Saturday April 8th, 2000

By Timothy Collings

Defending drivers world champion Mika Hakkinen said he felt under serious pressure after grabbing pole position in dramatic style on Saturday for Sunday's San Marino Grand Prix.

The Finn, in his McLaren-Mercedes-Benz, has yet to score a point this season and is in desperate need of a victory, or a strong points-scoring finish, to stop his great rival German Michael Schumacher from opening up a lead of more than 20 points in this year's title race.

"It's been a really hard time for all of us in the team," he said, after his flying fastest lap in the dying second of the session enabled him to outpace Schumacher's Ferrari and regain pole.

"I know I have to do something in this race so I want to win, or at least get some points," he added.

Double world champion Schumacher had taken the initiative with less than a minute of the session remaining, leaving Hakkinen with one final chance to improve again. He took his chance with aplomb.

"That was so exciting," said Hakkinen, stirred into a rare show of emotion. "I was right on the limit. In fact, I was a little over the limit at times and that can be a little dangerous on this circuit because of the way you have to use the kerbs.

"They are very different here to other tracks and it is a particular thing. You have to ride them all and if you get it right you get a good lap. So, you have to go on the limit as much as you can."

While Hakkinen celebrated his 24th career pole with a sigh of relief -- he now has one more pole position to his credit than Schumacher -- the German said he felt deeply frustrated and angry at himself for failing to deliver pole for the massed Ferrari fans at the team's home circuit.

"I am very upset and angry with myself," he said. "I made a stupid mistake on my third run and it cost me time and I think it cost me a chance of pole position which I wanted for the team, who have worked so hard, and for the tifosi.

Long and Tough

"I was four-tenths up, but I made a mistake coming out of Rivazza and that was it. I get some pleasure from being on the front row, but it is not what I wanted. But tomorrow's race is a long and tough one and I am still in a good position."

After two successive victories in Australia and Brazil, Schumacher is seeking to complete a hat-trick and open up a commanding lead against Hakkinen and for Ferrari against McLaren.

The Woking-based Anglo-German outfit have yet to score a point this year, following Briton David Coulthard's disqualification at the Brazilian Grand Prix and his subsequent failed appeal against that decision.

The Briton ended up third on Saturday and has to share the second row of the grid with Schumacher's Ferrari team mate Rubens Barrichello, the first Brazilian to race for team.

"I didn't get the lap I wanted," said Coulthard. "But third on the grid is not too bad and I hope to get the kind of result I need to get the season started."

Hakkinen outpaced Schumacher by just nine-hundredths of a second with a performance that had everyone at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari on the edge of their seats.

Hakkinen clocked a best lap time of one minute and 24.714 seconds to secure his third successive pole of the season and the 24th of his career.

Notably, Hakkinen's time was 1.6 seconds inside his pole time last year -- clear proof that this year's cars are faster than their predecessors.

Schumacher, seeking his third successive season-opening victory for Ferrari, led the times briefly early in the session and then brought the huge Italian crowd to life with a dramatic bid to grab pole himself on his late lap.

But his efforts were in vain even though he did end the McLaren stranglehold on the front row of the grid for the first time this year.

Ralf Schumacher, in a Williams, was fifth fastest and fellow-German Heinz-Harald Frentzen, in a Jordan Mugen-Honda, was sixth after the session which was run in clear, dry conditions under a perfect blue sky.