Ferrari's Barrichello takes Melbourne pole

Rubens Barrichello pushed world champion Michael Schumacher aside and handed Ferrari the first pole position of the 2002 Formula One season in Australia on Saturday.

The Brazilian blasted around Melbourne's Albert Park in one minute 25.843 seconds, the fastest lap so far recorded at the street circuit, before rain set in and made any improvement impossible.

Barrichello has promised to be "a stone in Michael's shoe" this season but he had luck and a downpour to thank as much as anything as he elbowed team mate Schumacher out of the limelight by just five thousandths of a second.

It was the Brazilian's first pole in 30 races and his fourth in almost a decade in Formula One.

"I love the rain, fourth time with bad weather, which for me is good weather," said Barrichello.

"It's ideal, given the circumstances," said Schumacher of Ferrari's front row sweep. "We have had a very good weekend...all in all, there is no reason to be unhappy.

"It's going to be an entertaining race tomorrow."

Ferrari, despite using an updated version of last year's F2001, were in a class of their own again. Michael's younger brother Ralf was on the second row in a Williams, ahead of McLaren's David Coulthard.

Young Finn Kimi Raikkonen, replacing compatriot Mika Hakkinen at McLaren, shared the third row with Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya in a Williams as the top three teams from last season again dominated the front rows.

"I haven't driven the new car actually so I know the old car more than Michael probably," grinned Barrichello. "So it's good to be racing that car here.

JAGUAR NIGHTMARE

"The car feels quite good and we improved the car to my liking since the very last race of the season."

Jaguar's nightmare, after major problems in pre-season testing, came true when both Northern Irishman Eddie Irvine and Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa were beaten by the Minardi of Australian newcomer Mark Webber.

Irvine was 19th, de la Rosa 20th.

"We are not happy, things went wrong from the beginning," said de la Rosa. "I am disappointed, I am not a happy man but tomorrow is a long race."

Toyota made an acceptable debut, qualifying 14th with Finnish veteran Mika Salo and 16th with Briton Allan McNish.

It was Barrichello's first pole since the British Grand Prix at rain-hit Silverstone in 2000, and a relief for a man who has had to accept second place status at his team.

The rain proved once again to be the Brazilian's best friend, the clouds bursting with about half of the one hour official qualifying session completed.

By then Barrichello had knocked Schumacher off the top and obliterated the German's record 2001 pole of 1:26.892.

Before the big boys came out to battle, there was early drama when the session was halted after just four minutes.

Japanese rookie Takuma Sato came to a standstill on the circuit with a gear selection problem and parked up on a corner, and then Coulthard and Jacques Villeneuve almost collided when the Canadian BAR driver moved over on the Scot.

Sato's failure left him in a nightmare predicament after he had crashed his race car in the morning free practice and he had no spare to fall back on.

A red flag halting the session after the Coulthard incident allowed Jordan to recuperate the car but the rain dashed Sato's hopes and he failed to register a qualifying time.