JPM's gamble on dry settings pays off

In a furious final minute's action, pole changed hands four times before the Colombian secured his second front start in three races.

Michael Schumacher looked to be heading for his first pole position in 11 starts at Spa with five minutes remaining. But first Montoya went quicker, 3.4 seconds ahead of the rest of the field, and then his Williams-BMW team mate Ralf Schumacher upped the pace before the Colombian snatched it back again, going eight-tenths of a second faster still.

In the end, their dominance was such that they qualified 1.8 seconds clear of the rest of the field.

"Before the start of session, we decided to keep it mostly set up for the dry," said Montoya. "We knew it was going to get drier and drier, so I did a time to get us on the grid and then it was a case of waiting to use the slicks.

"The team did a fabulous job - they were absolutely brilliant. Everybody did a just fantastic job.

"It is brilliant to be on pole, I thought it was going to be close so I gave it a really big go on the second lap. Looking at the time difference it is brilliant. But I would definitely prefer the race to be dry."

"The car works well in the dry. In the wet yesterday, it was a big struggle," he added. "But I had a big think overnight and it paid off. If it's dry the car should be pretty competitive."

Four cars failed to make the cut under the 107 per cent rule, but in the past have usually been allowed to start by race stewards

The grid positions will be a major boost for Williams-BMW, which is looking to steal second place in the constructors' championship from its McLaren-Mercedes rival.

It trails the Silver Arrows by 13 points, but Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard start a lowly seventh and ninth, with the Scot predicting he will not be able to catch either of the BMW-powered cars nor his other rival for the runners-up spot Rubens Barrichello, who starts fifth.