Michael Schumacher will start tomorrow's San Marino from pole position after beating off a strong challenge from Rubens Barrichello in a session which saw the DHL Jordan Honda team a lowly 14th and 15th fastest.  Giancarlo Fisichella's ambitions to qualify well for his home Grand Prix were ruined when his race car suffered a hydraulic pressure failure at the beginning of his second qualifying run, forcing him into the T-car.

The Italian had been superb in the wet conditions on Friday and early this morning, but in the warm and dry conditions of qualifying he recognised it would be difficult to secure a top place on the grid.  His first qualifying run was ruined when he made a mistake in the third sector, losing considerable time, and when he started his second run the hydraulic failure caused him to pull off the track at Tosa corner.  He returned to use the T-car, completing one 4-lap and one 3-lap run.

"It was very disappointing because I had hoped to qualify a lot better,"said Giancarlo. "I think I was at the limit of the performance of the T-car, and with my race car I am sure I would have been higher up, but we'll never know.  I just need to concentrate on the race, which I want to finish and if possible score points."

Team mate Takuma Sato did three quaifying runs, two 3-lap runs and one 4-lap, and for the first time this season outqualified his experienced team mate.  His performance was spectacular to watch, throwing the EJ12 over the kerbs and clearly pushing as hard as he dared.

"The qualifying position is naturally disappointing but I must say that I feel satisfied with my performanc as I honestly feel I did all we could do today," said Sato.  "The fact is we need to push hard to improve our competitiveness."

The qualifying times saw the first three teams come in two by two, the Ferraris followed by the Williams pair, then the McLarens with Kimi Raikkonen outqualifying David Coulthard.  Nick Heidfeld and Jarno Trulli gave Sauber and Renault reason to smile by qualifying on the fourth row while Button's Renault and Jacques Villeneuve's BAR Honda completed the top ten. This is only the second time in 21 races that BAR Honda have outqualified Jordan Honda.  Villeneuve's team mate Oliver Panis will start 12th behind Felipe Massa's Sauber.

It was a very bad day for Jaguar, Eddie Irvine and Pedro de la Rosa 18th and 21st repectively, with de la Rosa starting last on the grid tomorrow by virtue of the fact that Alex Yoong failed to qualify his Minardi under the 107% rule.