Hakkinen wants McLaren clean sweep

The Mercedes-powered duo annexed the front row to start one-two for the first time this season - and the double champion believes they could do the same in the race.

He starts second alongside team mate David Coulthard, who snatched his first pole in eight months at Imola.

"At the moment, this is a fabulous situation for the team," said the Finn, who clocked a time of 1m23.282s to finish just 0.228 slower than Coulthard.

"We were confident with the conditions, that is why we took this approach, and we hope to be in the same situation tomorrow," he said. "I am looking forward to a good weekend."

"This is a great achievement for team, particularly if you look at the start of the season and how we are now doing in qualifying and the races."

It is a dramatic turnaround for the Finn, who has scored just one point in the first three races and trails points leader Michael Schumacher, who starts fourth, by a massive 25 points.

"The last few races have been very difficult, but I have experienced this in the past," said Hakkinen. "In general, I have not been too worried because it is a long season and many things can happen like today."

He said he did not begrudge his team mate once again having the upper hand as he did in the last race, where Hakkinen was the first to embrace Coulthard as he climbed out of the car after his victory.

Then he joked: "It is nice for David to get pole. In many cases I have been on pole, so I let him do it this time!"