Ralf pips Button for pole

The German, whose previous pole was 14 races ago at the German Grand Prix in July last year, pipped Jenson Button by less than seven hundredths of a second.

The Williams-BMW star conjured up a time of one minute 12.275 seconds for the 4.361km track on the Ile Notre Dame, more than three seconds faster than his pole time of last year at this race.

Button appeared set for his second pole this season as Schumacher, last man out after pre-qualifying, was down in both the first two sectors, only to find extra speed in the closing moments and shave 0.066 of a second off the Briton's time.

For Button, it is only the second time he will start from the front row of the grid, and clearly he was back on the pace after yesterday complaining of handling and balance problems with his BAR after the first two hour-long practice sessions.

But his race engineers clearly rid the car of its gremlins and after two good practice runs this morning, the 24-year-old had the car hooked up perfectly for qualifying as the step the team had taken with the Honda engine in the build up to this race bore fruit.

The Renaults of Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso will start third and fifth, sandwiching the second Williams-BMW of Juan Pablo Montoya, pushing Michael Schumacher down to sixth.

It is the six-times world champion’s worst qualifying performance this season and it appears he has his work cut out if he is to become the first driver to win a grand prix seven times.

Overall, it was a disastrous day for Ferrari as Rubens is seventh, matching his worst display of the season in both of the previous two races.

Barrichello had needed to replace the chassis on his car after the first of today’s practice sessions after hitting a kerb hard and he never recovered his composure.

A worse fate, however, befell Button’s team-mate, Takuma Sato, who was uickest through the first sector, and although he dropped back in the second, was still on course for a high grid placing.

The Japanese star, however, lost the back end of his car as he came out of the final chicane and almost clipped the wall, only to spin through 360 degrees and limp across the line to take 17th.

Timo Glock, in his first Formula One qualifying session today due to the withdrawal of Jordan team-mate Giorgio Pantano for reasons which are understood to be financial, is in 17th after a lap of 1:16.323, four seconds down on pole.

Ralf Schumacher, whose best finish this season was fourth in the opening race of the season in Australia, is wary of how he will perform tomorrow.

The 28-year-old, who has failed to finish in the last two races, said: “Being on pole you are always confident you will have a good race.

“But we have clearly been struggling for the last three or four races, so it’s going to be a tough one, and with Jenson on my tail it’s going to be even tougher.

“We will try our best and maybe I can repeat what I did a few of years ago [in 2001 when he won]. We will see.”

Button conceded to being “disappointed” at missing out on pole, adding: “It was close at the end.

“Before Ralf went out I was excited because I was up on everybody else by seven tenths [of a second], so I’m a little bit disappointed, but it’s still good to be on the front row.

“I’m sure the engine has helped us [in qualifying], not just in power but reliability. Hopefully it will help us in the race where we’ve a good strategy.”