Juan makes most of rev hike

Another record fell yesterday as Juan Pablo Montoya set the fastest-ever qualifying lap for a grand prix. Since Monza is the last surviving high-speed circuit on the calendar, the only surprise is that it was not Michael Schumacher who had added the 161.170mph lap to his impressive roster.

The previous benchmark - 160.937mph set by Keke Rosberg during practice for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone - had lasted for 17 years, the one piece of continuity being that the record remains with the Williams team rather than switching, as many expected, to Ferrari.

Montoya has yet to win from pole position this season and his seventh attempt today may not prove to be any more successful as Schumacher joins the Colombian on the front row of the grid. Montoya was assisted by the latest BMW engine, which reached even further into the seemingly unobtainable level of performance by being the first engine to rev at more than 19,000rpm, about 12,000rpm more than a sporting road car. That translates into 158 ignitions per second for each of the 10 cylinders, a mind-boggling figure.

'With his record figure, we have once again raised the threshold in terms of our engine performance,' said BMW Motorsport director Mario Theissen. 'For an engineer it's thrilling to see figures, which not so long ago were considered unattainable, suddenly becoming reality.'

BMW will restrict the number of revs used today in the interest of reliability during the 53-lap race. Ralf Schumacher failed to make the most of his performance advantage yesterday when he made a small error and ran the Williams-BMW across a kerb during his third run. Any hope of at least joining his team-mate on the front row was spoiled when a collision between Takuma Sato (Jordan-Honda) and Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren-Mercedes) caused qualifying to be stopped just as Schumacher was about to begin his final lap with two minutes remaining.

'I was starting a fast lap just as Raikkonen came out of the pits ahead of me,' said Sato. 'He went wide at the first corner so I thought he was giving me room. I slipstreamed up behind him and went to the right to take the line for the next corner. Kimi just moved across on me. I don't know what he thought he was doing.'

What they were doing was close to 200mph as Sato found himself edged onto the grass before hitting the right-rear wheel of the McLaren and causing both cars to spin off. Both drivers were lucky to emerge unhurt, Sato remaining fit enough to march in an uncharacteristically forceful way towards the McLaren garage and remonstrate with Ron Dennis, the team boss.

Raikkonen, meanwhile, stood calmly in the background as if nothing had happened. The Finn and his team had been misled by the need for the Bridgestone teams - of which Jordan is one - to achieve a fast time by running their tyres for more than one quick lap in succession.

'Sato was on his fifth consecutive lap,' said Raikkonen. 'My team was under the impression that he would be coming into the pits - which is what you would expect during qualifying - and advised me accordingly. When I couldn't see him in my mirrors, I believed he had slowed down and I went for the line into the corner. It's one of those things which happen in racing.' The stewards took a different view and removed his fastest time dropping the Finn from fifth to sixth.

It brought a busy qualifying session to an eventful end, the dirt flicked onto the track by the accident denying several drivers - the Schumacher brothers included - from improving their times in the closing minute. Eddie Irvine was one of the few drivers to do so, his sixth place on the grid confirming the improved performance of the Jaguar on a circuit where downforce - the car's inherent weakness - counts for little.

'I could have done even better,' said Irvine. 'I had a problem with the gearbox on my first two runs, made a mistake on the third and had traffic on the last [quickest] run. We're in good shape to score points for the second race in succession although this race is a tough one on the car.'

Irvine's grid place - two ahead of David Coulthard - was ironic considering a recent spat between the British drivers, Irvine criticising the McLaren driver's lack of success over the years. The latest round of verbal swordplay took place yesterday morning when Coulthard said Irvine was nothing but a stain on F1. Coulthard has been foolish to engage Irvine in a game that the Ulsterman rarely loses. Defeat on the track will be even more unacceptable for Coulthard this afternoon, particularly as Raikkonen has once again qualified ahead of the Scotsman.

· Asistech, suppliers of engines to Minardi, announced plans yesterday to design and build an entire car for the world championship.

How they line up

1 JP Montoya 1:20.264

2 M Schumacher 1:20.521

3 R Schumacher 1:20.542

4 R Barrichello 1:20.706

5 E Irvine 1:21.606

6 K Raikkonen 1:21.712

7 D Coulthard 1:21.803

8 P de la Rosa 1:21.960

9 J Villeneuve 1:22.126

10 M Salo 1:22.318

11 J Trulli 1:22.383

12 G Fisichella 1:22.515

13 A McNish 1:22.521

14 F Massa 1:22.565

15 N Heidfeld 1:22.601

16 O Panis 1:22.645

17 J Button 1:22.714

18 T Sato 1:23.166

19 M Webber 1:23.794

20 A Yoong 1:25.111