First Silverstone Pole for Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher flew to his 40th pole position to give himself the best chance of claiming a record-equalling 51st Grand Prix win at Sunday's British Grand Prix. The German three-time World Champion disappointed home hero David Coulthard who could only manage third for McLaren as his teammate Mika Hakkinen secured his third front row grid position of the year.

Jarno Trulli made it onto the second row for local team Jordan, despite stopping out on the circuit right at the end of the session, and his teammate Heinz-Harald Frentzen made it a great day for Jordan by claiming fifth place. Rubens Barrichello was sixth for Ferrari, with Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari-powered Sauber right behind him in seventh, and Juan Pablo Montoya the first of the under-performing Williams cars in eighth.

Raikkonen's teammate Nick Heidfeld was ninth, with Ralf Schumacher in the second Williams tenth. Tarso Marques failed to get inside 107 percent of the pole position time and will therefore take no part in Sunday's race. A drying track meant that almost 25 minutes passed before the first car made it out on track with Sauber's Kimi Raikkonen followed out by Fernando Alonso in the Minardi and Jaguar's Eddie Irvine.

David Coulthard was the first of the top runners out on the track as the temperature rose to 15 degrees, and he was immediately followed out by Michael Schumacher's Ferrari as battle commenced half way through the session. It was Michael Schumacher who moved to the early ascendancy as he put in a time three quarters of a second faster than nearest rival Mika Hakkinen, with title rival David Coulthard down in third.

As the track continued to dry, David Coulthard put in the fastest time but was quickly put down to second by teammate Mika Hakkinen. With ten minutes to go it was looking like a McLaren one-two, but Michael Schumacher put in a fast lap with six minutes left to position his Ferrari in prime position, just less than two tenths of a second ahead of Finnish rival Hakkinen.

Most cars went out for a final run with minutes to go, but none could improve on Schumacher's pole time as he headed Hakkinen by just less than one tenth of a second by the end.

Pos Driver Team Times 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:20.447 230.060 km/h 2. Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes (B) 1:20.529 + 0.082 3. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (B) 1:20.927 + 0.480 4. Trulli Jordan Honda (B) 1:20.930 + 0.483 5. Frentzen Jordan Honda (B) 1:21.217 + 0.770 6. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:21.715 + 1.268 7. Raikkonen Sauber Petronas (B) 1:22.023 + 1.576 8. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:22.219 + 1.772 9. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:22.223 + 1.776 10. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:22.283 + 1.836 11. Panis BAR Honda (B) 1:22.316 + 1.869 12. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:22.916 + 2.469 13. de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:23.273 + 2.826 14. Alesi Prost Acer (M) 1:23.392 + 2.945 15. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:23.439 + 2.992 16. Burti Prost Acer (M) 1:23.735 + 3.288 17. Verstappen Arrows Asiatech (B) 1:24.067 + 3.620 18. Button Benetton Renault (M) 1:24.123 + 3.676 19. Fisichella Benetton Renault (M) 1:24.275 + 3.828 20. Bernoldi Arrows Asiatech (B) 1:24.606 + 4.159 21. Alonso Minardi European (M) 1:24.792 + 4.345 22. Marques Minardi European (M) 1:26.506 + 6.059 * * Outside the 107% All Timing Unofficial