SPIELBERG (Austria), May 11: Rubens Barrichello took pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix Saturday, pushing Ferrari team mate and world champion Michael Schumacher off the front row for the first time this year.

The Brazilian secured his second pole of the season with a flying lap of one minute 08.082 seconds while Michael’s younger brother Ralf split the Ferraris with the second fastest time for Williams.

Four times world champion Michael, who has never succeeded in Austria but has won four out of five Formula One races this year, was third fastest and starts alongside Ralf’s Colombian team mate Juan Pablo Montoya.

Schumacher’s time was 0.622 of a second slower than Barrichello’s in a session interrupted for 11 minutes after Italian Jarno Trulli’s Renault blew its engine and dumped oil across the circuit with half an hour gone.

The Brazilian’s pole ended Schumacher’s run of qualifying supremacy, with the German starting three races on pole this year including the last two.

It was the Brazilian’s fifth career pole and came just two days after Ferrari extended his contract alongside Schumacher for another two seasons.

German Nick Heidfeld was fifth fastest in a Ferrari-powered Sauber and starts alongside his former team mate Kimi Raikkonen, now with McLaren.

Briton David Coulthard, who won in Austria last year from seventh place on the grid, faces an even greater task this year after qualifying his McLaren eighth.

Grid positions: 1. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Ferrari One minute and 08.082 seconds (average speed of 228.748 kph); 2. Ralf Schumacher (Germany) Williams 1:08.364; 3. Michael Schumacher (Germany) Ferrari 1:08.704; 4. Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia) Williams 1:09.118; 5. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) Sauber 1:09.129; 6. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) McLaren 1:09.154; 7. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Sauber 1:09.228; 8. David Coulthard (Britain) McLaren 1:09.335; 9. Olivier Panis (France) BAR 1:09.561; 10. Mika Salo (Finland) Toyota 1:09.661; 11. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Germany) Arrows 1:09.671; 12. Enrique Bernoldi (Brazil) Arrows 1:09.723; 13. Jenson Button (Britain) Renault 1:09.780; 14. Allan McNish (Britain) Toyota 1:09.818; 15. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Jordan 1:09.901; 16. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Renault 1:09.980; 17. Jacques Villeneuve (Canada) BAR 1:10.051; 18. Takuma Sato (Japan) Jordan 1:10.058; 19. Pedro de la Rosa (Spain) Jaguar 1:10.533; 20. Eddie Irvine (Britain) Jaguar 1:10.741; 21. Mark Webber (Australia) Minardi 1:11.388; 22. Alex Yoong (Malaysia) Minardi 1:12.336.—Reuters