NURBURGRING, Germany, 29 June 2003 — Finn Kimi Raikkonen claimed his first ever pole position here yesterday when he won a thrilling tight battle for the top spot in qualifying for the European Grand Prix.

Raikkonen was the last man out as the late runners bettered each other one by one on their single lap runs and he topped world champion Michael Schumacher’s time by just 0.032 seconds with a textbook run.

German Ralf Schumacher completed a top three covered by just 0.096 seconds and Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya made it a Williams three-four.

Ferrari’s Rubens Barrichello will begin from fifth ahead of Renault driver Jarno Trulli, who had initially looked set to start from the head of the grid until the big names entered the fray.

Olivier Panis gave Toyota a boost ahead of their home Grand Prix when he set a good time early in the session and eventually finished seventh fastest. Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who is currently third in the world championship, finished eighth in his Renault with Scot David Coulthard ninth in the McLaren and Cristiano da Matta completing the top ten in the second Toyota.

Canadian Jacques Villeneuve was out first after spinning off on a wet track in Friday’s qualifying session and he could only manage a time of one min 34.596 secs in his BAR-Honda which eventually put him 17th.

Da Matta was the first driver to come close to the lap times that had been seen in the morning practice session when he completed his run in one min 32.949 secs to go top. But his time was almost immediately beaten by Toyota teammate Panis, who had topped the times in two of the three preceding practice sessions, when he finished his lap in one min and 32.350 secs.

German Nick Heidfeld, in his Sauber, was the first home driver to go out in the session but he threw his chances away when he spun off at the first corner and angrily walked away after failing to get his car back on track. Jaguar’s Mark Webber was closest to the Toyota pair after the first ten drivers but his time was still 0.599 seconds slower than Panis, with BAR-Honda driver Jenson Button fourth a further tenth of a second behind.

Giancarlo Fisichella, of Jordan, finished three tenths of a second slower than Button on his flying lap before Alonso dislodged Da Matta from second with a lap time just 0.074 seconds slower than the lead Toyota.

Frenchman Panis finally saw his time beaten when Alonso’s Renault teammate Trulli, who is well known for his talent on a single-lap run, finished 0.374 seconds faster.