Germany's Nick Heidfeld (BMW-Williams) took his first pole postion (1:30.081) with a perfect lap, denying McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen (1:30.197) his fourth pole position in succession.
A thrilling session at the European Grand Prix saw Raikkonen and the BMW-Williams drivers, Heidfeld and Mark Webber, run as the final three in the session, with Webber setting a lap comfortably faster than anyone else (1: 30.368) only to see the final two runners both eclipse it.
In fourth place is Toyota driver Jarno Trulli, the one lap specialist setting a time (1:30.700) that for a long time looked a possible pole.
Juan Pablo Montoya, looking to get back on terms with his McLaren team-mate Raikkonen, could only manage fifth place (1:30.890) ahead of Championship leader Fernando Alonso (1:31.056) in the Renault.
The much-anticipated Ferrari 'revival' failed to materialise, the red cars looking smooth but still not showing enough speed.
Rubens Barrichello, after his war of words with team leader Michael Schumacher, out-qualified the World Champion. His lap (1:31.249) included a very quick middle sector to place him seventh, three places ahead of Schumacher (1:31.585).
The BAR-Hondas, back after a two-race ban, also failed to live up to expectations, but were perhaps running conservatively to aid engine conservation.
Jenson Button starts 13th (1:32.594) and Takuma Sato 16th (1:32.926).
Felipe Massa continues to outperform his former-world champion team mate Jacques Villeneuve, the Saubers starting 11th and 15th, while David Coulthard, starting 12th, was just one tenth faster than the much less experienced Tonio Liuzzi, who will line up in 14th place.
The two tail-end teams continue to fight it out, with Minardi confirming their ability to challenge the Jordan-Toyotas.
Tiago Monteiro and Narain Karthikeyan (Jordans) will start 17th and 19th, the two Minardi drivers Patrick Freisacher and Cristijan Albers starting 18th and 20th.
The talking point from this, the first single-session qualifying session of the season, will be about strategy.
The strong feeling is that the Mclarens of Raikkonen and Montoya have a great deal of race speed, and may therefore be running a heavier fuel load than the two BMW-Williams. McLaren appear also to have an advantage over the Renaults who have struggled, in recent races, to match their impressive early-season form.
The other point of interest for tomorrow's race is the weather. Many sources are forecasting thunderstorms during the race period, which could shake up the order dramatically.
It is worth noting, as a final point, that the top German in Formula 1 this season, in terms of race finishes and points position, does not have the surname Schumacher.
It is Nick Heidfeld, the man on pole position for the first time in his career.
Written: Sat, 28 May 2005 12:02:15
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