Full Throttle

For the second straight year Rubens Barrrichello has led not only qualifying, but the cheering of his home fans at Interlagos by storming to pole position in 1m10.646s. Michael Schumacher managed to set just the eighth fastest time, and coupled with a ten-place penalty for using the spare car (and engine) the German will start from eighteenth.

Juan Pablo Montoya completed a South American one-two as he recorded a best lap of 1m10.850 - 0.2s slower than Barrichello. Kimi Raikkonen qualified third, just 0.042s behind Montoya’s BMW Williams. As I noted earlier it is my belief if Barrichello were to lead the race at any point Schumacher wouldn’t contest the point. After Michael was assigned an 18^th spot on the grid for an engine change it appears the point is moot, and his main challenge will come from fellow South American Montoya.

In related news F1 Team Chiefs have settled on the qualifying format for year 2005, agreeing to purposals by the FIA. The new system will involve a similar set-up to the current one with single-lap qualifying on Saturday afternoon with low fuel loards for the fastest possible lap, before a second session on Sunday morning when drivers will have to qualify with fuel and tyres they will have to start the race with.

Friday practice is unaffected. The first qualifying session will see the winner of the last race run first (as is currently the case) and the final qualifying order will be the reverse of the finishing order of the first session.