Juan Pablo Montoya 2nd in USA GP Pre Qualifying

With the running order for this first half of qualifying based on the finishing order of the Canadian Grand Prix it would be Ferrari's Michael Schumacher first out onto the track. Michael would set a time of 21.3 seconds for the first sector, 29.1 for the second, and he would cross the line with a time of 1:10.129 to set the benchmark time for the rest of the field.

Team-mate Rubens Barrichello was next out and he would be half a second up on Michael after sector two. He would cross the line with a time of 1m:9.454. He would be the first driver to post a 1m:9 sec lap. Next was BAR's Jenson Button and he would lose three tenths in the first sector, loses more time in the second, and crosses the line in second with a time of 1m:10.115. Sauber's Giancarlo Fisichella was next out and his time, a 1m:10.997, would se him
in fourth.

McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen was the final driver of the first group of five. His lap would see him struggle and he would go into fifth with a time of 1m:11.415 which will certainly be easily passed. Team-mate David Coulthard was next and he would fare no better than Raikkonen. His time of 1m:11.068 would see him in fifth, three tenths ahead of Kimi.

Jordan's Nick Heidfeld was next and his qualifying times would follow his slow practice times. Nick would finish with a time of 1m:12.329 to be in seventh. Jaguar's Christian Klien would follow Heidfeld and his lap of 1m:11.777 was good enough for seventh. Minardi's Zsolt Baumgartner would see him set the slowest time in the first sector, loses a second to Heidfeld in the second, and he would complete his lap with a time of 1m:14.396 4.9 seconds slower than Rubens.

Sauber's Felipe Massa was out on his lap and he would cross the line with a time of 1m:11.315 for sixth, pushing Raikkonen down one place. Following Massa was the driver who had previously been involved in an accident with BAR's Takuma Sato. Sato would drops three tenths to Rubens through the first sector with a 21.6, matches Rubens time in the second, and crosses the line
with a time of 1:10.002 to go ahead of his team-mate.

Next up was Renault's Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard would lose time in the first sector but he would pick some back up over the rest of the lap to finish with a time of 1m:10.078 to move into third. The Minardi of Gianmari Bruni was out and he would complete his lap with a time of 1m:13.776 to finish ahead of his team-mate and in twelfth. Jaguar's Mark Webber could only match his team-mate Klein's times and would finish with a lap time of 1m:11.444 to be tenth. The second Renault of Jarno Trulli was out and he would be half a second down after just the first sector. He would finish sixth with a 1m:10.559, which was four tenths down on his team-mate Alonso.

Next came Ralf Schumacher who had qualified in pole position in the previous race in Canada. On his lap he would be three tenths down through sector one with a 21.6. A 28.8 sees would see Ralf lose another couple of tenths through the second sector. He would finish with a time of 1m:10.003 which was good enough for third.

Juan Pablo Montoya, in the second WilliamsF1 FW26, was next out and he would match Ralf through the first two sectors but he would have the fastest final sector which would see him cross the line with a time of 1m:09.824 to move into second. This was a great effort by the WilliamsF1 driver. Toyota's Cristiano da Matta, after a strong showing in the final practice session, was out and his lap would see him finish in sixth with a time of 1m:10.108.

Toyota team-mate Olivier Panis was out for his lap and he would set a time of 21.5 through the first sector, 28.8 in the second, crossing the line with a time of 1:09.923 to go third fastest. This matched his 2003 qualifying result but there is one qualifying run left. Jordan's Giorgio Pantano was the last driver out and his time, a 1m:12.016, would see him in seventeenth.

So it would be Rubens leading Juan Pablo, Panis, .Sato, Ralf, Alonso, Da Matta, and Button. Michael Schumacher was down in ninth.