Qualifying: Schuey storms to pole

The world champion saw off a gritty challenge from Juan Pablo Montoya to take the top spot by 0.2sec. His Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello will line up third after a last-gasp effort proved good enough to push Ralf Schumacher's Williams down to fourth.

After the first round of flying laps, Montoya held the advantage, but it didn't last for long. The body language of Schumacher's Ferrari on his second attempt told the story: full commitment, real aggression, perfectly controlled. The time of 1m35.266s would stand as the pole lap (For Schuey's reaction to the session, click here.)

Montoya responded a few minutes later, but he didn't have enough to topple the German. With two attempts still in hand, Schumacher went back out in the final minutes in case a quicker lap was needed. He failed to match his best by 0.09sec with a lap which was still clearly the second fastest of the session. No one else got close.

"It's a bit disappointing that I could not put all my three best sectors together," said Montoya. "Otherwise I would be on pole position now. But I am obviously happy to start this GP from the first row.

"I like this track and there are several spots where overtaking is possible. Ferrari seem to have quite a bit more downforce, even if today my car was very good to drive, especially in the second sector."

While Montoya was frustrated that he couldn't beat Schumacher, he did at least put the champ's brother in the shade. Ralf was a full 0.6sec off the Colombian, with Barrichello's final effort only rubbing salt into Schuey Jr's wounds.

Despite the promise shown in topping Friday's free practice, McLaren were unable to match the pace of Ferrari and Williams when it really mattered. Both Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard suffered difficult sessions, the Finn out-qualifying the Scot for the first time. They will line up fifth and sixth on the grid.

Coulthard said: "The problem is oversteer, which we've been struggling with all weekend. I couldn't get a balance. We made adjustments during the session but it wasn't enough to significantly change the car. We are clearly not making as good use of the [Michelin] tyres as Williams."

Sauber ace Nick Heidfeld proved the best of the rest in seventh, ahead of Jenson Button. The Englishman's long-awaited return to form at Sepang left his new Renault team-mate Jarno Trulli trailing in his wake, the Italian qualifying a disappointed 12th, 0.7sec off Jenson's best.

Giancarlo Fisichella gave Jordan a little bit of respectability with ninth, ahead of a very impressive Mika Salo. For Toyota to make it into the top 10 in only their second GP can only be counted as a significant achievement.

The troubled British American Racing and Jaguar teams continued to wallow far outside the top 10. Jacques Villeneuve and Olivier Panis qualified 13th and 18th respectively, while Pedro de la Rosa and Eddie Irvine struggled to 17th and 20th. Irvine was outqualified by Allan McNish's Toyota and only avoided the back row of the grid by out-pacing the two Minardis.

For a full qualifying results, click here.