'I could have taken pole' -Barrichello

Ferrari new boy Rubens Barrichello was pleased to qualify within 0.1s of team-mate Michael Schumacher in Melbourne, but felt that he could have easily taken pole position.

Mar 11, 2000, 4:37 AM

'I am happy with the work the team did today and also with the fact that I am not far behind my team-mate on the clock,' he said.

'However, things did not really go the way I wanted. It is a shame as the car was very well balanced and I felt that everything was in place for either Michael or me to take pole.

'I went out very late because we decided to make some changes to the set-up. My third run was done under a yellow flag and then I was delayed at the weight check, which meant I had no time for a fourth run.'

Barrichello's second run looked set to produce a pole time until he braked too late and spun onto the grass at turn 15.

He then had to back off for yellow flags after Marc Gene crashed his Minardi, but did enough to move from seventh to fourth place and close to within 0.1s of Schumacher.