Rubens Barrichello will start tomorrow’s Japanese Grand Prix from ninth place on the fifth row of the grid in ninth place, while his Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team-mate, Michael Schumacher is back in fourteenth place. Rain, which intensified in the later part of the session made the grid deciding laps something of a lottery, in which, according to technical director, Ross Brawn, “we did not have any winning tickets.”

The day started with both drivers looking very competitive in this morning’s wet free practice session when running on full wet tyres, to such an extent that Michael was hopeful of putting his F2005 on one of the front two rows of the grid and Rubens was also very happy with his pace. A slight glitch in proceedings came when Schumacher clipped a kerb, aquaplaned and crashed into the tyre barriers during the first 45 minute session this morning, shortly after setting the fastest time.

The Scuderia mechanics worked flat out to get it all fixed and ready for qualifying. Barrichello made his run in the afternoon before the really heavy rain arrived and was therefore using normal rain tyres. The Brazilian found they did not suit the car as well as the extreme wets used in the morning and had to contend with a poorly balanced car. When the German started his run, the first part of the lap looked very competitive, but the rain intensified dramatically and there was nothing he could do but bring the car home safely.

So, with all the lead drivers in the same situation, lining up in the back part of the grid, pole position went to Ralf Schumacher in the Toyota, evidently a pleasing result for the Japanese. Their joy was no doubt strengthened further by the fact that a BAR-Honda, that of Jenson Button, is also on the front row. Row 2 features the Renault of Giancarlo Fisichella and the Red Bull of Christian Klien. For the young Austrian, this is his best ever F1 grid position. As the grid forms up tomorrow afternoon, all eyes in the grandstand will be on the third row, where the race fans will find their local hero, Takuma Sato in the BAR, on the inside of David Coulthard in the second Red Bull. After today’s damp and dismal conditions, race day is supposed to be dry and warm. With such an unusual grid, with most of the championship leaders down the back, it promises to be, at the very least, an interesting race, especially in the opening laps.

Jean Todt: “We are very disappointed with the outcome of qualifying. After this morning’s free practice, we thought we would be fighting for places on the front two rows, but unfortunately, we find ourselves with one driver in ninth place and the other in fourteenth.
 

"Rubens did not manage to get the most out of his car, which was not perfectly balanced for the conditions prevailing when he made his run. Michael, who was very quick this morning before his accident, saw his qualifying ruined by the fact his turn to go out coincided with the moment when the rain intensified. The mechanics did a good job in repairing the car for this afternoon. The forecast is for a dry track tomorrow and so, looking at the grid, it is risky to make any predictions. All we can say is that, as usual, we will try and do the best we can.”

Rubens Barrichello: “There are two ways of looking at my qualifying. On the positive side, I was probably one of the last guys to make my run when the track was a little bit better with not too much rain. However, on the negative side, it meant that we were out on track in conditions where our package does not perform as well as it did in the past. On normal wets, the balance of the car felt a lot worse than it did in the morning when we ran with extreme wets.”

Michael Schumacher: “The rain arrived just as I had to start my run, which meant it was too late to fit the extreme wet tyres, so basically, all I could do was swim for home! In fact, in the first sector the rain was not so heavy that it would have justified the extreme rain tyres, although it certainly was on the rest of the lap. I think it is fair for to claim I was hit with bad luck today. This morning, we were very competitive, so in my mind, I was aiming for pole position. My accident in the morning was caused by a combination of riding the kerbs and aquaplaning. With a grid like this, it should be an interesting race tomorrow. I am happy for Ralf, who did a great job to take pole.”

Ross Brawn: “I don’t know what we could have done today in these conditions. It was just a lottery in which we did not pull out any winning tickets. It’s very frustrating. That was particularly the case with Michael, as the rain really got stronger just as he went out of the pits, which was very frustrating as this morning on extreme wets, before his accident he was very quick. It will be an interesting race tomorrow with the top four guys in the world championship starting at the back of the grid. It could be interesting or it could spoil the race. That is the problem with the current qualifying system when the weather changes like this.”

Qualifying session: Rubens Barrichello: 9th 1.48.248 3 laps chassis 248; Michael Schumacher: 14th 1.52.676 3 laps chassis 249; Temperatures: air 23°C, track 24°C