Schumacher takes pole for Canadian GP

Ferrari's Michael Schumacher seized pole position for the Canadian Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday ahead ofhis younger brother…

Ferrari's Michael Schumacher seized pole position for the Canadian Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday ahead ofhis younger brother Ralf in a Williams.

It is the second time this season that the two Schumachers have shared the front row of the grid, world champion Michael also qualifying justahead of his sibling in Brazil in April.

It was the championship leader's sixth pole in eight races this season and also his sixth in Canada.

McLaren's championship challenger David Coulthard was third-fastest, pushing Italian Jarno Trulli's Jordan into fourth place in the final fewseconds.

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Coulthard is 12 points behind Schumacher in the standings.

Schumacher's blistering time of one minute 15.782 seconds was set with 12 minutes remaining and the German needed only seven laps to showthe rest who was best.

It also suggested the official race lap record would be shattered on Sunday.

When compared with Schumacher's 2000 pole of 1:18.439, the time shows how much faster cars are cornering this season, with Bridgestone andMichelin waging a tyre war and new electronic traction control software.

The hour-long session was twice stopped due to crashes.

The first came after 40 minutes when Brazilian Rubens Barrichello slammed his Ferrari sideways into a wall after riding the kerb and losing controlleaving the chicane.

The impact badly damaged the right side of the car but Barrichello was unhurt, running back to the garage in the afternoon heat to get into thespare car.

He ended up fifth-quickest.

The second was caused by German Nick Heidfeld with a minute and 30 seconds remaining.

Heidfeld also rode the kerb and hit the wall hard at the same place as Barrichello, ripping off the front right wheel before coming to rest on theother side of the track.

McLaren's former world champion Mika Hakkinen also had to switch to a spare after damaging his car's right side pod as he bounced over the highkerb with half the session gone.

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, also in a Williams, was 10th-fastest and will line up alongside ninth-quickest Canadian Jacques Villeneuve in a BARon what should be a lively fifth row.

The two men traded accusations on Friday after an incident in free practice.