Reigning world champion Michael Schumacher has taken pole position for tomorrow's Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit of Catalunya in Barcelona. The German dominated proceedings in both today's final practice session and in qualifying. Schumacher beat McLaren's Mika Hakkinen into second spot this afternoon by 0.085 of a second.
Hakkinen's team-mate David Coulthard, who is tied with Schumacher at the top of the current standings in the drivers' championship, was third at just over 0.4 of a second behind his German rival. Taking up the other spot on the second row of the grid is Schumacher's Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barichello.
The San Marino champion Ralf Schumacher was fifth fastest in the Williams with Jordan driver Jarno Trulli in sixth. His Jordan team-mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished in eighth spot while Eddie Irvine finished 13th fastest for Jaguar Racing.
Afterwards, Schumacher was in a buoyant mood following his excellent finish. "We are back up where we wanted to be and hopefully this is looking good for the rest of the weekend. But although things do look good it is very tight. Mika got close to me at the end - but not close enough," he said.
