Schumacher seizes pole
From correspondents in Monza
September 13, 2003
WORLD champion Michael Schumacher will start the crucial Italian Grand Prix from pole position after outpacing his title rivals to claim pole position for the Monza race here Saturday.
Ferrari driver Schumacher, who leads the championship by a single point from Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya, has been under pressure to perform all weekend but he stayed cool to ease his way into the top spot.
His time of 1min 20.963sec, set under blue skies at Ferrari's home circuit, brought cheers from the crowd and raised a smile on Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo's face.
Colombian Montoya, who was out last in the session, looked set to go faster but failed to better what looked a perfect lap from his German rival and finished second faster.
Brazilian Rubens Barrichello finished third in the second Ferrari with the third championship challenger, Finn Kimi Raikkonen, who is two points behind Schumacher, fourth fastest.
The second Williams of Spaniard Marc Gene, who is making his return to Formula One as a replacement for the injured Ralf Schumacher this weekend, finished an impressive fifth fastest.
Italian driver Jarno Trulli was sixth for Renault with Briton Jenson Button, of BAR-Honda, pipping Scot David Coulthard, of McLaren, to claim seventh. Olivier Panis, of Toyota, and Jacques Villeneuve, in the second BAR-Honda, completed the top ten.
Gene was first out on track in the Williams because he did not run in the Friday qualifying session but he set a respectable target time of 1min 21.834sec which remained unbeaten for much of the session.
Coulthard could only manage the third fastest time, behind British rival Button and Gene, as the lead runners began to come out for their individual one-lap efforts.
Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who became the youngest ever driver to win a race at the Hungarian Grand Prix three weeks ago, made a mistake on his run when he spun at the Rettifilo chicane and set the slowest time of the 20 runners.
His team-mate Trulli was the first to get close to Gene's time and slotted into second, 0.110sec behind with just five drivers left to complete their runs.
Raikkonen, the first of the championship contenders to take to the track, finally knocked Gene off the top spot when he bettered the Spaniard's time by a third of a second.
1st row:
1. Michael Schumacher (GER) Ferrari 1:20.963, 2. Juan Pablo Montoya (COL) Williams-BMW 1:21.014
2nd row:
3. Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Fe.242, 4. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.466
3rd row:
5. Marc Gene (SPA) Williams-BMW 1:21.834, 6. Jarno Trulli (ITA) Renault 1:21.944
4th row:
7. Jenson Button (GBR) BAR-Honda 1:22.301, 8. David Coulthard (GBR) McLaren-Mercedes 1:22.471
5th row:
9. Olivier Panis (FRA) Toyota 1:22.488, 10. Jacques Villeneuve (CAN) BAR-Honda 1:22.717
6th row:
11. Mark Webber (AUS) Jaguar-Cosworth 1:22.754, 12. Cristiano Da Matta (BRA) Toyota 1:22.914
7th row:
13. Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Jordan 1:22.992, 14. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (GER) Sauber-Petronas 1:23.216
8th row:
15. Justin Wilson (GBR) Jaguar-Cosworth 1:23.484, 16. Nick Heidfeld (GER) Sauber-Petronas 1:23.803
9th row:
17. Jos Verstappen (NED) Minardi 1:25.078, 18. Zsolt Baumgartner (HUN) Jordan 1:25.881
10th row:
19. Nicolas Kiesa (DEN) Minardi 1:26.778, 20. Fernando Alonso (SPA) Renault 1:40.405
