Saturday October 30th, 1999

Schumacher claims the pole in Japan

For the second time since returning to the Scuderia Ferrari- Marlboro team for the final two races of the season, Michael Schumacher has claimed pole position , the 23rd of his career, after a gripping battle with Mika Hakkinen's McLaren which ended up second fastest. "There are always those who try to make more out the barge board controversy than there really was. This was another opportunity to prove our speed," said Michael, who will undoubtedly play an instrumental role in the outcome of the World Championship on Sunday. " The best thing I can do for Ferrari and Eddie is to win the race," explained Schumacher. Eddie Irvine was hoping to start the race from the second row of the grid, but was pipped in the final minute by Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Irvine running his T-car for his last qualifying run following a high speed crash on his third run. "We changed the front wing of the car which made it better, but I was still struggling with a loose rear end on my car," he explained. "Frentzen getting ahead of me for the second row has compromised my chances of the title by 10 percent," estimated the Irishman.

Hakkinen shares the front row

After trading places with Michael Schumacher for the pole throughout the session, a frustrated Mika Hakkinen ended up on the wrong side of the front row following a spin just before the start of his final flying lap. " I was going slow to get a good run into my flying lap and not to catch Frentzen ahead of me, but as I came out of the chicane Alesi overtook me going backwards and I had to spin to avoid him," said Mika. "It was both our faults. He was on the end of a quick run."

David Coulthard took the third fastest time, "Which was not bad considering I have been struggling on the first section of the track all weekend," admitted the Scot.

Frentzen gets his goal

"I was aiming for a place on the second row, so I am happy, but I didn't think the Ferraris would be so strong," said Heinz-Harald Frentzen , who pulled out a dramatic last minute lap to take fourth place from Irvine. "Now I will be aiming for a place on the podium as I am still fighting Coulthard for third place in the Championship ," he added. Hill was struggling with his car, especially under braking for the chicane, and did not better twelfth place on the grid.

Qualifying engine puts Prosts well up

Thanks to their special qualifying engines , both Olivier Panis and Jarno Trulli were well up the grid, sixth and seventh position despite both admitting they had made mistakes on several of their runs.

Herbert on row four for Stewart-Ford

Johnny Herbert was hoping to qualify higher than eighth following his third place time this morning, while his team-mate Rubens Barrichello was even more disappointed with 13th place after a water leak forced him to use his spare car for two runs before returning to his race car for a final run.

In brief...

Alesi was upset with Hakkinen after he slowed and caused him to spin trying to avoid him. He was still a strong tenth quickest, team-mate Diniz unable to better 17th. Ralf Schumacher did well to salvage 9th spot for Williams after a high speed off into the tyres on his first run which forced him into his T-car. Zanardi could not better 16th quickest.

Pos  Driver        Team                 Time                  

 1.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari              1:37.470  216.584 km/h

 2.  Hakkinen      McLaren Mercedes     1:37.820   +  0.350

 3.  Coulthard     McLaren Mercedes     1:38.239   +  0.769

 4.  Frentzen      Jordan Mugen-Honda   1:38.696   +  1.226

 5.  Irvine        Ferrari              1:38.975   +  1.505

 6.  Panis         Prost Peugeot        1:39.623   +  2.153

 7.  Trulli        Prost Peugeot        1:39.644   +  2.174

 8.  Herbert       Stewart Ford         1:39.706   +  2.236

 9.  R.Schumacher  Williams Supertec    1:39.717   +  2.247

10.  Alesi         Sauber Petronas      1:39.721   +  2.251

11.  Villeneuve    BAR Supertec         1:39.732   +  2.262

12.  Hill          Jordan Mugen-Honda   1:40.140   +  2.670

13.  Barrichello   Stewart Ford         1:40.140   +  2.670

14.  Fisichella    Benetton Supertec    1:40.261   +  2.791

15.  Wurz          Benetton Supertec    1:40.303   +  2.833

16.  Zanardi       Williams Supertec    1:40.403   +  2.933

17.  Diniz         Sauber Petronas      1:40.740   +  3.270

18.  Zonta         BAR Supertec         1:40.861   +  3.391

19.  Takagi        Arrows TWR           1:41.067   +  3.597

20.  Gene          Minardi Ford         1:41.529   +  4.059

21.  de la Rosa    Arrows TWR           1:41.708   +  4.238

22.  Badoer        Minardi Ford         1:42.515   +  5.045



All Timing Unofficial