than 10 seconds down on Barrichello. Jordan driver Giancarlo Fisichella went off onto the run-off area at the hairpin as he ended more than seven-and-a-half seconds down on the best time.

Briton Button, on his return from his accident in the Monaco Grand Prix, produced a respectable run as the 10th man on track and the BAR-Honda driver slotted between Williams duo Montoya and Schumacher. Frentzen produced an impressive lap in the conditions and moved into fifth position ahead of Coulthard, while Jaguar's Webber set the seventh best time behind McLaren's Scottish driver.

Toyota's Cristiano Da Matta completed his run more than seven seconds down - quicker than only Fisichella and Trulli - but Villeneuve spun at the end of his lap after running over the kerbs and limped across the timing beam.

With track conditions improving marginally, Heidfeld produced an impressive lap of less than two seconds down on Barrichello to go third quickest and rookie Firman then took fourth for Jordan.

Jaguar's Pizzonia slotted in behind Da Matta, whose Toyota teammate Panis set the 10th best time. Jos Verstappen qualified 11th for Minardi and his teammate Justin Wilson ended 13th after briefly leaving the track.

Pos Driver Team T1 T2 Time 1. (4) Barrichello Ferrari (B) 26.864 55.757 1:30.925 2. (2) M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 26.611 55.829 1:31.969 + 1.044 3. (15) Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 27.261 57.086 1:32.778 + 1.853 4. (16) Firman Jordan Ford (B) 27.939 58.572 1:34.759 + 3.834 5. (3) Alonso Renault (M) 27.959 58.811 1:35.173 + 4.248 6. (1) Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 27.928 59.340 1:35.373 + 4.448 7. (11) Frentzen Sauber Petronas (B) 28.105 58.625 1:35.776 + 4.851 8. (6) Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 29.665 60.153 1:36.463 + 5.538 9. (12) Webber Jaguar Cosworth (M) 28.341 59.472 1:36.699 + 5.774 10. (18) Panis Toyota (M) 28.556 59.757 1:37.313 + 6.388 11. (19) Verstappen Minardi Cosworth (B) 28.778 60.083 1:37.426 + 6.501 12. (5) Montoya Williams BMW (M) 28.127 60.708 1:37.479 + 6.554 13. (20) Wilson Minardi Cosworth (B) 28.738 60.100 1:38.088 + 7.163 14. (10) Button BAR Honda (B) 29.421 60.958 1:38.109 + 7.184 15. (7) R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 29.064 60.699 1:38.210 + 7.285 16. (13) da Matta Toyota (M) 28.755 60.482 1:38.244 + 7.319 17. (17) Pizzonia Jaguar Cosworth (M) 29.312 60.748 1:38.255 + 7.330 18. (9) Fisichella Jordan Ford (B) 28.830 60.741 1:38.617 + 7.692 19. (8) Trulli Renault (M) 29.949 62.421 1:41.413 + 10.488 20. (14) Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 28.752 59.671 1:44.702 + 13.777 Pos ----- Sector 1 ----- ----- Sector 2 ----- ----- Sector 3 ----- 1. M.Schumacher 26.611 Barrichello 28.893 Barrichello 35.168 2. Barrichello 26.864 M.Schumacher 29.218 Heidfeld 35.692 3. Heidfeld 27.261 Heidfeld 29.825 Raikkonen 36.033 4. Raikkonen 27.928 Coulthard 30.488 M.Schumacher 36.140 5. Firman 27.939 Frentzen 30.520 Firman 36.187 6. Alonso 27.959 Firman 30.633 Coulthard 36.310 7. Frentzen 28.105 Alonso 30.852 Alonso 36.362 8. Montoya 28.127 Villeneuve 30.919 Montoya 36.771 9. Webber 28.341 Webber 31.131 Frentzen 37.151 10. Panis 28.556 Panis 31.201 Button 37.151 11. Wilson 28.738 Verstappen 31.305 Webber 37.227 12. Villeneuve 28.752 Wilson 31.362 Verstappen 37.343 13. da Matta 28.755 Raikkonen 31.412 Pizzonia 37.507 14. Verstappen 28.778 Pizzonia 31.436 R.Schumacher 37.511 15. Fisichella 28.830 Button 31.537 Panis 37.556 16. R.Schumacher 29.064 R.Schumacher 31.635 da Matta 37.762 17. Pizzonia 29.312 da Matta 31.727 Fisichella 37.876 18. Button 29.421 Fisichella 31.911 Wilson 37.988 19. Coulthard 29.665 Trulli 32.472 Trulli 38.992 20. Trulli 29.949 Montoya 32.581 Villeneuve 45.031 Top Speed: 308.7km/h (M.Schumacher, Ferrari) All timing unofficial