Kimi adds sparkle

Michael Schumacher's pre-eminence is such that importance is now attached to his failures rather than an outstanding portfolio of success. Before yesterday's qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, the world champion had never started from pole position at Spa-Francorchamps. Even more surprising for a great driver on one the world's most challenging circuits, Schumacher had started just once from the front row since his F1 debut here in 1991.

Typically, he put the record straight with understated style yesterday even though he was made to work for his forty-eighth pole position.

Had it not been for time lost while briefly running wide, Kimi Raikkonen would have been fastest. The McLaren driver may have to be satisfied with sharing the front row with Schumacher, but he did enough to continue raising his stock as a future star. While Schumacher's laps were marked by the usual unhurried elegance, Raikkonen's explosive efforts demonstrated that the 22-year-old Finn was taking as much out of himself as his car.

The McLaren-Mercedes had, for once, been on the pace throughout the two days of practice, with the proviso that Schumacher and Ferrari were merely playing a waiting game. That seemed to be the way of it during qualifying when Raikkonen took provisional pole, only to have Schumacher find another seven-tenths of a second, a sizeable margin that would eventually cover the next five cars on the grid. Raikkonen rose to the challenge, kicking up the dust as he took his McLaren to the edge of the track, and sometimes beyond, while reducing his lap time by almost half a second.

It seemed there could be no room for improvement but, with someone of Raikkonen's youth and reflexes, you never knew. Certainly, Schumacher was taking no chances as he made a change to his car but, uncharacteristically, the Ferrari team miscalculated and Schumacher left the pits with not enough time remaining to complete his final lap.

Raikkonen, meanwhile, improved on his previous best in the first and third sectors of the lap but the fraction of a second lost in the second part would prove costly, so much so that his time through that sector on the previous lap would have been good enough to give Raikkonen pole had he repeated it. Nevertheless, he was happy to be on the front row for the first time. 'There was a chance to improve my time,' said Raikkonen. 'There was sand on the track and I also got the car a little out of shape because I was pushing very hard.'

Raikkonen has now beaten his team-mate nine times during qualifying for the 14 races so far but David Coulthard's sixth fastest lap, half a second slower than Raikkonen, was not as disappointing as it seems. With drivers being required to race the same type of tyre that they use during qualifying, Coulthard's slower pace can be explained by the Scotsman's decision to choose a harder tyre compound. Coulthard obviously hopes that the resulting shortfall in grip during a single lap of qualifying may be compensated by better overall performance during today's 44-lap race,

Rubens Barrichello having taken a similar gamble which explains the Ferrari driver's third place on the grid, six-tenths of a second slower than Schumacher.

As happens from time to time, Ferrari's recent dominance may be interrupted briefly today, a point that should be noted by Patrick Faure after the president of Renault's F1 project came out, earlier in the week, with arguably the silliest statement of the season. Faure suggested that grand prix racing needs a change of rules in order to prevent Ferrari from winning. 'We are experiencing absolute dominance by Ferrari, which lessens interest from people who are not so enthusiastic about the sport,' said Faure.

While this may be true, it is an uncomfortable fact of competition. But Faure's proposal was rich since it came from a representative of the company whose engines helped Williams to wipe the boards in 1997 and lead the way during the previous couple of seasons. The aim, surely, is to tip your cap to Ferrari's achievement and raise your game in an effort to beat the Italian team.

F1 goes in cycles and Ferrari will not remain on top forever. Suggesting a change of rules is nothing more than a pathetic admission of defeat, a notion that clearly has no place among Faure's technicians as Jarno Trulli gave Renault seventh on the grid with Jenson Button just three places further behind.