Schumacher Fastest in First Qualifying - Spain

Ferrari's new F2003-GA arrived in style at Barcelona today when Michael Schumacher put it at the top of the timesheets in the first qualifying session ahead of its debut in Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.

The new car has caused a stir in the paddock with rumours that it is three quarters of a second faster than its predecessor and World Champion Schumacher wasted no time in displaying its potential.

He set a time of 1:17.130 seconds to finish just 0.019 seconds ahead of Renault driver Jarno Trulli after the Italian spoiled Ferrari's planned 1-2 by pushing Rubens Barrichello down to third.

Trulli had threatened to deny Ferrari top spot but failed narrowly in attempting to lower Schumacher's best, while Barrichello ended 0.088 behind his teammate. Brazilian rookie Cristiano da Matta produced his best qualifying performance in only his fifth race when he surprisingly drove his Toyota to the fourth best time of the session.

BAR-Honda driver Jenson Button took fifth after a flawless drive, as Toyota's Olivier Panis and Mark Webber, of the Jaguar team, claimed sixth and seventh respectively.

McLaren pair Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard could only set the eighth and ninth quickest times, with Spaniard Fernando Alonso completing the top ten in his home race. Raikkonen, the Championship leader, posted the first time with a lap of 1:17.862, with Coulthard, the next man on track, almost two-tenths of a second slower.

Michael Schumacher, driving the F2003-GA for the first time, underlined its potential as he went 0.732 seconds quicker than Raikkonen. Alonso was unable to better the times of either of the trio, but crossed the finish line to complete his lap to loud support from a packed grandstand.

Barrichello, the fifth man to take to the track, was just eight-hundredths of a second slower than his teammate Schumacher as the new car made a positive debut. Williams driver Ralf Schumacher, quickest in the earlier practice session, made a mistake during the early stages of his run and it cost him vital time as he ended 1.279 seconds down on his brother Michael.

Giancarlo Fisichella, of Jordan, was unable to do any better than Ralf Schumacher and Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya could only finish 1.477 seconds off the best time. Renault driver Trulli upset the Ferrari dominance but had to settle for second quickest after finishing just two-hundredths of a second slower than Schumacher's time.

Jacques Villeneuve went eighth quickest ahead of Montoya but his BAR-Honda teammate Button produced an impressive performance to go fourth, less than half-a-second down on Schumacher. Webber took fifth after being unable to better Button's time, but he lost a place when Panis went marginally quicker and then da Matta jumped ahead of the Briton.

Under-fire Jaguar driver Antonio Pizzonia set the 13th best time, one place better than Montoya, but was more than half-a-second down on his teammate.

Pos Driver Team T1 T2 Time 1. (3) M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 22.531 53.109 1:17.130 2. (9) Trulli Renault (M) 22.602 53.159 1:17.149 + 0.019 3. (5) Barrichello Ferrari (B) 22.487 53.114 1:17.218 + 0.088 4. (16) da Matta Toyota (M) 22.585 53.171 1:17.443 + 0.313 5. (12) Button BAR Honda (B) 22.656 53.400 1:17.613 + 0.483 6. (15) Panis Toyota (M) 22.586 53.444 1:17.746 + 0.616 7. (14) Webber Jaguar Cosworth (M) 22.700 53.579 1:17.793 + 0.663 8. (1) Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 22.783 53.578 1:17.862 + 0.732 9. (2) Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 22.773 53.921 1:18.060 + 0.930 10. (4) Alonso Renault (M) 23.023 53.944 1:18.100 + 0.970 11. (6) R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 22.812 54.041 1:18.409 + 1.279 12. (11) Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 22.902 54.042 1:18.461 + 1.331 13. (19) Pizzonia Jaguar Cosworth (M) 23.075 54.079 1:18.528 + 1.398 14. (8) Montoya Williams BMW (M) 23.041 53.967 1:18.607 + 1.477 15. (7) Fisichella Jordan Ford (B) 23.169 54.485 1:18.879 + 1.749 16. (10) Frentzen Sauber Petronas (B) 23.134 54.388 1:18.909 + 1.779 17. (13) Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 23.012 54.365 1:19.050 + 1.920 18. (17) Firman Jordan Ford (B) 23.271 54.630 1:19.195 + 2.065 19. (18) Verstappen Minardi Cosworth (B) 23.705 55.646 1:20.822 + 3.692 20. (20) Wilson Minardi Cosworth (B) 23.960 56.006 1:21.100 + 3.951 Pos ----- Sector 1 ----- ----- Sector 2 ----- ----- Sector 3 ----- 1. Barrichello 22.487 Trulli 30.557 Trulli 23.990 2. M.Schumacher 22.531 M.Schumacher 30.578 M.Schumacher 24.021 3. da Matta 22.585 da Matta 30.586 Barrichello 24.104 4. Panis 22.586 Barrichello 30.627 Coulthard 24.139 5. Trulli 22.602 Button 30.744 Alonso 24.156 6. Button 22.656 Raikkonen 30.795 Button 24.213 7. Webber 22.700 Panis 30.858 Webber 24.214 8. Coulthard 22.773 Webber 30.879 da Matta 24.272 9. Raikkonen 22.783 Alonso 30.921 Raikkonen 24.284 10. R.Schumacher 22.812 Montoya 30.926 Panis 24.302 11. Villeneuve 22.902 Pizzonia 31.004 R.Schumacher 24.368 12. Heidfeld 23.012 Villeneuve 31.140 Fisichella 24.394 13. Alonso 23.023 Coulthard 31.148 Villeneuve 24.419 14. Montoya 23.041 R.Schumacher 31.229 Pizzonia 24.449 15. Pizzonia 23.075 Frentzen 31.254 Frentzen 24.521 16. Frentzen 23.134 Fisichella 31.316 Firman 24.565 17. Fisichella 23.169 Heidfeld 31.353 Montoya 24.640 18. Firman 23.271 Firman 31.359 Heidfeld 24.685 19. Verstappen 23.705 Verstappen 31.941 Wilson 25.094 20. Wilson 23.960 Wilson 32.046 Verstappen 25.176 Top Speed: 320.3 (Barrichello, Ferrari) All timing unofficial