MONACO, 23 May 2004 — World champion Michael Schumacher suffered an upset to his perfect preparations for today’s Monaco Grand Prix when he was beaten to pole position by Italian Jarno Trulli in qualifying here yesterday.
Renault driver Trulli will start from the front for the first time in his career today with Briton Jenson Button second on the grid in his BAR-Honda, having been 0.411 seconds slower than the Italian.
Trulli, who claimed his first podium finish of the season at the last race in Spain, set a fastest lap of 1min 13.985sec to beat Schumacher to the top spot by 0.360 secs.
“I’m pretty impressed about my lap time because I couldn’t believe I went under 1m 14s,” Trulli said.
“I’m so pleased to be on pole, which I’ve been chasing for such a long time, here in Monaco. I’m sure tomorrow is going to be a tough race, but I’ve got a little satisfaction today.” Schumacher managed only fifth in qualifying but will begin from fourth with his brother Ralf demoted down the grid following an engine change.
Ralf Schumacher, last year’s pole-sitter, was second quickest in qualifying but will start from 12th on the grid following a 10-grid position penalty for changing the BMW engine in his Williams on Thursday.
Fernando Alonso, Trulli’s Renault teammate, will start from third to provide some hope that Schumacher’s 100 percent start to the season could be stopped.
Trulli has started from the front row four times, including here in 2000, but he has never led the field and with overtaking at a premium on the Monaco streets he is favorite for victory here today.
Michael Schumacher is waiting to pounce, however, having finished fastest in every practice session this weekend and it is likely that he will be on a different strategy to his front-running rivals.
The German driver is chasing a record sixth consecutive win this year but he has not started from pole position in Monaco since 2000 and he has not won here for two years.
Finn Kimi Raikkonen claimed fifth place on the grid for McLaren to split the Ferraris and push Brazilian Rubens Barrichello down to sixth. Takuma Sato will begin seventh in the second BAR-Honda.
Scot David Coulthard, of McLaren, and Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, of Williams, completed the top ten as all the drivers escaped a brush with the notorious Monte Carlo Armco barriers in the times, although both gain on place on the grid.
Ralf Schumacher had topped the times in the earlier qualifying session, which decides the running order for the grid-deciding session, finishing 0.176sec ahead of Raikkonen with Coulthard 0.245sec back in third.
