Michael Schumacher wound up fifth fastest for tomorrow's Monaco Grand Prix as the Michelin runners dominated the one-lap qualifying session in Monte Carlo this afternoon. Despite taking the fastest first sector time, he was unable to keep it together for the complete lap, ending up nearly half a second down on pole winner Ralf. Team mate Rubens Barrichello was slightly further adrift, taking seventh place.

Kimi Raikkonen had set the mark on the session with a lap half a second faster than anyone else had posted while Monaco specialist Jarno Trulli held onto a provisional second place. However, the Williams pair were instantly fast off the mark, and although Juan Pablo Montoya failed to build on a quickest first sector, team mate Ralf Schumacher went on to claim pole with a time three hundredths of a second faster than Raikkonen.

JEAN TODT

"After a closely fought qualifying session, we have recorded our least satisfactory result of the season so far, at a track where the grid position is very important. However, there is still a question mark over the amount of fuel the drivers have chosen to go to the start with. We will only find out the truth during the race. It is clear that if those who are ahead of us today can do a similar number of laps to us, then we will be in a difficult situation." 

"However, if we can stay out on the track for longer, then we can be in the running right to the end. Monte Carlo is the longest race of the year in terms of time, on a track which is pretty demanding on both car and driver. As usual, reliability will be the key and our main objective is to get both cars to the finish.' 

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER

"Obviously, I am not happy with this result, but I am not particularly concerned about it. I drove a lap which was error free. Right from this morning, we could see we were not as competitive in the second and third sectors. One explanation could be that, over the course of the weekend, the track has picked up more rubber and the performance level of the tyres over a single lap seems to have changed. However, this does not necessarily mean that the situation will be the same tomorrow. In fact, I still believe we have made a good choice for the race and we will only find out tomorrow how much fuel the cars have really got on board." 

RUBENS BARRICHELLO

"This was not our best qualifying day. The car was going well, but it just was not fast enough. Now we will have to see what level of fuel the cars ahead of us are running. This result has not affected my confidence as far as the race is concerned.' 

ROSS BRAWN

"It would have been nicer to be on pole of course, but until we see how the race develops tomorrow, in terms of the different fuel loads our competitors are using, it is very difficult to make an accurate judgement. The car was well balanced and we had no real problems. Now, we must just wait and see what happens in the race." 

Michael Schumacher: 5th  1.15.644 3 laps  chassis 229 
Rubens Barrichello: 7th  1.15.820 3 laps  chassis 228