News APP

NewsApp (Free)

Read news as it happens
Download NewsApp

Available on  gplay

This article was first published 21 years ago
Home  » Sports » Ralf Schumacher takes Canada GP pole

Ralf Schumacher takes Canada GP pole

June 15, 2003 16:57 IST
Get Rediff News in your Inbox:
Germany's Ralf Schumacher seized his second successive pole position on Saturday as Williams swept champions Ferrari off the Canadian Grand Prix front row.

While McLaren's championship leader Kimi Raikkonen suffered a nightmare afternoon, failing to clock a time after skidding off, resurgent Williams set the pace.

Ralf lapped the Gilles Villeneuve circuit, named after Canada's late Ferrari great, in one minute 15.529 seconds as the morning rain lifted.

His Colombian team mate Juan Pablo Montoya, winner of the season's glamour race in Monaco two weeks ago, slotted in alongside him with a time 0.394 slower.

It was the first all-Williams front row of the year.

Ralf's older brother Michael, Ferrari's five times world champion, was third fastest and shares the second row with Renault's Spaniard Fernando Alonso.

Ferrari's Brazilian Rubens Barrichello was fifth quickest with Australian Mark Webber sixth for Jaguar.

Raikkonen skidded off at the end of the start-finish

straight on his flying lap, clouting the tyre barriers backwards. He then struggled to get the car off the waterlogged grass runoff, the rear wheels spinning wildly.

The Finn leads Michael Schumacher by four points in the standings after seven races, but the German is the master of Montreal, with five wins in nine years.

Sunday will be the third time this season that the 23-year-old Finn has started at the back of the grid or from the pit lane after qualifying problems.

Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, son of Gilles, was first out on the track after spinning full circle within sight of the finish in Friday's first one-lap session.

The 1997 champion ended up 14th on the grid, leaving the BAR driver a tough task to score points in Montreal for the first time since his debut season in 1996.

Briton Ralph Firman, fourth quickest in Friday's qualifying, had a nightmare session as his hopes evaporated with a place on the back row.

Get Rediff News in your Inbox:
Source: REUTERS
© Copyright 2024 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

New Zealand's tour of India 2024

New Zealand's Tour Of India, 2024