MAGNY-COURS (France), July 5: Williams reinforced their credentials as Ferrari’s major Formula One rivals on Saturday when Germany’s Ralf Schumacher clinched pole position for Sunday’s French Grand Prix and teammate Juan Pablo Montoya then joined him on the front row.

Ralf, the winner at the European Grand Prix last week, took his third pole in the last four races as he clocked 1min 15.019secs with Montoya a fraction behind in 1:15.136.

World champion Michael Schumacher, chasing his third successive win here and seventh in all, had to settle for third place ahead of the two McLarens of Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard.

The result represented a return to business as usual after the drama of Friday when the Minardi of Jos Verstappen was fastest on the track as the big names struggled on a wet surface.

There was never a danger of a repeat on Saturday as the rain stayed away to be replaced by hazy sunshine.

Justin Wilson was first out after having his second best time of Friday’s qualifying stripped because of an underweight Minardi.

The Englishman had to sprint back to the pits for the spare car, however, having spun his car off the track in the warm-up and struggled to clock 1min 19.619. Britain’s Jenson Button, the slowest driver in Friday’s opening session followed in his BAR and dipped over 2.5secs beneath Wilson in 1:17.077 before Renault’s Fernando Alonso moved ahead on 1:16.087.

Then the big guns, who had run in the wet at the start of Friday’s period and finished way down the field, made their entry and Ralf Schumacher immediately took more than a second off Alonso and took over the lead.

Raikkonen, who took pole at the European Grand Prix last weekend, struggled with the handling of his McLaren and went second at the time with 1:15.533.

But then Montoya clocked 1:15.136 to join his Williams teammate on the front row before Coulthard, whose season has gone into serious decline since his win in the opening race in Australia, again struggled with the one-lap format and could only manage the fourth fastest time at that stage of 1:15.628.

That paved the way for Michael Schumacher chasing his 50th win as a Ferrari driver. He was fastest in the first sector but couldn’t keep up the pace and was third quickest with 1:15.480.

Ferrari’s hopes of upsetting the Williams pair rested with Rubens Barrichello but he had a miserable session managing just 1:19.619 which condemned him to eighth at the time behind the two Renaults.

The drivers who followed were never in a position to threaten the established authority and Jos Verstappen, who was fastest on Friday in his Minardi, couldn’t match those heroics.

Last out, his performance was on more familiar territory with a time of 1:18.709 which left him in 19th spot.

French Grand Prix grid

1st row:

1. Ralf Schumacher (GER) Williams-BMW 1:15.019, 2. Juan Pablo Montoya (COL) Williams-BMW 1:15.136

2nd row:

3. Michael Schumacher (GER) Ferrari 1:15.480, 4. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.553

3rd row:

5. David Coulthard (GBR) McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.628, 6. Jarno Trulli (ITA) Renault 1:15.967

4th row:

7. Fernando Alonso (SPA) Renault 1:16.087, 8. Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Ferrari 1:16.166

5th row:

9. Mark Webber (AUS) Jaguar-Cosworth 1:16.308, 10. Olivier Panis (FRA) Toyota 1:16.345

6th row:

11. Antonio Pizzonia (BRA) Jaguar-Cosworth 1:16.965, 12. Jacques Villeneuve (CAN) BAR-Honda 1:16.990

7th row:

13. Cristiano Da Matta (BRA) Toyota 1:17.068, 14. Jenson Button (GBR) BAR-Honda 1:17.077

8th row:

15. Nick Heidfeld (GER) Sauber-Petronas 1:17.445, 16. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (GER) Sauber-Petronas 1:17.562

9th row:

17. Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Jordan 1:18.431, 18. Ralph Firman (GBR) Jordan 1:18.514

10th row:

19. Jos Verstappen (NED) Minardi 1:18.709, 20. Justin Wilson (GBR) Minardi 1:19.619.—AFP