Chaotic qualifying at rain-drenched Magny Cours

The Brazilian gave the Stewart-Ford team their first pole position - and the performance came just a week after the team's £100 million purchase by automotive giant Ford.

He is only the second driver in 23 Grands Prix to beat McLaren and Ferrari to the top place on the grid, following Giancarlo Fisichella last year in Austria.

Barrichello outwitted the rest of the field to set his time early in the session before the persistent drizzle turned to a downpour.

As the weather got worse his rivals chances disappeared and they spent the session slithering and sliding around the track as they scrapped around for the other places.

Barrichello was one of only four who went out early in the one-hour session, and after his five laps said conditions were 'incredible, very difficult'.

The only other drivers to venture out with him were Jean Alesi, whose best qualifying performance of the year earned him second place, Jarno Trulli and Olivier Panis.

Of the leading drivers, David Coulthard got fourth place, while Heinz-Harald Frentzen showed his crash in Canada had not affected his performance to win fifth.

Michael Schumacher will think he has a great chance of winning the race tomorrow, if the weather stays as it is, as he starts sixth on the grid.

The German came out on the circuit with 20 minutes of the session left, and won his place on the third row in spite of a couple of spins.

World champion Mika Hakkinen had a nightmare session, only managing to qualify 14th, his worst effort as a McLaren driver.

Eddie Irvine also spun a couple of times, including one in the closing minutes when he slid back onto the track and over on to the grass on the other side, narrowly missing his team-mate, Schumacher.

David Coulthard was another victim of the soaking track, but he will be pleased to be in fourth after the criticism he has been receiving lately. Like Schumacher, he will be looking forward to seizing the opportunity of a good finish tomorrow.

Finishing is not an issue for Damon Hill though. The Jordan driver had a miserable time, which was not helped when his car caught fire in the pitlane forcing him into the spare.

He failed to qualify under the 107 per cent rule, and this latest debacle in a dreadful season could add another nail into his coffin. Talk of early retirement will not abate now.

Hill is joined in his ignominious failure by the drivers from the Arrows and Minardi teams, Tora Takagi, who controlled and kept his car on the track after a 360 degree spin, Pedro de la Rosa, Marc Gene and Luca Badoer.