Raikkonen Beats WC Rivals to Pole - US GP

Kimi Raikkonen gave his World Championship hopes a boost at Indianapolis on Saturday when he claimed his second career pole position in qualifying for Sunday's United States Grand Prix.

Finn Raikkonen, whose pace drew questions over his fuel levels for the race, set a quick lap early in the session and remained unbeatable as his title rivals Michael Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya languished further down the grid.

Colombian Montoya finished fourth, behind the lead Ferrari of Brazilian Rubens Barrichello and French Toyota driver Olivier Panis, and Michael Schumacher ended in a disappointing seventh.

Raikkonen's time of 1:11.670 left him 0.124 seconds ahead of Barrichello, who looked as though he was hoping to act as a spoiler for Schumacher after going out later than his slower teammate in the single-lap running order.

But Ralf Schumacher could play a similar part in the race after finishing just behind Williams-BMW teammate Montoya and Fernando Alonso of Renault also pushed the World Champion down the grid by finishing sixth.

Schumacher was more than half a second off Raikkonen's pace and finished just ahead of McLaren-Mercedes' David Coulthard while Cristiano da Matta and Jarno Trulli in the second Toyota and Renault respectively completed the top ten.

Raikkonen was the first of the title challengers to take to the track after the slower runners and he immediately went to the top of the timesheets with a very quick lap. Michael Schumacher was up next but he finished half a second slower, behind Raikkonen and Panis, and was then beaten by Alonso in the first Renault out on track before eventually dropping down further.

Montoya could not match the leaders' times and finished a quarter of a second behind Raikkonen but still bettered Schumacher and Alonso's times to put himself third with four cars to go. Ralf Schumacher then did his teammate Montoya a favour by bumping Schumacher down another place when he slotted in just behind the Colombian but Barrichello was still to run.

The Brazilian drew claims that his Ferrari team had reduced the fuel levels in his car ahead of his run when set the fastest time in the first sector but he eventually missed out on pole.

Pos Driver Team T1 T2 Time 1. (12) Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 22.348 51.759 1:11.670 2. (19) Barrichello Ferrari (B) 22.128 51.883 1:11.794 + 0.124 3. (7) Panis Toyota (M) 22.378 51.794 1:11.920 + 0.250 4. (16) Montoya Williams BMW (M) 22.273 52.014 1:11.948 + 0.278 5. (17) R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 22.610 52.257 1:12.078 + 0.408 6. (14) Alonso Renault (M) 22.287 51.859 1:12.087 + 0.417 7. (13) M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 22.377 52.191 1:12.194 + 0.524 8. (15) Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 22.517 52.221 1:12.297 + 0.627 9. (10) da Matta Toyota (M) 22.586 51.999 1:12.326 + 0.656 10. (20) Trulli Renault (M) 22.391 52.321 1:12.566 + 0.896 11. (11) Button BAR Honda (B) 22.585 52.450 1:12.695 + 1.025 12. (5) Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 22.813 52.754 1:13.050 + 1.380 13. (6) Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 22.660 52.659 1:13.083 + 1.413 14. (18) Webber Jaguar Cosworth (M) 22.886 52.933 1:13.269 + 1.599 15. (8) Frentzen Sauber Petronas (B) 22.755 53.033 1:13.447 + 1.777 16. (3) Wilson Jaguar Cosworth (M) 22.987 53.220 1:13.585 + 1.915 17. (9) Fisichella Jordan Ford (B) 23.094 53.368 1:13.798 + 2.128 18. (4) Firman Jordan Ford (B) 23.200 53.551 1:14.027 + 2.357 19. (1) Verstappen Minardi Cosworth (B) 23.517 54.745 1:15.360 + 3.690 20. (2) Kiesa Minardi Cosworth (B) 23.860 54.883 1:15.644 + 3.974 Pos ----- Sector 1 ----- ----- Sector 2 ----- ----- Sector 3 ----- 1. Barrichello 22.128 Raikkonen 29.411 R.Schumacher 19.821 2. Montoya 22.273 da Matta 29.413 Barrichello 19.911 3. Alonso 22.287 Panis 29.416 Raikkonen 19.911 4. Raikkonen 22.348 Alonso 29.572 Montoya 19.934 5. M.Schumacher 22.377 R.Schumacher 29.647 M.Schumacher 20.003 6. Panis 22.378 Coulthard 29.704 Coulthard 20.076 7. Trulli 22.391 Montoya 29.741 Panis 20.126 8. Coulthard 22.517 Barrichello 29.755 Alonso 20.228 9. Button 22.585 M.Schumacher 29.814 Trulli 20.245 10. da Matta 22.586 Button 29.865 Button 20.245 11. R.Schumacher 22.610 Trulli 29.930 Villeneuve 20.296 12. Heidfeld 22.660 Villeneuve 29.941 da Matta 20.327 13. Frentzen 22.755 Heidfeld 29.999 Webber 20.336 14. Villeneuve 22.813 Webber 30.047 Wilson 20.365 15. Webber 22.886 Wilson 30.233 Frentzen 20.414 16. Wilson 22.987 Fisichella 30.274 Heidfeld 20.424 17. Fisichella 23.094 Frentzen 30.278 Fisichella 20.430 18. Firman 23.200 Firman 30.351 Firman 20.476 19. Verstappen 23.517 Kiesa 31.023 Verstappen 20.615 20. Kiesa 23.860 Verstappen 31.228 Kiesa 20.761 Top Speed: 350.3 km/h (Juan Pablo Montoya, Williams-BMW) All timing unofficial