Barrichello Targets Win to Secure Schumacher's Title

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello is aiming to take victory at tomorrow's Japanese Grand Prix in order to secure his teammate's sixth Championship.

Title favourite Michael Schumacher will start Sunday's decisive race from the lowest grid position of his Ferrari career and behind Championship rival Kimi Raikkonen. But the German, who qualified 14th after a lap marred by rain, could take heart in a grid that still left him on course for a record sixth Championship with teammate Barrichello on pole.

Schumacher needs just one point from the season-ending race at Suzuka to be sure of beating Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio's record and he will not even need that if McLaren's Raikkonen fails to win. The Finn qualified eighth after crashing his car in practice and taking teammate David Coulthard's for qualifying and the race.

"If I can win this one, then for Michael it is done," said Barrichello, who will be given free rein to go for the seventh win of his career.

Sunday will be Schumacher's lowest grid position since his Benetton days when he started the 1995 Belgian Grand Prix from 16th place. But he still won that race and ended the year as champion. Until Saturday, Schumacher had started the last five Japanese Grands Prix from pole position and has also won the last three.

Barrichello benefited from the weather, the last of the frontrunners to go out before occasional spits of rain turned into a steadier drizzle.

"I think it was a great lap, not that I want to say much about it but it was definitely my best lap at Suzuka in a qualifying session," added Barrichello. "The car improved a hell of a lot since the morning. This time I was the one who had to follow Michael a little bit because my car was not doing very well.

"We started very similar on Friday and we went apart but I had to go back and the car was really good on a new tyre so I am really happy. I was thinking it was a good lap. I don't know for pole or not but it would have been quite close and then it started raining."