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Juan Pablo Montoya on pole position

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Khatir Soltani
MONTOYA: FOURTH POLE

Juan-Pablo Montoya upset Ferrari's party at Silverstone with a sensational last minute dash to secure his fourth successive pole position at Silverstone this afternoon.

The Colombian, who went about his business solidly but not spectacularly throughout the session, put together a stunning lap in the final 60 seconds to eclipse the Ferraris who had earlier looked to be a certainty for pole position. BMW-Williams put together a very strong package and the Michelin tyres were up to the job. All it took was a capable pilot and Montoya was the ideal man, recording improvements throughout the 60 minute stint and finishing with scorching sealer of 1:18.998 which was three hundredths quicker than Rubens Barrichello in the number two Ferrari.

Barrichello in the final quarter of the session had beaten Michael Schumacher by just one hundredth of a second and that was good enough until the end with Schumacher unable to improve his time even though he was part of the showdown in the closing stages. The four times World Champion when going for his sealer, made a mistake.

In fourth place was Ralf Schumacher who like his team-mate benefited from a strong package but was not on the same level of performance as the South American, finishing with a time three tenths slower.

The McLarens continued their good weekend run and the good technical progress of the MP4/17. Kimi Raikkonen again outgunned his team-mate David Coulthard with fifth, while the Scotsman was sixth.

Renault's Jarno Trulli was in seventh position, the Italian showing good form and beating his team-mate Jenson Button who managed only 12th after a troublesome session in which he lost an engine and had to qualify in the spare car.

Mika Salo who was suffering a stomach upset on Friday qualified his Toyota in eighth, which is the best he has managed so far this year. It was also a season equalling PB for BAR's Jacques Villeneuve who continued his practice form to secure ninth. The Canadian will be hoping to score the team's first points of the year tomorrow.

Nick Heidfeld was again impressive in his Sauber to take 10th, ahead of team-mate Felipe Massa, and Button.

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Khatir Soltani
Khatir Soltani
Automotive expert
  • Over 8 years experience as a car reviewer
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