MELBOURNE, March 2: Rubens Barrichello pushed world champion Michael Schumacher aside and handed Ferrari the first pole position of the 2002 Formula One season in Australia Saturday.

The Brazilian blasted around Melbourne’s Albert Park in one minute 25.843 seconds, the fastest lap so far recorded at the street circuit, before the rain set in and made any quicker times impossible.

Barrichello had promised to be “a stone in Michael’s shoe” this season and he made good on that declaration by elbowing team mate Schumacher out of the limelight by just five thousandths of a second for a surprise pole.

It was the Brazilian’s first in 30 races and his fourth in almost a decade in Formula One.

Ferrari, despite using an updated version of last year’s F2001, were in a class of their own again. Michael’s younger brother Ralf was on the second row in a Williams, ahead of McLaren’s David Coulthard.

Young Finn Kimi Raikkonen, replacing compatriot Mika Hakkinen at McLaren, shared the third row with Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya in a Williams as the top three teams from last season again dominated the front rows.

Jaguar’s nightmare, after major problems in pre-season testing, came true when both Northern Irishman Eddie Irvine and Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa were beaten by the Minardi of Australian newcomer Mark Webber.

Irvine was 19th, de la Rosa 20th.

Toyota made an acceptable grand prix debut, qualifying 14th with Finnish veteran Mika Salo and 16th with Scottish newcomer Allan McNish.

It was Barrichello’s first pole since the British Grand Prix at rain-hit Silverstone in 2000, and a relief for a man who has had to accept second-place status at his team.

The rain proved once again to be the Brazilian’s best friend, the clouds bursting with about half of the one hour official qualifying session completed.

By then Barrichello had knocked Schumacher off the top with a time that obliterated the German’s record 2001 pole time of 1:26.892.

Before the big boys came out to battle for pole, there was early drama when the session was halted after just four minutes.

Japanese rookie Takuma Sato had come to a standstill on the circuit and parked up on a corner, and then Coulthard and Jacques Villeneuve almost collided.

Sato’s Jordan team said he had suffered gear selection problems but his car failure left him in a nightmare predicament after he had crashed his race car in the morning free practice.

With no spare, he risked failing to qualify until a red flag following the Coulthard incident allowed Jordan to recuperate the car. Even then, the rain dashed his hopes of a respectable grid position.

Sato sat out most of the qualifying session and then went out with 13 minutes to go to try and get on the grid.

But the conditions gave him no chance and he failed to register a qualifying time.

Australian Formula One Grand Prix starting grid

1st row: 1. Rubens Barrichello, Ferrari 1min 25.843sec (average speed 222.392 kph), 2. Michael Schumacher, Ferrari 1:25.848

2nd row: 3. Ralf Schumacher, Williams-BMW 1:26.279, 4. David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.446

3rd row: 5. Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.161, 6. Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1:27.249

4th row: 7. Jarno Trulli, Renault 1:27.710, 8. Giancarlo Fisichella, Jordan-Honda 1:27.869

5th row: 9. Felipe Massa, Sauber-Petronas 1:27.972, 10. Nick Heidfeld, Sauber-Petronas 1:28.232

6th row: 11. Jenson Button, Renault 1:28.361, 12. Olivier Panis, BAR-Honda 1:28.381

7th row: 13. Jacques Villeneuve, BAR-Honda 1:28.657, 14. Mika Salo. Toyota 1:29.205

8th row: 15. Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Arrows 1:29.474, 16. Allan McNish, Toyota 1:29.636

9th row: 17. Enrique Bernoldi, Arrows 1:29.738, 18. Mark Webber, Minardi 1:30.086

10th row: 19. Eddie Irvine, Jaguar 1:30.113, 20. Pedro de la Rosa, Jaguar 1:30.192

11th row: 21. Alex Yoong, Minardi 1:31.504

Did not qualify (107 percent rule): Takuma Sato. Jordan-Honda 1:53.351.—Reuters/AFP