Ferrari feel the force

Colombian's incredible lap pips Barrichello to Silverstone pole, reports Maurice Hamilton.

Apart from the estimated £2.5 million he receives from Williams-BMW, Juan Pablo Montoya ought to be paid a handsome public relations fee by Bernie Ecclestone for a mere 79 seconds of effort yesterday afternoon. During the time it took to complete the fastest lap of Silverstone, Montoya demonstrated everything that is thrilling about driving a F1 car at the limit.

Better than that, he upset predictions by leaping ahead of the Ferraris during the closing seconds of qualifying. If observers were left slack-jawed by the speed and audacity of the Colombian, then no one was more surprised than Montoya even though he had just taken his fourth pole position in succession.

'I really don't know where this great result came from,' said Montoya. 'I was not expecting to get on the first row at all. We made quite a few changes to the car throughout qualifying and obviously it paid off.'

The gap may have been only three hundredths of a second - less time than it takes to say Michael Schumacher - but it was enough to shove the leader of the championship onto the second row of the grid after Schumacher had been beaten by his team-mate. Rubens Barrichello may have been ahead of Schumacher for the third time this season but the Brazilian's look of mild disappointment said everything about losing pole position at one of his favourite circuits.

'Of course I would like to have been on pole,' said Barrichello. 'But I have no complaints and it's good to be on the front row. My third [of four] run was the best, a fantastic lap which I thought was good enough.'

Whatever the final outcome of his fight with Montoya, Barrichello had once again demonstrated the enjoyment he gains from not only driving the latest Ferrari but also setting it up, a technique that has yet to be perfected by Schumacher on this particular car. The world champion changed the front and rear wings on separate occasions, a sight as unusual as the German being beaten during qualifying for the third time. Schumacher's clipped answers in the press conference indicated that he has not experienced this sort of in-house defeat since joining Ferrari in 1996. It was left to Ferrari's technical director, Ross Brawn, to sum up qualifying and prospects for the race.

'You never think you have it in the bag until the last lap' said Brawn. 'Montoya's time was surprising, although we can take comfort from the fact we were doing similar times throughout the session while he really had to put in an incredible lap.'

Brawn said Ferrari hoped to continue the trend of recent races where Ferrari have come good when it matters most. Certainly, Schumacher can never be discounted although all of the leading teams - including McLaren-Mercedes after Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard qualified fifth and sixth - go into today's race with large question marks over the performance of their tyres.

Rain throughout Friday's practice ruled out valuable running time to establish tyre performance in the dry. This could have serious consequences for Michelin and Montoya since their tyres may not have been adequately prepared. On the other hand, Ferrari's struggle yesterday - a comparative term in view of their dominance - looked like being due to their Bridgestone tyres tailing off in performance at the end of a fast lap, a problem that may not affect them so severely in the race.

Barrichello had a problem with his tyres on his last lap but the first run had been aborted for a more dramatic reason. The Brazillian had to back off when he charged into a dense cloud of smoke created by Jenson Button's Renault blowing up just as the Englishman began his first lap. Button was then forced to use a back-up car that had neither the latest aerodynamic package nor the best Renault engine, the absence of which contributed to twelfth place.

Button's disappointment was nothing compared to the frustration at Jaguar as Eddie Irvine claimed nineteenth place and Pedro de la Rosa was lucky to scrape onto the grid. 'It looks bad,' said Irvine. 'But the latest aero package is actually a big improvement. It's just that our competitors have also improved.'

In the event of the frustration continuing for both British drivers this afternoon, Button is better off because he will be part of the F1 brigade enjoying themselves in the more relaxed environment at the Goodwood Festival of Speed next weekend. In the meantime, and with the greatest respect to Ferrari, F1 looks to Montoya to bring his broad smile with him during an overdue visit to the top of the podium this afternoon.

· You've read the piece, now have your say. Email your comments, as sharp or as stupid as you like, to the sport.editor@guardianunlimited.co.uk.