INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, 20 June 2004 — Rubens Barrichello grabbed pole position for today’s United States Grand Prix ahead of Ferrari teammate Michael Schumacher and Japan’s Takuma Sato in a BAR-Honda.
Barrichello hurtled round the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road circuit in 1min 10.223secs, nosing ahead of the world champion by just 0.177.
Sato, a third of a second off the pace, will share second row of the grid with fellow BAR driver Jenson Button.
Barrichello was consistently the fastest driver through the weekend’s free practice, and posted the quickest Formula One lap ever on this circuit in pre-qualifying of 1:09.454.
Schumacher by contrast was forced to dig deep as his worst grid position of the season beckoned when he languished in ninth place after the pre-qualifying stage, which sets the order of drivers for the one-lap qualification stage. It will be an all-Williams third row on the today’s grid, with Colombia’s Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher, each 0.8 seconds behind Barrichello.
Both drivers were disqualified last weekend at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal due to a minor rules infringement regarding brake ducts, robbing Schumacher of second place and Montoya of the points for fifth.
Ferrari is chasing another one-two finish after taking the top two places last week in Montreal, after completely dominating the Formula One season so.
Michael Schumacher has his sights set on an eighth win in nine races and leads Barrichello in the championship by 16 points with Button 10 points further back.
“Finally, my first pole of the season,” Barrichello said, and paid tribute to legions of Brazilian race fans cheering him on at the famed Brickyard circuit.
“It’s a wonderful time ... I could almost hear them shouting.”
Schumacher, despite his huge lead in the championship standings, appeared uncomfortable in his car for much of the weekend, and said he was surprised to find himself on the front row.
“Naturally, I would have preferred the other position, but Rubens did a better job, and that’s where we are.
“I struggled in the middle sector. I had to fight far to much oversteer in there, and I lost time.”
Sato, who is hoping his luck will turn around after a string of retirements due to engine failure in his BAR-Honda said he was “really pleased” but already had one eye on Ferrari’s performance today.
“They’re always strong in the race (but) I think we have found some consistency, so we’re pretty much hoping.”
