March 17, 2002	Sunday	Muharram 2, 1423

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SEPANG (Malaysia), March 16: Michael Schumacher beat Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya Saturday to maintain his perfect record of four successive pole positions at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Ferrari’s four times world champion remains the only driver to start on pole at Sepang, having outqualified all his rivals in every race there since the circuit’s championship debut in 1999.

Schumacher has also won two of the three races and Ferrari, who have now secured pole in the season’s first two outings with their old but much revised F2001 car, have yet to be beaten in Malaysia.

Yet the German’s time of one minute 35.266 seconds on a hot and sticky afternoon was slower than his 2001 pole record of 1:35.220.

He was still 0.231 faster than Williams’s Montoya, increasingly looking like the German’s main rival this season after finishing runner-up to Schumacher in the opening Australian race.

Ferrari and Williams also filled the second row, with Montoya’s team mate and Michael’s younger brother Ralf starting alongside Brazilian Rubens Barrichello — the man Ralf collided with dramatically in Australia.

McLaren filled the third row, with Finland’s Kimi Raikkonen a fraction ahead of team mate David Coulthard, seeking his first points of 2002 on Sunday.

Barrichello and Ralf blamed each other two weeks ago when the German, fourth quickest here, rammed into and over Barrichello’s car from a second row start after the Brazilian set pole position in Australia.

That first corner pile-up in the season-opening race culled eight of the 22 starters.

Schumacher’s pole position showed that the Bridgestone tyres used by Ferrari were a match for the Michelins of Williams and McLaren in hot as well as cool conditions.

Had Montoya managed to combine all his fastest split section times over the hour-long session into one perfect lap he would have been the fastest man on the track.

But the Colombian, in only his second appearance in Malaysia after his debut last year, failed to put it all together.

He was fastest with just over half the session gone but Schumacher pipped him 19 minutes from the end.

Briton Jenson Button was smiling after putting his Renault on the fourth row and outqualifying Italian team mate Jarno Trulli, an acknowledged qualifying ace.

Finland’s Mika Salo continued Toyota’s impressive performance with 10th place and Japan’s Takuma Sato put his Jordan successfully in 15th place after starting last in Australian when he failed to record a qualifying time.

Grid positions 1. Michael Schumacher (Germany) Ferrari one minute 35.266 seconds 2. Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia) Williams 1:35.497 3. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Ferrari 1:35.891 4. Ralf Schumacher (Germany) Williams 1:36.028 5. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) McLaren 1:36.468 6. David Coulthard (Britain) McLaren 1:36.477 7. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) Sauber 1:37.199 8. Jenson Button (Britain) Renault 1:37.245 9. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Jordan 1:37.536 10.Mika Salo (Finland) Toyota 1:37.694 11.Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Germany) Arrows 1:37.919 12.Jarno Trulli (Italy) Renault 1:37.920 13.Jacques Villeneuve (Canada) BAR 1:38.039 14.Felipe Massa (Brazil) Sauber 1:38.057 15.Takuma Sato (Japan) Jordan 1:38.141 16.Enrique Bernoldi (Brazil) Arrows 1:38.284 17.Pedro de la Rosa (Spain) Jaguar 1:38.374 18.Olivier Panis (France) BAR 1:38.390 19.Allan McNish (Britain) Toyota 1:38.959 20.Eddie Irvine (Britain) Jaguar 1:39.121 21.Mark Webber (Australia) Minardi 1:39.454 22.Alex Yoong (Malaysia) Minardi 1:40.158.—Reuters