15 August 2004	Sunday	28 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

BUDAPEST, Aug 14: World champion Michael Schumacher set himself up for a record 12th victory of the season in Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix when he claimed his 62nd career pole position here Saturday.

The Ferrari ace, who has now amassed six pole positions at the Hungaroring, set a time of one min 19.146 secs to finish 0.177 secs ahead of his Brazilian team-mate Rubens Barrichello as Ferrari painted the front row red.

Schumacher suffered one of his worst races of the season here last year but he has won 11 of the 12 races so far this year and can expect to put in a strong performance in the race itself.

"It was significantly better compared to last year," said Schumacher. "We put in a big effort in our last testing session and this was the result. It was a great effort from everyone.

"I'm not surprised how the grid has shaped up although I expected the McLaren's to be running a little faster - but we do not know their strategy.

"It is a bumpy and unpredictable track but that is what we prepare for."

Barrichello admitted he was disappointed to have missed out on pole and claimed that starting from second and on the dusty side of the grid could harm his hopes of victory.

"It was a very good lap and I was disappointed not to get pole," he said. "It was very smooth but Michael (Schumacher) did a good job to do a perfect lap.

"This is one of the worst P2's of the year because that side of the grid is very dirty. But the Ferrari has been good at the starts and I am looking forward to the race."

BAR-Honda came in best of the rest but Japanese driver Takuma Sato finished 0.547 seconds behind in third with his British team-mate Jenson Button just seven thousandths of a second behind in fourth.

"I am very happy to get onto the second row," said Sato. "I feel great to be in P3 because we struggled in Indianapolis and then, in Germany, we came back. This is another step forward."

Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who won here last year, also put himself in contention as he claimed the fifth fastest time and only strategies will tell whether he can put in a strong performance Sunday.

Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia, who was criticised for his qualifying performance on his debut for Williams at the last race, made amends when he finished sixth and out-qualified his team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya by three hundredths of a second.

Italian Giancarlo Fisichella finished eighth fastest for Sauber but his team-mate Felipe Massa, who would have been penalised 10 places for changing an engine in morning practice, chose not to run and will start from the back.

Renault driver Jarno Trulli, of Italy, finished ninth fastest, just ahead of lead McLaren driver Finn Kimi Raikkonen, who rounded out the top ten with his team-made Scot David Coulthard down in a disappointing 12th place.

Australian Mark Webber, who ended up 11th, had set the benchmark time as the fourth man out on track in his Jaguar and Coulthard failed to beat his lap of 1:20.730.

Alonso, however, upped the stakes significantly when he posted a time of 1:19.996 and Raikknoen, out next, could not get within half a second of his rival on his flying lap.

Pizzonia came close but failed to maintain his advantage after the first sector and slotted in 0.174 seconds behind. Trulli was next out but he was not helped by a few spots of rain and a small jump over a kerb.

Button moved to the front as the threat of rain stayed away but, after Montoya failed to come close, Sato moved ahead by the narrowest of margins despite running wide at the end of his second sector. But the two Ferrari drivers were still to come. Schumacher immediately moved to the front with a comfortable lap and Barrichello, despite setting a faster first sector time, could not beat him.

Grid position

1st row: Michael Schumacher (GER) Ferrari 1:19.146, 2. Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Ferrari 1:19.323

2nd row: Takuma Sato (JPN) BAR-Honda 1:19.693, Jenson Button (GBR) BAR-Honda 1:19.700

3rd row: Fernando Alonso (SPA) Renault 1:19.996, Antonio Pizzonia (BRA) Williams-BMW 1:20.170

4th row: Juan Pablo Montoya (COL) Williams-BMW 1:20.199, Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Sauber-Petronas 1:20.324

5th row: Jarno Trulli (ITA) Renault 1:20.411, Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) McLaren-Mercedes 1:20.570

6th row: Mark Webber (AUS) Jaguar-Cosworth 1:20.730, David Coulthard (GBR) McLaren-Mercedes 1:20.897

7th row: Olivier Panis (FRA) Toyota 1:21.068, Christian Klien (AUT) Jaguar-Cosworth 1:21.118

8th row: Ricardo Zonta (BRA) Toyota 1:21.135, Nick Heidfeld (GER) Jordan 1:22.180

9th row: Giorgio Pantano (ITA) Jordan 1:22.356, Zsolt Baumgartner (HUN) Minardi 1:24.329

10th row: Gianmaria Bruni (ITA) Minardi 1:24.679, Felipe Massa (BRA) Sauber-Petronas.-Agencies