By Greig Murray
April 29 2002

Ferrari will start the 2002 San Marino Grand Prix from 1st and 2nd places, in a dramatic session Michael Schumacher took pole position ahead of Rubens Barrichello in the last seconds of the session, Ferrari are looking strong!

As usual all drivers had a total of 12 laps in which to set their best fastest lap and decide on their starting positions for the race tomorrow, after a very strong showing in the earlier practice sessions Ferrari are very confident in the F2002 of securing the best possible qualifying positions and make the front row red in Italy. Rain has been a feature of the weekend and once again the dark clouds are threatening a downpour as the qualifying session gets underway.

10 minutes into the session and the rain is still holding off and Ferrari are still sitting in the garage, Williams have sent both drivers out early and R Schumacher is currently setting the pace ahead of Montoya with a lap of 1m 22.651 seconds. Rubens Barrichello was the first of the Ferrari duo to take to the track and the Brazilian is hoping to make good use of the F2002, and he was on the pace right away and he takes provisional pole with a blistering lap of 1.22.242. Michael Schumacher was soon to take to the track as Rubens completed his lap Michael was exiting the pits and beginning his first run of the day. A 1.22.265 for Michael and second place behind Rubens. But the challenge to Ferrari was to be thrown down by Montoya who moves into provisional pole with a fast lap of 1.21.864 but he was not to hold that position for long as R Schumacher moves to the front with a 1.21.630 as the track continues to get faster and faster.

Rubens Barrichello was back out to see what he can do about the Williams on the front row, Rubens is blisteringly quick in sector 2 and is looking set for provisional pole with about 30 minutes to go, and that is what he does with a brilliant lap of 1.21.155. Team mate Michael is back out in Barrichello's wake but the German had no answer to Rubens time and although he improves he is not threatening Rubens and is in third place. The threatened rain appears to be holding off as the battle for the pole really begins to heat up, with Williams and Ferrari trading fastest runs but Barrichello looks very strong at the top of the pack at this moment. Although Michael has yet to really hook up a genuine best lap with some small errors creeping into his flying laps.

With 15 minutes to go Michael is currently making small changes to the rear suspension of his F2002 while he studies the telemetry of Rubens Barrichello who's blistering lap remains the one to beat. And Michael was soon back out to attempt to do just that, Schumacher is up but only just at split 1, down at split 2 and crosses the line with a 1.21.212 and second place, but he is getting closer to Rubens with 1 run left.

Closing moments of the session and Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello are back out on track as the clouds begin to close in on Imola, we are all set for a dramatic showdown with both Ferrari's and both Williams out on track. First to crack is R Schumacher who runs wide and ruins his final chance, Montoya is next to chance his luck but nothing is happening for him. But it is Michael Schumacher who is on the charge with a blistering sector 1, Rubens Barrichello is not improving, Schumacher however is still on it and on his final lap he takes pole away from Rubens with a 1.21.091 brilliant stuff from both Ferrari drivers.

So Imola sees a 1-2 for Ferrari in qualifying and it looks all set for a brilliant race with both Williams lining up behind the red cars the battle lines have been drawn. A fantastic performance from Rubens Barrichello who must have felt the pole was is only to see it snatched away from him by Michael in the final moments.

1. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'21"091 218.998 Km/h
2. BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1'21"155 + 0'00"064
3. R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M 1'21"473 + 0'00"382
4. MONTOYA Williams BMW M 1'21"605 + 0'00"514
5. RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 1'22"104 + 0'01"013
6. COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 1'22"490 + 0'01"399
7. HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas B 1'22"767 + 0'01"676
8. TRULLI Renault M 1'22"833 + 0'01"742
9. BUTTON Renault M 1'22"857 + 0'01"766
10. VILLENEUVE BAR Honda B 1'23"116 + 0'02"025
11. MASSA Sauber Petronas B 1'23"681 + 0'02"590
12. PANIS BAR Honda B 1'23"821 + 0'02"730
13. FRENTZEN Arrows Cosworth B 1'23"862 + 0'02"771
14. SATO Jordan Honda B 1'24"050 + 0'02"959
15. FISICHELLA Jordan Honda B 1'24"253 + 0'03"162
16. SALO Toyota M 1'24"328 + 0'03"237
17. MCNISH Toyota M 1'24"331 + 0'03"240
18. IRVINE Jaguar Cosworth M 1'24"579 + 0'03"488
19. WEBBER Minardi Asiatech M 1'24"790 + 0'03"699
20. BERNOLDI Arrows Cosworth B 1'24"808 + 0'03"717
21. DE LA ROSA Jaguar Cosworth M 1'24"852 + 0'03"761
22. YOONG Minardi Asiatech M 1'27"241 + 0'06"150