Schumacher slides to another Sepang pole.

Michael Schumacher's hold over the Malaysian Grand Prix extended into qualifying for the 2002 event, as he maintained his unbeaten record in the session for a fourth straight year.

The pole was also Ferrari's 150th in grands prix, but the Scuderia's champion had to ward off challenges from both Williams drivers before he could lay claim to top spot. As had been the case in 2001, Schumacher found himself scrapping earnestly with one of the blue-and-white machines but, unlike twelve months ago, his foe this time around was Juan Montoya, and not brother Ralf.

The battle for pole was not fully joined until almost halfway through the one-hour session - when Schumacher deigned to enter the arena - but had already seen eight others lay claim to top spot.

The first, rather predictably, were the two Minardi drivers, who defied the early moments of the session to appease their many local sponsors. Alex Yoong held sway on home ground for a full four minutes, before team-mate Mark Webber did likewise.

The spell was broken, however, when Takuma Sato tasted his first sample of pole in the Jordan. Again, the Japanese pilot held on for four minutes, before times began to tumble with the arrival of the big boys.

Renault's Jarno Trulli took over on 16 minutes, followed, three minutes later, by the first of the big six, Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn, who had topped the times on Friday, lasted two minutes before team-mate David Coulthard deposed him, but the Scot fared even worse, as Williams twins Montoya and Schumacher Jr followed him across the line to successively snatch pole.

The name Schumacher remained at the top of the leaderboard for a full five minutes before being replaced. By Schumacher.

Having seen what the conditions and track had to offer - and what his rivals offered as a challenge - the world champion ventured out and, with his first flying lap, sliced a tenth from the target. If Ferrari had truly been sandbagging in final free practice, it had worked, as the ageless F2001 appeared to have more in reserve.

Montoya became the first double pole-sitter when he retaliated to Schumacher's mark with one a full two-tenths quicker, but the Ferrari man was not to be denied his rightful place at the front of the Sepang grid. Winding up the wick sufficiently to provoke a slide mid-lap, Schumacher duly ripped the pole from his adversary's grasp with a time of 1min 35.266secs, four-tenths under the Colombian, and out of reach of his next best effort.

All this happened with quarter of the session remaining, but conditions slowly precluded any further attempt on top spot, with personal improvements being measured in fractions, and few advances up the grid being gained.

With Schumacher and Montoya locking out row one, the next battle of interest was for that behind them - and it featured the main combatants from Melbourne. Initially, things seemed to be going Ralf Schumacher's way, as Rubens Barrichello struggled to get his Ferrari nailed sufficiently for a competitive lap, but the Brazilian pulled out all the stops on his final flier to turn Schumacher's pole threat into a distant memory.

As a result of the squabbling between red and white, McLaren was pushed back to row three. Even here, however, there was enough rivalry to keep the average punter interested. Denied a practice run on qualifying set-up, David Coulthard found it hard to contain his young upstart team-mate, and it was Raikkonen who duly snatched fifth place, on the cleaner side of the grid, by the slimmest of margins.

With the top six occupying their expected rows, the battle to be best of the rest centred on Renault and Sauber, although both Jordan and Toyota had something to say.

Surprisingly, perhaps, given the stout defence of his record, Jarno Trulli was Mnot at the forefront of the Regie's assault. Instead, Jenson Button, bouncing back from a dismal 2001, continued his strong morning showing by taking eighth place, one adrift of regular division two leader, Nick Heidfeld.

Trulli, by contrast, was well back in twelfth, some seven-tenths off his English team-mate. That left the Italian behind not only Heidfeld and Button, but also Giancarlo Fisichella, who again wrung the neck of the Jordan, and Mika Salo, who continued Toyota's impressive arrival in F1.

Also ahead of the second Renault was Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who had got little running in the two morning sessions, and appeared to have been hobbled again when his Arrows began spluttering out on track. The German kept his composure, however, and bounced back with eleventh place towards the end of the hour, pipping Trulli by 0.001secs.

A worse predicament than Frentzen's faced Olivier Panis, however. Already struggling with the wayward handling of BAR's latest chassis, the Frenchman barely made it back to the pits on his first out lap as something mechanical threatened to strand him out on the track. Once back, he then had to wait for his car to be readied for action, and only re-emerged with twelve minutes remaining. A solid banker lap was good enough for 18th, but that was as far as Panis went.

Team-mate Jacques Villeneuve enjoyed slightly better fortunes, overcoming a spin to set 13th best time, sandwiching him between Trulli and rookie Felipe Massa. The Brazilian was another in the wars, as he suffered what appeared to be a sheared wheel on his first run. Fortunately, he was not at speed when the incident happened, and a quick bike ride back to the pits soon had him installed in the spare car.

Allan McNish was also out in the T-car, his Toyota having shown the marques first sign of engine weakness when it blew smoke on the run to the turn 15 hairpin. This was enough warning for McNish to dive for the pits, and a spare car set up for him, but the Scot could not get what he wanted from his new mount, and will start only 19th.

Even so, this leaves him ahead of Eddie Irvine and the two Minardis. The former continued to wrestle with a car that steadfastly refuses to make big improvements - despite Pedro de la Rosa's 17th spot - while the latter enjoyed their moment of glory while it lasted.

Michael Schumacher's moment appears to be ongoing, however, and he will be looking to make it a hat-trick of wins at Sepang to go with his four successes in qualifying. The German will maintain that he could have won in '99 too, had it not been for Irvine's championship challenge, but will settle for another ten points on Sunday - before the introduction of the F2002.