Barrichello takes pole

Barrichello edged out team-mate Schumacher

Click here for qualifying times from Melbourne

Rubens Barrichello has put one over his Ferrari team-mate Michael Schumacher by taking pole position at a rain-lashed Australian Grand Prix.

The Brazilian edged out the world champion by five-thousandths of a second in a brief window of dry weather early in Saturday's qualifying session for the first race of the year.

Both the Ferrari drivers chose exactly the right moment to venture out when the track was at its driest.

It started to rain heavily soon afterwards, giving no time to respond to Schumacher, who had been quickest in all the three previous practice sessions.

Last year's car

Barrichello blasted around Melbourne's Albert Park in one minute 25.843 seconds, the fastest lap so far recorded at the street circuit, before the rain set in and made any quicker times impossible.

It was Barrichello's first pole since the British Grand Prix of 2000, and only his fourth in almost a decade in Formula One.

Ferrari, despite using an updated version of last year's F2001, were in a class of their own.

Ralf Schumacher took third place on the grid, just ahead of his Williams team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya, who selected the worst time to go out.

McLaren took fourth and fifth spots through David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen.

Jaguar had expected a poor showing after problems in pre-season and their nightmare came true both their cars were beaten by the Minardi of Australian newcomer Mark Webber.

Drama

Lead Jaguar driver Eddie Irvine was 19th, with team-mate Pedro de la Rosa 20th.

Toyota made a competent Grand Prix debut, qualifying 14th with Finnish veteran Mika Salo and 16th with Scottish rookie Allan McNish.

There was early drama when the session was halted after just four minutes.

Japanese rookie Takuma Sato had come to a standstill on the circuit and parked up on a corner, and then Coulthard and Jacques Villeneuve almost collided.

Sato's Jordan team said he had suffered gear selection problems but his car failure left him in a nightmare predicament after he had crashed his race car in the morning free practice.

Hopeful

The rain dashed Sato's hopes of a respectable grid position. He failed to register a qualifying time, although the stewards later decided to allow him to start from the back of the grid because of his times in practice.

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Qualifying times and grid positions for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne:

1 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Ferrari one minute 25.843 seconds
2 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1:25.848
3 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Williams 1:26.279
4 David Coulthard (GB) McLaren 1:26.446
5 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren 1:27.161
6 Juan Pablo Montoya (Col) Williams 1:27.249
7 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Renault 1:27.710
8 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Jordan 1:27.869
9 Felipe Massa (Bra) Sauber 1:27.972
10 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Sauber 1:28.232
11 Jenson Button (GB) Renault 1:28.361
12 Olivier Panis (Fra) BAR 1:28.381
13 Jacques Villeneuve (Can) BAR 1:28.657
14 Mika Salo (Fin) Toyota 1:29.205
15 Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Ger) Arrows 1:29.474
16 Allan McNish (GB) Toyota 1:29.636
17 Enrique Bernoldi (Bra) Arrows 1:29.738
18 Mark Webber (Aus) Minardi 1:30.086
19 Eddie Irvine (GB) Jaguar 1:30.113
20 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) Jaguar 1:30.192
21 Alex Yoong (Mal) Minardi 1:31.504
22 Takuma Sato (Jap) Jordan 1:53.351

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