MONACO, 1 June 2003 — Germany’s Ralf Schumacher claimed his first pole position of the season and only the second of his career here yesterday to create an obstacle to his brother Michael Schumacher’s bid for a record-equalling sixth Monaco Grand Prix victory today.
Williams driver Schumacher set a time of 1min 15.259secs to claim his second career pole, 0.036 secs ahead of Finn Kimi Raikkonen, of McLaren, the world championship leader, after Ferrari star Schumacher managed only the fifth fastest time.
Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya finished third, 0.152secs behind his Williams teammate, with Italian Jarno Trulli fourth for Renault to give the front of the grid an unusual look. The two Ferraris finished fifth and seventh, with Scot David Coulthard, of McLaren, splitting Schumacher and seventh-placed Brazilian Rubens Barrichello.
Spaniard Fernando Alonso was eighth in the second Renault with Australian Mark Webber ninth for Jaguar and Brazilian Cristiano da Matta tenth in the Toyota, but 1.485 secs off the pace.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen set a benchmark time of one min 17.402 secs but that was beaten by more than half a second by Da Matta before Frenchman Olivier Panis slotted into third.
Briton Justin Wilson, the next man out in his Minardi, controlled a slide as he headed into the swimming pool section but lost time and finished 3.319 seconds off Da Matta’s pace. Antonio Pizzonia was out next in the Jaguar but he could not better Da Matta’s time and finished three and a half tenths slower than his countryman.
Alonso went to the top of the times with a lap of 1min 15.884 secs which beat Da Matta’s time by 0.860 secs but Villeneuve finished 0.011 secs behind the Brazilian.
