Ralf Snatches Pole from Button - Canadian GP
Saturday June 12th, 2004
By Will Gray
German Ralf Schumacher claimed a last-ditch pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix on Saturday with a near-perfect lap around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to put his Williams-BMW at the head of the grid.
Jenson Button looked to have set an unbeatable lap, but Schumacher - the last man on track - was left punching the air after claiming the fifth pole of his career by just 0.066 seconds.
BAR-Honda driver Button, who started from his only pole in the San Marino Grand Prix in April, had been more than six-tenths of a second clear of the field until Schumacher produced the goods to score pole for the second year running in Canada.
World Champion Michael Schumacher, winner of six of the seven Grands Prix already this season, could only qualify in sixth place with Renault's Jarno Trulli, Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya, Fernando Alonso, also of Renault, ahead of him.
Rubens Barrichello, Schumacher's Ferrari teammate, will begin the race from seventh on the grid with McLaren-Mercedes pair Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard and Jaguar driver Christian Klien completing the top-ten.
German Timo Glock, making his Grand Prix debut for Jordan in the absence of Giorgio Pantano, produced a tidy lap to qualify in 16th place.
Sauber driver Felipe Massa and Minardi's Gianmaria Bruni failed to complete their qualifying laps and will begin the race from the back of the grid.
Klien sat at the top of the times after the first nine runners, ahead of Jaguar teammate Mark Webber, until Barrichello lowered the best lap by almost one second despite locking up into turn six.
Raikkonen had been set for top spot after bettering Barrichello by two-tenths after the second sector, but he ended his lap 0.033 second down, but Schumacher was able to go quicker leading his teammate by two tenths of a second.
But Button blitzed Schumacher's time by more than one second and Trulli took second place, six tenths of a second down. Sato had looked set to challenge Button only to spin at the last chicane and crossed the line 4.663 seconds slower than his team-mate and will start 17th.
But Ralf Schumacher saved the best for last as he completed a flawless lap to take a dramatic pole from Button. |
