Qual: Schumacher grabs pole

Schumacher was not expected to take the top spot, even technical director Ross Brawn ruled out pole ahead of the session given the strength of the Michelin tyres over one lap. But Schumacher's pace in the final sector was just staggering and blew his rivals away.

The Ferrari star was the 10th driver out on track after setting a lowly time in pre-qualifying. But it didn't faze the German who proceeded to take time off his team-mate Rubens Barrichello, who had set the benchmark in the session. It was the final sector that Schumacher really shone going through four tenths of a second quicker than anyone else to set a time of 1m13.305s, which remained untouchable for the remaining 10 drivers. It was his first pole since the Nurburgring.

"It's interesting, it seems to be the German grands prix in a way," Schumacher said. "It is the right time to do it, in front of the home crowd. I think, after the way things have gone for us this weekend, it's very promising for us. Sector one was not 100 per cent but sectors two and three I just got perfectly together."

Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya was the closest to challenge the Ferrari star and while bettering him in the first two sectors he was unable to match the German's final sector time. The Colombian finished his run three tenths off the pace.

"It's nice to be back at the front," he said. "Williams and BMW have done a really good job in the last few races. It's good to see the team in good shape, it's just a shame we couldn't have gone a little bit faster. I was thinking about pole position but I got into the grass a little bit at Turn 7 and got a big snap [of oversteer] there. That just finished the lap."

It was the highest grid position for Williams since Ralf Schumacher's pole in Canada, but the German's replacement Antonio Pizzonia was came nowhere near emulating the German. The Brazilian finished the day in 11th spot and a massive 1.2s off the pace of Schumacher. Technical director Sam Michael was unimpressed.

"We're disappointed with Antonio's performance, it's made life very difficult for ourselves in terms of scoring points," he said. "We knew Michael was going to be very strong, because he was first car on track in pre-qualifying. Our car is stronger than recently, and we have a good race tyre. But I'm sure Ferrari will be very strong tomorrow."

BAR-Honda's Button was nudged down to third spot after Montoya's run, the Briton just nine thousandths of a second slower than the Colombian. The Briton will of course drop 10 places after his engine change to line up in the middle of the field in 13th. It was thought Button was running light in order to secure pole and then drop to 11th, but team boss David Richards said this was not necessarily the case.

"You'll have to wait until tomorrow!" he said. "But it is a little frustrating. Sometimes weekends like this one really test the team. We anticipated where Jenson would fit into the grid, so whether he is running light or heavy he'll be quick tomorrow. The pace is going to be competitive at the front, but the first few corners can be pretty traumatic around here. I think it's reasonable to expect Jenson to be as high as fifth tomorrow if he does a good job."

The McLaren duo of Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard finished the session in fourth and fifth (third and fourth after Button's demotion) respectively in the ever-improving MP4-19B. Coulthard in particular looked strong and took two tenths of a second off Schumacher's time in the first sector. He held through the second sector but once again the Ferrari was just too quick in the final sector and the Scot dropped half a second.

Renault pair Fernando Alonso and Jarno Trulli line up in sixth and seventh (fifth and sixth) respectively and while also promising in the first two sectors like their Michelin rivals, their speed dropped off in the third sector.

Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello rounded out the top eight in the second Ferrari ending what has been a disappointing weekend so far for the Brazilian.

BAR-Honda's Takuma Sato recovered from his shunt in the morning practice session to set the ninth quickest time, but the Japanese driver rued his lost of running time following the accident. "I did everything I could but, because I lost so much time this morning, I couldn't manage to do anything better," he said. "It was quite difficult to get a feeling for the car, so I'm not that satisfied."

Oliver Panis was the quickest of the Toyota drivers in the new lighter TF104B. The Frenchman set the 10th quickest time while team-mate Cristiano da Matta was five places down on the Frenchman in 15th spot. It will be a disappointment for the team though who expected a big step forward with the new machine.

Jaguar's Mark Webber fended off his team-mate Christian Klien in the Jaguar taking 12th spot while the Austrian was 13th. Due to Button's demotion, though, Kilen will drop to 14th on the grid.

Giancarlo Fisichella caused his team to clap and smile with his 14th quickest time in the Sauber C23. The Italian is obviously running with a fairly hefty fuel load and will be one to watch come Sunday's race. Team-mate Felipe Massa was two tenths off Fisichella and two places down in 16th.

At the rear of the grid, Jordan's Giorgio Pantano got one over on his team-mate Nick Heidfeld, the second time in a row the Italian has out-qualified the German, while Gianmaria Bruni edged out Minardi team-mate Zsolt Baumgartner once again.