Brazilian Rubens Barrichello outpaced his Ferrari teammate Michael Schumacher in the new hot-lap qualifying format in Melbourne today ahead of the season-opening Australian Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday.
The 30-year-old Brazilian made the most of his unobstructed flying lap in the opening qualifying session to clock the fastest time.
Barrichello posted a time of one minute 26.372 seconds around the Albert Park street circuit.
He topped the one-hour session ahead of McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen (1:26.551) and BAR Honda's Jacques Villeneuve (1:26.832).
Schumacher finished in fourth in a time of 1:27.103. He said that being the first car out was a disadvantage as his car collected the surface dirt on the street circuit.
Bar Honda surprised many by having their two drivers, Jacques Villeneve and Jenson Button ranked in the top five.
McLaren also looked competitive in the opening exchanges with David Coulthard coming in sixth at 1:27.242.
But it was a disappointing outing for title contenders BMW Williams. Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya was 10th in 1:27.450 while Ralf Schumacher was down among the also-rans in 16th position in 1:28.266.
Jordan new boy Ralph Firman could only manage a time of 1:29.977 which earned him 17th position while team-mate faired marginally better to return home in 14th position (1:27.633)
Today's times do not affect the race grid positions, but will determine the running order for the second and final qualifying session tomorrow.
First qualifying times:
1.Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Ferrari one minute 26.372 seconds 2.Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) McLaren 1:26.551 3.Jacques Villeneuve (Canada) BAR 1:26.832 4.Michael Schumacher (Germany) Ferrari 1:27.103 5.Jenson Button (Britain) BAR 1:27.159 6.David Coulthard (Britain) McLaren 1:27.242 7.Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 1:27.255 8.Olivier Panis (France) Toyota 1:27.352 9.Jarno Trulli (Italy) Renault 1:27.411 10.Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia) Williams 1:27.450 11.Cristiano Da Matta (Brazil) Toyota 1:27.478 12.Nick Heidfeld (Germany) Sauber 1:27.510 13.Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Germany) Sauber 1:27.563 14.Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Jordan 1:27.633 15.Mark Webber (Australia) Jaguar 1:27.675 16.Ralf Schumacher (Germany) Williams 1:28.266 17.Ralph Firman (Britain) Jordan 1:29.977 18.Jos Verstappen (Netherlands) Minardi 1:30.053 19.Antonio Pizzonia (Brazil) Jaguar 1:30.092 20.Justin Wilson (Britain) Minardi 1:30.479