Qualifying: Montoya blasts to pole

But an all-Williams front row was denied by world champion Michael Schumacher, who split the pair and pushed his younger brother down to third with the new Ferrari F2002. (For more, click here.)

Ralf set the early pace, his first run being two tenths quicker than Montoya's after about 25 minutes of the hour-long session. In fact the Colombian looked to be losing out to both Schumachers, with Michael also going faster than the Williams on his first attempt.

But Montoya proved to be the man on the move. His second run moved him ahead of Michael, then his third gave him his fourth pole of his Formula 1 career. In the dying moments both Williams cars hit the track, but neither improved, and with Michael having completed his third and final run a couple of minutes earlier, the grid was set.

"I am pretty happy with that, especially to be in front of the new Ferrari," Montoya said. "That's really good. But we will have to see what they come out with tomorrow. But starting from pole gives me a good chance."

While Montoya celebrated, his team-mate shrugged off his disappointment. "It was so close on times," said Ralf, "and third on the grid is not so bad."

Meanwhile, his brother admitted that Michelin tyres rather than Bridgestones appear to be the thing to have at Interlagos. "It looks like we don't have the upper hand at this circuit, a bit like last year," said the Ferrari ace. "We have to face that, but it will be different at other tracks this year."

David Coulthard will join Ralf Schumacher on the second row of the grid after a session where he never looked like being able to challenge for pole. His team-mate Kimi Raikkonen did a brilliant job to qualify fifth after suffering a hydraulics failure on his car (For more, click here).

Next up were the Renault boys who delivered on the promise they showed in free practice earlier in the day. But this time Jarno Trulli headed Jenson Button, the pair lining up sixth and seventh, just 0.05sec apart.

The second Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello was a disappointing eighth. The local hero was handicapped even before the session began when he was penalised for jumping a pitlane red light during practice (For more, click here.) Despite being forced to drop his quickest qualifying time, he remained ahead of ninth fastest driver, Nick Heidfeld.

Toyota's strong start to its first season in F1 continued, with Mika Salo qualifying 10th. His Scottish team-mate Allan McNish faired less well in 16th (For more, click here).

Pedro de la Rosa outqualified his Jaguar team-mate Eddie Irvine for the second race in succession, the Spaniard going 11th fastest to the Ulsterman's 13th. (For more, click here).

Jacques Villeneuve was the best of the troubled British American Racing cars in 15th, while Mark Webber hauled his Minardi off the back row in 20th. Enrique Bernoldi's Arrows will join Alex Yoong at the rear of the grid tomorrow instead.

With Montoya and M Schumacher on the front row once again, the question is are we in for a repeat of the Malaysian GP first-corner clash? With draconian penalties hanging over everyone's heads, they better watch out.

Typically, Montoya won't be changing his approach, even with the threat of losing 10 grid places at the following race. "As long as you don't do something really stupid, you should be ok," he said. "That is only the harshest penalty there is going to be." Let's hope he is right...

The Brazilian GP starts on Sunday at 1800 (GMT).

For full qualifying results, click here.