Saturday March 25th, 2000

World champion Mika Hakkinen claimed the 23rd pole position of his career on Saturday as his McLaren team dominated an extraordinary qualifying session for Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix.

Finn Hakkinen, who started the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in pole position two weeks ago, took control of the contest on his first run after only 14 minutes at the Interlagos circuit.

After three bizarre delays for falling advertising signs and drizzle, he finished ahead of his British McLaren team mate David Coulthard before a third incident -- when the signs fell across the path of Frenchman Jean Alesi's car -- halted the session again.

Alesi could have been seriously injured as he was driving at more than 250 kph when the hoarding fell across the front of his Prost car, damaging the front wing as he took an avoiding swerve.

After this, heavy rain fell and turned the final 15 minutes of the session into, effectively, little more than a wet weather practice session.

Hakkinen finished with a best time of 1:14.111, which was enough to leave him nearly two-tenths of a second ahead of Coulthard.

Double world champion Michael Schumacher was third fastest in his Ferrari ahead of Brazilian team mate Rubens Barrichello.

McLaren top Ferrari in chaotic qualifying

Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard took the front row of the grid for Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix ahead of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello on the second row after a chaotic qualifying session ruined by red flag periods and rain in the final 15 minutes. Hakkinen bettered his morning fastest lap to claim the pole by just 0,17 secs ahead of his team- mate. Ironically, Scuderia-Ferrari Marlboro's chances of taking a place on the front row of the grid were spoiled by a series of three red flag stoppages in the final half hour when panels from the Marlboro advertising signs hung above the pit straight began falling onto the track. Three times the session had to be stopped and by the time the problem was solved for the final 15 minutes of running, rain had started to fall and finished off any hopes of quicker times.

Hakkinen's 23 pole tally position now equals that of Michael Schumacher.

Schumacher down but not out

"It was frustrating not to have the chance to go for pole. When you look at the different sector times it shows it would have been very close. That's the encouraging thing. I had planned some small changes to the car which would have been quicker and my best run was spoiled by the red flag," said Michael Schumacher. He had to change cars during the session. "I slid wide on my second run and the high kerbs here damaged the underside of the monocoque which meant that I had to use my spare car," he explained.

Rubens Barrichello had no problems with his car, but like Schumacher was frustrated by the red flags which cost him his best lap and he ended up fourth fastest, half a second off the pole time.

Fisichella a delighted fifth

Giancarlo Fisichella was delighted with his fifth place on the grid, "The car is consistent and the handling good, so I am looking forward to the race," he said. Alexander Wurz was not as happy with his 13th place of the grid which he put down to traffic in his way on all his quick runs.

Irvine shares row three

Eddie Irvine was upbeat about his sixth place on the grid , the car ran reliably and he was happy with the grip and balance from his Jaguar chassis. Johnny Herbert was not as enthusiastic back in 17th place. He could not get his car to handle on the bumps, but like Herbert was happier with the improving reliability of the cars.

Disappointing day for Jordan

Seventh and 12th position on the grid was a disappointing result for the Jordan team who were expecting better. Frentzen lost time on his first run when slowed by Diniz. He went for a "safety" lap on his second run at the request of Eddie Jordan while the rain and red flag periods prevented him from setting a quicker lap as he had planned for the end of the session. Jarno Trulli was back in 12th spot after going off into a gravel trap on his first run. He took the T-car, but had gearbox selection problems with that.

In brief...

Ricardo Zonta bettered his teammate Jacques Villeneuve after improving the handling of his BAR. A trip across the grass and traffic on two more runs cost Villeneuve his chances of bettering 10th place, although he was confident the BAR would be good in the race after a trouble free weekend.

Jensen Button was also ahead of his teammate. Ralf Schumacher tried different spring rates in the session, but could not find a better chassis set-up. Button described his best lap as, "Nothing special. More of a learning lap," he said.

Both Arrows drivers reckoned they could have been higher up, but were caught out by the rain and red flags. "We didn't get much right to-day," said de la Rosa.

Pos  Driver         Team                 Time                  
 1.  Hakkinen       McLaren Mercedes     1:14.111  209.313 Km/h
 2.  Coulthard      McLaren Mercedes     1:14.285   +  0.174
 3.  M.Schumacher   Ferrari              1:14.508   +  0.397
 4.  Barrichello    Ferrari              1:14.636   +  0.525
 5.  Fisichella     Benetton Playlife    1:15.375   +  1.264
 6.  Irvine         Jaguar Cosworth      1:15.425   +  1.314
 7.  Frentzen       Jordan Mugen-Honda   1:15.455   +  1.344
 8.  Zonta          BAR Honda            1:15.484   +  1.373
 9.  Button         Williams BMW         1:15.490   +  1.379
10.  Villeneuve     BAR Honda            1:15.515   +  1.404
11.  R.Schumacher   Williams BMW         1:15.561   +  1.450
12.  Trulli         Jordan Mugen-Honda   1:15.627   +  1.516
13.  Wurz           Benetton Playlife    1:15.664   +  1.553
14.  Verstappen     Arrows Supertec      1:15.704   +  1.593
15.  Alesi          Prost Peugeot        1:15.715   +  1.604
16.  de la Rosa     Arrows Supertec      1:16.002   +  1.891
17.  Herbert        Jaguar Cosworth      1:16.250   +  2.139
18.  Gene           Minardi Fondmetal    1:16.380   +  2.269
19.  Heidfeld       Prost Peugeot        1:17.112   +  3.001
20.  Diniz          Sauber Petronas      1:17.178   +  3.067
21.  Mazzacane      Minardi Fondmetal    1:17.512   +  3.401
22.  Salo           Sauber Petronas      1:18.703   +  4.592

All timing unofficial