Barrichello Sets Pole at Home

Rubens Barrichello delighted his home crowd by taking a popular pole position for Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix as he aims to win the event for the first time in his career.

Barrichello eclipsed second-placed Scot David Coulthard's time of 1:13.818, set late in the session, with a 1:13.807 lap which was enough to hold onto the top spot after Mark Webber, running last for Jaguar, managed only third. The top four were separated by just 0.059 seconds with Finn Kimi Raikkonen, who won the last race, in Malaysia, for McLaren finishing fourth after a thrilling session.

Italian Jarno Trulli finished fifth for Renault while the two Williams-BMW cars of German Ralf Schumacher, in sixth, and Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, ninth, sandwiched World Champion Michael Schumacher and Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella.

Fernando Alonso, who claimed pole position for the preceding race in Malaysia, finished up 10th after a disappointing run while Briton Jenson Button was just outside the top ten in his BAR-Honda. Briton Justin Wilson, now fit again after being hospitalised with muscle cramps at the last race in Malaysia and happy with his new Head and Neck Safety device, still finished at the bottom of the pile for Minardi.

Jenson Button was the first man out in his BAR Honda after crashing in qualifying on Friday and he managed a time of 1:14.504, which would not be enough to keep him at the sharp end once the top runners hit the track. Juan Pablo Montoya, who claimed pole in Brazil last year, moved up to provisional pole on his run but the Colombian was beaten by the Jordan of Giancarlo Fisichella.

Montoya's teammate Ralf Schumacher then took the lead when he finished just six tenths of a second ahead of Fisichella and was immediately beaten by the Renault of Jarno Trulli. Canadian Jacques Villeneuve finished behind the Briton after a disappointing run.

Trulli remained on top of the times with five cars to go, and when World Champion Michael Schumacher failed to top his time it was left to the McLaren pair of Coulthard and Raikkonen and Barrichello's Ferrari to beat him.

Pos Driver Team T1 T2 Time 1. (19) Barrichello Ferrari (B) 18.911 56.581 1:13.807 2. (17) Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 18.818 56.587 1:13.818 + 0.011 3. (20) Webber Jaguar Cosworth (M) 18.874 56.318 1:13.851 + 0.044 4. (18) Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 18.848 56.705 1:13.866 + 0.059 5. (9) Trulli Renault (M) 18.994 56.353 1:13.953 + 0.146 6. (8) R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 18.859 56.876 1:14.124 + 0.317 7. (16) M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 19.061 56.722 1:14.130 + 0.323 8. (7) Fisichella Jordan Ford (B) 18.891 56.848 1:14.191 + 0.384 9. (4) Montoya Williams BMW (M) 18.984 56.856 1:14.223 + 0.416 10. (12) Alonso Renault (M) 19.132 56.688 1:14.384 + 0.577 11. (1) Button BAR Honda (B) 18.906 57.079 1:14.505 + 0.698 12. (5) Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 18.969 57.298 1:14.631 + 0.824 13. (14) Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 18.940 57.320 1:14.668 + 0.861 14. (11) Frentzen Sauber Petronas (B) 18.930 57.347 1:14.839 + 1.032 15. (15) Panis Toyota (M) 19.056 57.379 1:14.839 + 1.032 16. (3) Firman Jordan Ford (B) 19.152 57.813 1:15.240 + 1.433 17. (13) Pizzonia Jaguar Cosworth (M) 19.060 57.514 1:15.317 + 1.510 18. (10) da Matta Toyota (M) 19.292 58.056 1:15.641 + 1.834 19. (6) Verstappen Minardi Cosworth (B) 19.411 58.814 1:16.542 + 2.735 20. (2) Wilson Minardi Cosworth (B) 19.715 58.772 1:16.586 + 2.779 Top Speed: 317.5 (Montoya, Williams) All Timing Unofficial