Rubens Barrichello today took his fifth career pole position and second P1 of the year at the A1-Ring in Austria. It was also the fifth pole of the season for Ferrari and the fifth time a Ferrari has set the fastest qualifying time for the Austrian Grand Prix. The Brazilian set a scintillating lap time of 1.08.082, to beat last year's top time by 1.48 seconds.

"In Imola and Barcelona it was close between us, and Michael beat me. This time, I said to myself, "not today" and tried even harder. At the moment we are such a good team that if one of us is not on pole then the other should be able to do it!" the Brazilian smiled in a press release.

"It was a very busy session with lots of cars putting dirt on the track. I had two lucky escapes: the first when there was the oil on the track and the second when the Toyota moved across on me. I was doing over 300 (kph) at the time and I thought it was going to be a big accident.

"That time I managed to continue and go quicker on my second lap in that run as the tyres were holding up well. Tomorrow, we start all over again and I am very happy and very confident for the race."

Michael Schumacher could find no answer to the Brazilian's speed, and even tried switching to the team's spare car towards the end of the session. However, he remained in his lowest qualifying position of the year - third - as the chequered flag fell.

"The red flag had no real effect on my performance. However, I did have a problem with my race car," the German explained. "We are not sure at the moment what it was, but it is unusual for me to be quicker in the morning than in the afternoon.

"That is why I took the spare car. Was it better? Well, I did a quicker time, but it is always difficult to tell when you jump in a car for the first time during the weekend. I also had problems with traffic on two of my runs.

"I have to say that Rubens did a very good job. Third is reasonable and we are looking good for the race. We have been quick all weekend and although it is closer than in Barcelona, I still feel we have a slight edge."

Sporting director Jean Todt was pleased to see a Ferrari on pole, but refused to be over-confident for tomorrow's race - the only event on the 2002 FIA Formula One World Championship Calendar™ that Schumacher has never won.

"For the fifth time this season we have managed to get one of our cars onto pole position. On the way to his second pole of the year, Rubens once again proved that he is on great form," the Frenchman said.

"For his part, Michael's race car was not as good this afternoon as in the morning, which is why he switched to the spare car for his final run. We were expecting to have to fight for places on the first two rows and so it proved.

"Tomorrow's race will be very long and tough, especially on the brakes. As usual these days, tyre performance will play a significant role in the final result and we are confident in the work done by Bridgestone."

Technical director Ross Brawn added: "This was a bit of a messy session. Rubens recovered the situation very well, doing a great job to take pole position. Michael never got a clean lap, partly because of the car.

"He was a bit unhappy with the brakes and as we could not solve the problem immediately we decided to use the spare. Unfortunately, he was still not able to get a clear lap. I think this is the first time this year we have not got it quite right for Michael. But anyway, third place isn't bad for tomorrow's race."