The other title contenders did not fair nearly as well with McLaren’s Raikkonen doing best with a 3rd, Ralf Schumacher for Williams 4th, reigning World champion Michael Schumacher 5th and Montoya in the 2nd Williams a disappointing 7th!

Surprisingly Jarno Trulli was the 1st Michelin shod car on the grid and starts from a very respectable 2nd spot! Cristiano Da Matta in the Toyota gets his best starting place of the season with 6th ahead of teammate Panis who only managed a 13th position. The 2nd Renault of Fernando Alonso starts from 8th with a better than average 9th for the BAR of Villeneuve.

The Jaguars of Antonio Pizzonia and Mark Webber start from 10th and 11th respectively, and for the 1st time the young Brazilian out qualified his teammate. David Coulthard in the 2nd McLaren managed 13th spot and openly admits that the single car qualifying is not his forte. In my opinion this format is not as exciting as the former version and Mr. Eccelstone happens to agree.

The rest of the field sorted out pretty much as we have come to expect with the exception of Jenson Button. He failed to post a time after leaving the circuit and will likely start from pit lane to benefit from full fuel and to work his way forward.

The final 6 spots qualified as follows: 14th Frentzen/Sauber, 15th Fisichella/Jordan, 16th Heidfeld/Sauber, 17th Firman/Jordan, 18th Wilson/Minardi, 19th Verstappen/Minardi and 20th Button/BAR.

The latest weather forecast is calling for sunshine and warm temperatures similar to those of today. The pole car on Bridgestone tires and the other teams using them may not be in very good shape during the race with the potentially higher track temperatures.

Article by: Tony Moffett