Nuerburgring, June 29: Finland's Kimi Raikkonen has claimed his first career pole position and shattered local hopes of an all-Schumacher front row at the European Grand Prix. Kimi Raikkonen seized his first Formula One pole position at the European Grand Prix on Saturday (June 28) to pile pressure on Ferrari's Michael Schumacher. The McLaren driver, three points behind overall leader Schumacher halfway through an unpredictable season, pipped his rival by a mere 0.032 of a second on the German's home territory. Last on track in the decisive single lap qualifying session, the 23-year-old 'Iceman' kept his cool to clock a lap of one minute 31.523 seconds and shatter local hopes of an all-Schumacher front row. Five-times world champion Schumacher's younger brother Ralf, on pole for the last two races, was third fastest for BMW-powered Williams to share the second row with Colombian team mate Juan Pablo Montoya.


The two Williams drivers started in the front row in Canada and finished second and third then. Their laps on Saturday were almost identical, the same first split time and same top speeds but divided by 0.146 at the finish.


Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello and Renault's Jarno Trulli filled the third row. By a remarkable coincidence, Raikkonen's McLaren predecessor Mika Hakkinen took the first pole of his Formula One career in a McLaren at the Nuerburgring in 1997.


The new rules introduced this season make Saturday qualifying a strategic puzzle, with cars running on different fuel levels. But Raikkonen, who led the championship until Canada two weeks ago, was also fastest in Friday qualifying and sounded quietly confident of doing well in a home race for McLaren's engine partner Mercedes.


"My big thanks go the team and to the Mercedes people who pushed really hard to win the home race for the team and of course it's nice to get the first pole because one of these two guys are always taking by a little margin and when you get this over, it's better than nothing," said the Finn, who has three times started from the back of the field after errors in Saturday qualifying.


Raikkonen, who had twice started on the front row this year, had to dig deep into his memory to recall his last pole position. The answer was in 2000, when he dominated British Formula Renault.


Before his run, it looked like the Schumacher brothers would repeat their 2001 front row at a circuit that is close to their boyhood home at Kerpen.


Michael was questioning if second was reallly the best position from which to start the race.


"We will find out tomorrow, we're not sure we should be happy about second position -- not prefered third position because usually it's a little bit more dusty on the inside of the circuit but we will find out tomorrow," said the world champion whose Ferrari uses Bridgestones while McLaren and Williams are on Michelin.


Grid positions for Sunday's Formula One European Grand Prix after Saturday's final qualifying session: 1. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) McLaren one minute 31.523 seconds 2. Michael Schumacher (Germany) Ferrari 1:31.555 3. Ralf Schumacher (Germany) Williams 1:31.619 4. Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia) Williams 1:31.765 5. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Ferrari 1:31.780 6. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Renault 1:31.976 7. Olivier Panis (France) Toyota 1.32.350 8. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 1:32.424 9. David Coulthard (Britain) McLaren 1:32.742 10. Cristiano da Matta (Brazil) Toyota 1:32.949 11. Mark Webber (Australia) Jaguar 1:33.066 12. Jenson Button (Britain) BAR 1:33.395 13. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Jordan 1:33.553 14. Ralph Firman (Britain) Jordan 1:33.827 15. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Germany) Sauber 1:34.000 16. Antonio Pizzonia (Brazil) Jaguar 1:34.159 17. Jacques Villeneuve (Canada) BAR 1:34.596 18. Jos Verstappen (Netherlands) Minardi 1:36.318 19. Justin Wilson (Britain) Minardi 1:36.485 20. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) Sauber no time


Bureau Report