WilliamsF1 struggles in final European qualifying

Minardi's Bruni would be the first driver out, even though he appeared to have left the pit lane prior to the green lane. This may see him receive a penalty. He would finish with a time of 1m:34.022 which slower than his previous lap. Team-mate Baumgartner would go even slower with a time of 1m:34.398. The Minardi's will start from their usual last two grid positions.

Jordan's Nick Heidfeld was out and he was 0.4 seconds up on Bruni after sector one, 1.7 seconds up after sector two, finishing his lap with a time of 1m:31.604 to go fastest. Team-mate Pantano would finish his lap 0.375 seconds behind his team-mate Heidfeld to be second.

Sauber's Felipe Massa was next and was 0.05 down on Heidfeld through sector one. Could he be running a setup for a two stop strategy. He would finish in third behind the two Jordan's. The two Jaguar's would be next with Christian Klien out first. Klien would go fastest by 0.173.

Team-mate Webber, looking at having a second added to his time, was out and was only 0.144 up on his team-mate through sector one. he was 0.778 up after sector two going fastest by just 0.67 seconds. This time will see him start behind his team-mate.

Jarno Trulli was next out. He was 0.647 seconds up in sector one. Trulli has been far from well this weekend having all but lost his voice. He would move into first with a time of 1:29.135 but this was likely to be passed. With Fisichella going to lose ten places on the grid the Sauber team decided not to send Giancarlo out on his second run. His car was pushed into parc ferme.

Toyota's Cristiano da Matta was next and he would be 0.236 down on Trulli in sector one, losing further time in sector two, to finish with a time good enough for second but still some 0.5 seconds behind Trulli. Panis was next and he would be looking to go quicker than his team-mate. He would be 0.291 down on Trulli through sector one finishing in second, just 0.01 ahead of Da Matta.

Next came Juan Pablo. he would be 0.07 down on Trulli after sector one, 0.149 down after sector two, and would cross the line second 0.219 behind Trulli. Trulli's Renault team-mate Alonso was next and with a time of 1m:29.313 would go second pushing Juan Pablo down to third. Could we see an all Renault front row? Next was Rubens Barrichello. He would be 0.2 behind after sector two and would finish with a time of 1m:29.353 to go third.

McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen was next out and after a gear final sector would go second just 0.002 adrift of Trulli. The final group of Button, Coulthard, Ralf, Michael Schumacher and Sato would take their turns at securing pole. Button would start his flying lap and was 0.072 down after sector one, 0.160 down in sector two, and could only manage a time good enough for third. He lost time in Turn three running wide. Coulthard was to be next but due to his loss of ten grid positions the McLaren team have decided not to run his car in the second qualifying session.

So next was Ralf. Team-mate Juan Pablo was in sixth. Ralf would be 0.230 down after sector one, 0.438 after sector two. He was not having a good run and would finish seventh behind Juan Pablo.

Now it was brother Michael's turn and he would quickly gain time through all the sectors finishing with a time of 1m:28.351 that was 0.78 seconds ahead of second placed Trulli. With only Sato left to run Michael's chances of securing another pole were looking good. So Sato would start his lap and 0.142 down after sector one, losing a further 0.25 seconds in sector two to finish second. He will join Michael on the front row for the race tomorrow.

This would be Michael's 60th pole position and he is now within just five of the pole positions of 65 held by the late Ayrton Senna.