Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello dramatically scorched to pole position at Silverstone today. The Brazilian finished just over 0.1secs ahead of Renault's Jarno Trulli with Kimi Raikkonen, who trails Barrichello's team-mate Michael Schumacher by eighth points, third quickest.
Schumacher paid for sliding too wide at one corner as he could only manage the fifth quickest time, 0.6secs adrift, having been fractions ahead of Barrichello - whose last pole was in Brazil earlier this year - at the first sector time-check.
Germany's Ralf Schumacher, winner of the past two races to move within 11 points of his brother, was unable to make it four poles in the last five attempts as he finished back in fourth place for Williams-BMW.
Team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya was over a second off the pace in seventh place as the Grove-based outfit's fears that Silverstone would be a wake-up call after their recent triumphs seemed to be coming true.
Toyota's Cristiano da Matta was a fine sixth fastest with Fernando Alonso eighth in the other Renault.
It was another disheartening day for the Jordan team and drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Ralph Firman. Never on the pace, Fisichella finished 15th with Firman two places back.
1. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Ferrari 1 minutes 21.209 seconds
2. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Renault 1:21.381
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) McLaren 1:21.695
4. Ralf Schumacher (Germany) Williams 1:21.727
5. Michael Schumacher (Germany) Ferrari 1:21.867
6. Cristiano da Matta (Brazil) Toyota 1:22.081
7. Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia) Williams 1:22.214
8. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 1:22.404
9. Jacques Villeneuve (Canada) BAR 1:22.591
10. Antonio Pizzonia (Brazil) Jaguar 1:22.634
11. Mark Webber (Australia) Jaguar 1:22.647
12. David Coulthard (Britain) McLaren 1:22.811
13. Olivier Panis (France) Toyota 1:23.042
14. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Germany) Sauber 1:23.187
15.
Giancarlo Fisichella(Italy) Jordan 1:23.574
16. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) Sauber 1:23.844
17.
Ralph Firman(Britain/Ireland) Jordan 1:24.385
18. Justin Wilson (Britain) Minardi 1:25.468
19. Jos Verstappen (Netherlands) Minardi 1:25.759
20. Jenson Button (Britain) BAR no time