Formula One: F1 to Change Tack Not Track

Rubens Barrichello began the promise of a dream result for Brazilian race fans when the local hero claimed pole position for today's Brazilian Grand Prix.

Adding further South American colour and interest, Juan Pablo Montoya will join his good friend on the front row of the grid as the Colombian attempts to score his first win this season while driving his last race for Williams-BMW.

The good news for Barrichello fans was extended even further when his team-mate and most serious threat, Michael Schumacher, lost 10 places on the grid after crashing during free practice yesterday morning.

Schumacher was forced to take over his spare car and, since this amounted to a change of engine, the world champion will move from eighth to eighteenth on the grid. He lost control on one of the many bumps that characterise this track, the Ferrari spinning and crashing heavily into a tyre barrier. Schumacher was unhurt, but there was a brief flash fire at the rear of the car as well as severe bodywork damage and broken suspension. The engine must also have been affected because the team did not consider swapping the V10 to the spare car in order to avoid the penalty. It leaves the way clear for Barrichello to achieve a result he has dreamed of.

Barrichello's finishing record here is appalling. The man who was born and brought up within earshot of the track has only finished once in 11 attempts - and that was fourth place on his second grand prix in 1994.

Last year, Barrichello used his local knowledge to perfect effect by steering round the puddles and rivers of water brought on by a brief deluge. On a day when Schumacher was among the many to spin off, Barrichello was salvaging Ferrari's honour by leading - until his car developed a 'fuel problem' and he coasted to a halt. The fuel problem turned out to be a lack of it in his tank, a miscalculation by the team having left him short.

Barrichello's devastation was shared by one of the noisiest crowds to attend any grand prix. For once, the samba bands fell silent and the spectators trooped home.

Spirits have been revived, particularly after Barrichello's recent wins in Italy and China. If he wins today, the joyful pandemonium will negate any complaints about this rather tatty circuit and reinforce the need for such theatres of motor sport to remain on the F1 calendar.

The F1 teams will have covered more than 1,100 racing laps in 2004 when today's Grand Prix brings the season to an end but, as ever, the final political mile is proving the most difficult to negotiate.

F1 bosses, have been locked in discussion for two days as they try to thrash out details of the sport's future, a task that has been made easier for once by all the teams - except Ferrari - agreeing on a package of reforms to cut costs and, in the process, perhaps save the British Grand Prix.

The nine teams have agreed to limit a grand-prix weekend to two days with testing taking place on the Friday. This would be in place of the endless round of testing between races: a limit of 10 days' testing being proposed for the entire season. The teams are also keen to have a standard race tyre, thus reducing the need for testing while cutting speeds and slashing costs.

In return, the teams say they would be able to afford run 19 races, which would let in the French and British Grands Prix, listed as provisional on the 2005 calendar.

The six hours of meetings this weekend - reportedly the most amicable and productive for quite some time - have been brought into focus because, as one team owner said: 'Some of the bigger teams, who have been self-centred and blasé, have suddenly realised they will be in serious financial trouble if we don't take steps to cut costs.'