Qualifying: Schuey steals pole

Rain was expected to fall at some stage during the qualifying hour, but thankfully it didn't materialise, and the tifosi were treated to a classic duel between their beloved Ferraris and the Williams of Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya.

Schumacher Jr was the first driver to show his hand, recording the opening 1m22s lap of the weekend early in the session, but he had to give way when his team-mate dipped into the 1m21s. Ralf struck back almost immediately, and for a while it seemed as though the warmer conditions were playing into the hands of the Michelin runners.

However, Barrichello crossed the line to stop the clocks with a lap of 1m21.155s just after the half hour mark, and try as they might, neither of the BMW-powered cars could get close to his time.

For most of the final 30 minutes the same was true of the world champion, who bounced his F2002 over the kerbs in vain. But with the prospect of being out-qualified by Barrichello for the second time in four races looming, he produced the goods. Most of his advantage came through the first sector - the blast down the straight and through the Tamburello chicane - and he maintained a slender advantage for the rest of the lap to take pole by just 0.064s.

"It's the first time here with the new cars, so we had to work as quick as we could and obviously we have found a very good solution," Schumacher said afterwards. "I did have traffic when I prepared my out-lap but not really during the lap."

It was another disappointing session for McLaren, and although Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard start fifth and sixth, they're over a second away from the pole.

Sauber's Nick Heidfeld did a great job to take seventh, and came close to splitting the McLarens. Jarno Trulli was fractionally the quicker of the Renaults, and he and team-mate Jenson Button line up in eighth and ninth spots.

Jacques Villeneuve looked like his old self in his British American Racing BAR004 with the revised Honda engine, and he attacked the kerbs with vigour to claim the final top 10 place. Team-mate Olivier Panis emphasised the team's improved form in 12th. For the first time this year Takuma Sato out-qualified Jordan team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella, but it was a fraught session for the Italian who had to take to the spare after his own car developed a hydraulic problem.

Another driver to use the T-Car was Enrique Bernoldi. The Brazilian was the first driver out on track but he was soon sprinting back to the pits after the Cosworth engine in his Arrows expired in a cloud of smoke. It was an equally dismal day for the other Cosworth users, with Eddie Irvine 18th and Pedro de la Rosa 21st for Jaguar.

The Spaniard will probably start from the very back of the grid after Alex Yoong failed to get within 107 percent of Schumacher's pole. The Minardi driver will be relying on receiving special dispensation from the other team bosses if he's to start his first San Marino GP.

For full qualifying results, click here.