Barrichello takes pole in Sao Paulo

Sao Paulo:

Rubens Barrichello drove into pole position on Saturday at the Brazilian Grand Prix, becoming the first Brazilian to take first place on the grid since the legendary Ayrton Senna took it in 1994 just months before his untimely death. The 30-year-old local hero, a 'Paulista' like Senna, powered his Ferrari around the 4.309-km Interlagos circuit in one minute, 13.807 seconds. He beat Scot David Coulthard's McLaren, winner of the season-opener in Australia, by less than one-tenth of a second. He was followed by McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, the Malaysian Grand Prix winner. Jarno Trulli's Renault was fifth. Ralf Schumacher came sixth while his brother and five-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher, Barrichello's Ferrari team-mate, came in a disappointing seventh - his worst qualifying performance since 1998 when he was ninth on the grid at the German Grand Prix. (AP)