Ralf takes last-gasp pole

Button looked to have secured his second pole of the season with a brilliant 1m12.341s lap, but despite being appreciably slower in the first sector, Schumacher clawed the gap back and surpassed the Briton by just 0.066s.

"I'm honestly quite surprised," said Ralf. "The team has done a great job to get the car right. Honestly we did not expect to be so strong, I did not expect pole position.

"First qualifying was the first time the car felt right to me to push and get the best out of it. We expected to be in the top five, but only fourth or fifth or something. It's always easy to make a mistake here, like Takuma did."

Button said: "I thought the pole was mine, but Ralf came along and managed to pip me at the end. I enjoyed the lap very much but made a small mistake at the hairpin, which cost me a bit of time. To be a second quicker than Michael, we're very pleased with that."

Jarno Trulli will start third for Renault, but he was over seven-tenths slower than the front row, which provokes questions about how much fuel Schumacher and Button will have on board on Sunday. The Italian just pipped Juan Pablo Montoya, who put in a scrappy lap that was saved by an excellent final sector.

Trulli said: "I'm surprised and disappointed, because I've been quick yesterday and today, so seven-tenths is a big gap to be off the pace."

Montoya commented: "We've worked a lot on the car over the weekend, and Ralf did a good job so he's in good shape for the race."

Button's team-mate Takuma Sato looked on course for a top placing until he suffered a massive spin on the exit of the last chicane. Despite completing a full 360-degrees, he still managed to outpace the Minardi of Zsolt Baumgartner... He will start 17th.

Fernando Alonso was fifth quickest for Renault, ahead of Michael Schumacher, who really struggled to find grip from his Bridgestone tyres over a flying lap. Team-mate Rubens Barrichello was in the same boat, but didn't help his cause with a mistake at Turn 6, and he will start seventh.

Despite this, Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn warned: "We've got a very good tyre for the race, so let's see how Michael goes in that. We'll be competitive tomorrow, that's for sure, but it obviously makes it more difficult. I always look forward to a challenge..."

The McLarens of Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard were eighth and ninth, ahead of Christian Klien, who produced his most convincing performance in F1 to date to start 10th. Team-mate Mark Webber produced a poor lap, locking up at the hairpin, and will start down in 14th behind Giancarlo Fisichella's Sauber and the Toyota duo of Cristiano da Matta and Olivier Panis.

Nick Heidfeld outpaced new Jordan team-mate Timo Glock by a second for 15th. Neither Felipe Massa (Sauber) or Gianmaria Bruni (Minardi) completed their flying laps.