Schumacher fastest in Ferrari one-two

Michael Schumacher seized pole position for the US Grand Prix yesterday with Ferrari sweeping the front row to end world champion Fernando Alonso's run of five successive poles.

Schumacher, celebrating his third pole of the season and 67th of his career, was joined by Brazilian team-mate Felipe Massa as the Italian team locked out their rivals.

Renault's championship leader Alonso could qualify only fifth.

Four times a winner at Indiana-polis since Formula One returned to America in 2000, Schumacher was dominant on a sizzling day at the Brickyard - his pole lap more than six tenths of a second faster than Massa's.

Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella was third, more than a second slower than the seven times world champion. Honda's Rubens Barrichello, a winner at the Brickyard in 2002 while with Ferrari, completed the second row.

"I'm very surprised about the amount... to be a second ahead is a lot," said Schumacher, in desperate need of a win to cut Alonso's 25-point lead at the half-way point in the season.

"It shows that when the package works we can be extremely strong.

"We have been suffering a little bit in the last races but on this circuit everything just matches perfectly. It all means we are quick, so it wouldn't be a surprise if we have a good chance to win."

Fisichella, a winner in Malaysia in March, agreed that the 37-year-old German looked strong.

"We are really surprised about Ferrari's pace... they have been really quick and competitive," he said.

Canada's Jacques Villeneuve, a former Indy 500 winner and 1997 world champion, was sixth fastest for BMW Sauber and starts alongside Alonso.

The 24-year-old Spaniard has yet to reach the finish in four starts at the famed 'Brickyard' and he struggled with an understeering problem.

"It was still difficult to drive and costing me time," said Alonso, chasing a fifth successive win today.

Back at the Brickyard for the first time since last year's fiasco, when Michelin tyre failures led to just six cars starting the race, the drivers received an enthusiastic welcome from a large crowd that just 12 months ago was showering the track with bottles and debris.

Jarno Trulli, who put his Toyota on the pole for last year's race, was unable to come close to matching that effort qualifying 20th to put him on the back of row 10.

McLaren's Juan Pablo Montoya, another former Indy 500 winner, also had a disappointing qualifying with the 11th best time. Team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was ninth.