Schumacher Fastest in First Qualifying - Malaysia

World Champion Michael Schumacher set the pace in Friday qualifying for Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix with a lap time almost three quarters of a second faster than the rest of the field.

Schumacher, who finished fourth in Australia's season-opening Grand Prix a fortnight ago, showed his speed as he completed a perfectly-executed lap in 1:34.980. His Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello was second fastest, but 0.701 seconds behind the German.

With drivers taking to the track in the order of their championship positions, it meant David Coulthard, the championship leader, was the first into action following his victory in Australia.

The Scot, fastest in the earlier practice session, set a benchmark time of 1:36.297. Straight after his run, though, Williams-BMW's Juan Pablo Montoya, faster in two of the three sectors, went quickest by 0.358 seconds.

Coulthard's McLaren teammate Kimi Raikkonen came next and, having almost matched Montoya's second sector time, then messed up the final corner and had to settle for second best, just 0.99 seconds behind the Colombian.

All were then put to shame by Schumacher. The World Champion, next out onto the track, had finished practice only sixth quickest, giving rise to speculation that his Ferrari's Bridgestone tyres might not be a match for the Michelins that rivals McLaren, Williams and Renault were using.

But the German went fastest in every sector to cross the line almost a second faster than Montoya, as he went below the one minute and 35 seconds mark with his time.

Neither Renault's Fernando Alonso or Jarno Trulli, having been among the quickest in practice, or Sauber-Petronas' Heinz-Harald Frentzen who split them, could get close to Schumacher's time, and it appeared that only the German's brother, Ralf, the winner here last year in his Williams-BMW, and his own Ferrari teammate Barrichello might be able to threaten his time.

But Schumacher remained fastest by a considerable margin. Barrichello, last onto the track, set a best time of 1:35.681 to end the session second fastest, pushing Montoya, Raikkonen and Coulthard down to third, fourth and fifth positions respectively.

Ralf, meanwhile, disappointingly set the 13th best time having been beaten by the BAR-Honda of Jenson Button, Jordan-Ford's Giancarlo Fisichella and Sauber's Nick Heidfeld - a strong seventh - and Toyota's Cristiano da Matta.

Button, as he had done in practice, again outpaced teammate Jacques Villeneuve, who slipped up during his run when he slid wide at turn 14 and lost time, finishing the session 15th overall.

The only driver to suffer major problems during Friday qualifying was Jaguar's Antonio Pizzonia. The Brazilian rookie was unable to set a time after his car developed problems in the team's garage and failed to leave the pits.

This came after a troubled practice session during which his car's front wing collapsed, sending him off the circuit, only to then suffer fuel-pick up problems.

Pos Driver Team T1 T2 Time 1. (4) M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 24.435 55.944 1:34.980 2. (20) Barrichello Ferrari (B) 24.554 56.478 1:35.681 + 0.701 3. (2) Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 24.525 56.608 1:35.939 + 0.959 4. (3) Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 24.705 56.629 1:36.038 + 1.058 5. (1) Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 24.684 57.058 1:36.297 + 1.317 6. (5) Trulli Renault (M) 24.928 57.101 1:36.301 + 1.321 7. (15) Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) 24.671 56.776 1:36.407 + 1.427 8. (6) Frentzen Sauber-Petronas (B) 24.809 57.240 1:36.615 + 1.635 9. (10) Button BAR-Honda (B) 24.930 57.227 1:36.632 + 1.652 10. (7) Alonso Renault (M) 25.094 56.939 1:36.693 + 1.713 11. (18) da Matta Toyota (M) 25.093 57.488 1:36.706 + 1.726 12. (12) Fisichella Jordan-Ford (B) 24.934 57.125 1:36.759 + 1.779 13. (8) R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 24.995 57.160 1:36.805 + 1.825 14. (14) Panis Toyota (M) 24.958 57.439 1:36.995 + 2.015 15. (9) Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) 25.043 57.105 1:37.585 + 2.605 16. (17) Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 25.124 57.707 1:37.669 + 2.689 17. (19) Firman Jordan-Ford (B) 25.283 58.064 1:38.240 + 3.260 18. (11) Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth (B) 25.313 58.637 1:38.904 + 3.924 19. (16) Wilson Minardi-Cosworth (B) 25.397 58.927 1:39.354 + 4.374 20. (13) Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth (M) - - No Time Pos ----- Sector 1 ----- ----- Sector 2 ----- ----- Sector 3 ----- 1. M.Schumacher 24.435 M.Schumacher 31.509 M.Schumacher 39.036 2. Montoya 24.525 Alonso 31.845 Trulli 39.200 3. Barrichello 24.554 Raikkonen 31.924 Barrichello 39.203 4. Heidfeld 24.671 Barrichello 31.924 da Matta 39.218 5. Coulthard 24.684 Villeneuve 32.062 Coulthard 39.239 6. Raikkonen 24.705 Montoya 32.083 Montoya 39.331 7. Frentzen 24.809 Heidfeld 32.105 Frentzen 39.375 8. Trulli 24.928 R.Schumacher 32.165 Button 39.405 9. Button 24.930 Trulli 32.173 Raikkonen 39.409 10. Fisichella 24.934 Fisichella 32.191 Panis 39.556 11. Panis 24.958 Button 32.297 Heidfeld 39.631 12. R.Schumacher 24.995 Coulthard 32.374 Fisichella 39.634 13. Villeneuve 25.043 da Matta 32.395 R.Schumacher 39.645 14. da Matta 25.093 Frentzen 32.431 Alonso 39.754 15. Alonso 25.094 Panis 32.481 Webber 39.962 16. Webber 25.124 Webber 32.583 Firman 40.176 17. Firman 25.283 Firman 32.781 Verstappen 40.267 18. Verstappen 25.313 Verstappen 33.324 Wilson 40.427 19. Wilson 25.397 Wilson 33.530 Villeneuve 40.480 Top Speed: 305.3 (M.Schumacher, Ferrari) All Timing Unofficial