Barrichello on Pole as Rain Shuffles Grid in Japan

Rain in the closing stages of Saturday's qualifying session for the Japanese Grand Prix added further intrigue to the drivers' title battle as Rubens Barrichello claimed pole position at Suzuka.

Barrichello took pole before rain fell as the final five drivers took to the track and championship leader Michael Schumacher will start from 14th on the grid with title rival Kimi Raikkonen eighth.

Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli, the final two men on track, failed to set a time. The Williams driver spun and came into the pits, while Renault's Trulli decided against attempting to tackle the tricky conditions.

Williams-BMW's Juan Pablo Montoya will join Barrichello on the front row despite being more than half-a-second slower, with Toyota pair Cristiano da Matta and Olivier Panis third and fourth for the team's home race.

Fernando Alonso will begin fifth for Renault, with Jaguar's Mark Webber sixth and McLaren-Mercedes driver David Coulthard seventh, a place ahead of Raikkonen. Britons Jenson Button, of BAR-Honda, and Jaguar's Justin Wilson completed the top-ten but the pair were both more than a second and a half slower than Barrichello.

The Suzuka track was left damp after rain showers prior to the qualifying session and Giancarlo Fisichella, Ralph Firman and Jenson Button all moved to the top of the times after Minardi pair Nicolas Kiesa and Jos Verstappen had been first on track.

Brazilian Cristiano da Matta put his Toyota car in front when he beat Button's time by more than a second and teammate Olivier Panis then joined him at the front but missed out on the top spot by almost half a second. Home hero Takuma Sato, making his return to Formula One as a replacement for Jacques Villeneuve, looked to be overdriving for most of his lap and finished 0.450 seconds slower than BAR-Honda teammate Button.

Sauber's Nick Heidfeld was unable to make an impression and Jaguar pair Mark Webber and Justin Wilson slotted in either side of Button with the Australian once again getting the better of his teammate. Montoya grabbed top spot from da Matta by just seven-thousandths of a second, only for Ferrari rival Barrichello to produce an impressive lap to finish 0.699 clear of the field after 14 runners.

Alonso could only go fifth quickest after a disappointing run, but spots of rain arrived before the top five took to the track and title hopeful Raikkonen slid wide on the greasy track and ended 1.559 seconds down on Barrichello.

Raikkonen, who needs to win and hope Schumacher fails to score a point to win the championship, was then pushed down to eighth after teammate Coulthard, who lost a part of his McLaren, went marginally quicker as the rain continued to fall.

Schumacher also encountered problems in the conditions and ended 2.589 seconds down on teammate Barrichello to put him 14th in the times. Ralf Schumacher spun at the chicane and abandoned his run, and he will start from the back of the grid, while Jarno Trulli will join him at the wrong end of the grid after deciding against running on the wet track.

Pos Driver Team T1 T2 Time 1. (14) Barrichello Ferrari (B) 31.414 72.685 1:31.713 2. (13) Montoya Williams BMW (M) 31.764 73.315 1:32.412 + 0.699 3. (7) da Matta Toyota (M) 31.638 73.320 1:32.419 + 0.706 4. (8) Panis Toyota (M) 31.661 73.598 1:32.862 + 1.149 5. (15) Alonso Renault (M) 31.841 73.738 1:33.044 + 1.331 6. (12) Webber Jaguar Cosworth (M) 32.065 73.740 1:33.106 + 1.393 7. (17) Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 32.143 74.055 1:33.137 + 1.424 8. (16) Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 32.338 74.304 1:33.272 + 1.559 9. (5) Button BAR Honda (B) 31.984 74.129 1:33.474 + 1.761 10. (6) Wilson Jaguar Cosworth (M) 32.533 74.323 1:33.558 + 1.845 11. (11) Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 32.181 74.274 1:33.632 + 1.919 12. (9) Frentzen Sauber Petronas (B) 31.898 74.626 1:33.896 + 2.183 13. (10) Sato BAR Honda (B) 32.293 74.338 1:33.924 + 2.211 14. (18) M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 32.422 74.718 1:34.302 + 2.589 15. (4) Firman Jordan Ford (B) 32.593 75.151 1:34.771 + 3.058 16. (3) Fisichella Jordan Ford (B) 32.622 75.314 1:34.912 + 3.199 17. (2) Verstappen Minardi Cosworth (B) 32.800 75.316 1:34.975 + 3.262 18. (1) Kiesa Minardi Cosworth (B) 34.030 77.350 1:37.226 + 5.513 19. (20) Trulli Renault (M) - - No Time 20. (19) R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 34.075 78.981 No Time Pos ----- Sector 1 ----- ----- Sector 2 ----- ----- Sector 3 ----- 1. Barrichello 31.414 Barrichello 41.271 Raikkonen 18.968 2. da Matta 31.638 Montoya 41.551 Barrichello 19.028 3. Panis 31.661 Webber 41.675 Coulthard 19.082 4. Montoya 31.764 da Matta 41.682 Montoya 19.097 5. Alonso 31.841 Wilson 41.790 da Matta 19.099 6. Frentzen 31.898 Alonso 41.897 Wilson 19.235 7. Button 31.984 Coulthard 41.912 Panis 19.264 8. Webber 32.065 Panis 41.937 Frentzen 19.270 9. Coulthard 32.143 Raikkonen 41.966 Alonso 19.306 10. Heidfeld 32.181 Sato 42.045 Button 19.345 11. Sato 32.293 Heidfeld 42.093 Heidfeld 19.358 12. Raikkonen 32.338 Button 42.145 Webber 19.366 13. M.Schumacher 32.422 M.Schumacher 42.296 M.Schumacher 19.584 14. Wilson 32.533 Verstappen 42.516 Sato 19.586 15. Firman 32.593 Firman 42.558 Fisichella 19.598 16. Fisichella 32.622 Fisichella 42.692 Firman 19.620 17. Verstappen 32.800 Frentzen 42.728 Verstappen 19.659 18. Kiesa 34.030 Kiesa 43.320 Kiesa 19.876 Top Speed: 309.2 km/h (Coulthard, McLaren-Mercedes) All timing unofficial