Ferrari Ahead in First Qualifying - Monaco GP

World Champion Michael Schumacher set the pace in first qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix in a session disrupted by a blown engine for Sauber driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

Ferrari driver Schumacher set the pace with a lap time of 1:16.305 to finish ahead of teammate Rubens Barrichello in a qualifying session which was halted for 25 minutes after Frentzen leaked oil onto the streets of Monte Carlo.

Briton Jenson Button was third quickest for BAR-Honda ahead of Renault's Jarno Trulli and fellow Monaco resident David Coulthard, of McLaren-Mercedes. BMW-Williams pair Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya qualified sixth and eighth respectively and were split by the Jordan of Giancarlo Fisichella.

Australian Mark Webber was ninth fastest for Jaguar despite being the first man on track after Frentzen's engine failure, with the German's teammate Nick Heidfeld completing the top ten. Championship leader Kimi Raikkonen qualified in 11th, while Renault's Fernando Alonso ended 14th.

Raikkonen, the first man out on track, set a benchmark time of 1:17.926 but was immediately beaten as Michael Schumacher went a second and a half quicker. Barrichello then slotted in behind his teammate, three tenths of a second adrift of Schumacher, while Renault's Alonso, fourth on track, was two seconds slower than the German.

Coulthard, last year's winner in Monaco, was three quarters of a second adrift of Schumacher in third and Ralf Schumacher slotted in behind the Scot. Schumacher's BMW-Williams teammate Montoya had been set to challenge Michael Schumacher but lost time in the second sector and ended fifth quickest.

Jordan driver Giancarlo Fisichella then split the Williams pair, before Jarno Trulli - quickest in early morning testing - moved to third in the times behind the leading Ferrari pair. BAR-Honda's Button, a Monaco resident, then jumped ahead of Trulli as he took third place with a time six-tenths of a second slower than Schumacher.

The session was red-flagged when Heinz-Harald Frentzen, the next man on track, suffered an engine failure in his Sauber and failed to set a lap time. Frentzen's car had leaked oil onto the circuit and marshals were forced to put cement dust onto the track before Mark Webber's run.

Webber, who had been quickest in practice, was forced to abort his initial run and finally emerged back on track after a 25-minute delay, but the oil on the track proved a difficulty as he went ninth quickest. Jacques Villeneuve was unable to make an impression on the field and ended 1.8 seconds off the pace - more than a second down on his BAR-Honda teammate Button.

Cristiano da Matta ended four seconds down on Schumacher, before Heidfeld moved into 10th after bettering the time of Raikkonen. Jordan's Ralph Firman went marginally quicker than Alonso, but Antonio Pizzonia, Olivier Panis, Jos Verstappen and Justin Wilson failed to move ahead of the Spaniard.

Pos Driver Team T1 T2 Time 1. (2) M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 19.790 57.780 1:16.305 2. (3) Barrichello Ferrari (B) 19.773 57.865 1:16.636 + 0.331 3. (10) Button BAR Honda (B) 19.892 57.964 1:16.895 + 0.590 4. (9) Trulli Renault (M) 19.927 58.186 1:16.905 + 0.600 5. (5) Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 20.045 58.166 1:17.059 + 0.754 6. (6) R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 20.034 58.241 1:17.063 + 0.758 7. (8) Fisichella Jordan Ford (B) 20.080 58.264 1:17.080 + 0.775 8. (7) Montoya Williams BMW (M) 19.984 58.326 1:17.108 + 0.803 9. (12) Webber Jaguar Cosworth (M) 20.109 58.819 1:17.637 + 1.332 10. (15) Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 20.345 59.134 1:17.912 + 1.607 11. (1) Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 20.286 58.831 1:17.926 + 1.621 12. (13) Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 20.541 59.183 1:18.109 + 1.804 13. (16) Firman Jordan Ford (B) 20.477 59.494 1:18.286 + 1.981 14. (4) Alonso Renault (M) 19.932 59.348 1:18.370 + 2.065 15. (17) Pizzonia Jaguar Cosworth (M) 20.771 59.571 1:18.967 + 2.662 16. (19) Verstappen Minardi Cosworth (B) 20.751 40.443 1:19.421 + 3.116 17. (20) Wilson Minardi Cosworth (B) 20.959 50.535 1:19.680 + 3.375 18. (18) Panis Toyota (M) 20.366 60.710 1:19.903 + 3.598 19. (14) da Matta Toyota (M) 21.044 60.857 1:20.374 + 4.069 20. (11) Frentzen Sauber Petronas (B) - - No Time Pos ----- Sector 1 ----- ----- Sector 2 ----- ----- Sector 3 ----- 1. Barrichello 19.773 M.Schumacher 37.990 M.Schumacher 18.525 2. M.Schumacher 19.790 Button 38.072 Trulli 18.719 3. Button 19.892 Barrichello 38.092 Barrichello 18.771 4. Trulli 19.927 Coulthard 38.121 Heidfeld 18.778 5. Alonso 19.932 Fisichella 38.184 Montoya 18.782 6. Montoya 19.984 R.Schumacher 38.207 Firman 18.792 7. R.Schumacher 20.034 Trulli 38.259 Fisichella 18.816 8. Coulthard 20.045 Montoya 38.342 Webber 18.818 9. Fisichella 20.080 Raikkonen 38.545 R.Schumacher 18.822 10. Webber 20.109 Villeneuve 38.642 Coulthard 18.893 11. Raikkonen 20.286 Webber 38.710 Villeneuve 18.926 12. Heidfeld 20.345 Heidfeld 38.789 Button 18.931 13. Panis 20.366 Pizzonia 38.800 Verstappen 18.978 14. Firman 20.477 Firman 39.017 Alonso 19.022 15. Villeneuve 20.541 Alonso 39.416 Raikkonen 19.095 16. Verstappen 20.751 Wilson 39.576 Wilson 19.145 17. Pizzonia 20.771 Verstappen 39.692 Panis 19.193 18. Wilson 20.959 da Matta 39.813 Pizzonia 19.396 19. da Matta 21.044 Panis 40.344 da Matta 19.517 Top Speed: 294.0 (Barrichello, Ferrari) All timing unofficial