Shanghai shock as Schumacher spins
 |  Barrichello will share the front row with Finn Kimi Raikkonen |
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| | FACT BOX | Grid Positions
1st row: 1. Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Ferrari 1:34.012, 2. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) McLaren-Mercedes 1:34.178
2nd row: 3. Jenson Button (GBR) BAR-Honda 1:34.295, 4. Felipe Massa (BRA) Sauber-Petronas 1:34.759
3rd row: 5. Ralf Schumacher (GER) Williams-BMW 1:34.891, 6. Fernando Alonso (SPA) Renault 1:34.917
4th row: 7. Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Sauber-Petronas 1:34.951, 8. Olivier Panis (FRA) Toyota 1:34.975
5th row: 9. David Coulthard (GBR) McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.029, 10.Juan Pablo Montoya (COL) Williams-BMW 1:35.245
6th row: 11. Mark Webber (AUS) Jaguar-Cosworth 1:35.286, 12. Jacques Villeneuve (CAN) Renault 1:35.384
7th row: 13. Ricardo Zonta (BRA) Toyota 1:35.410, 14. Nick Heidfeld (GER) Jordan 1:36.507
8th row: 15. Christian Klien (AUT) Jaguar-Cosworth 1:36.535, 16. Timo Glock (GER) Jordan 1:37.140
9th row: 17. Zsolt Baumgartner (HUN) Minardi 1:40.240, 18. Michael Schumacher (GER) Ferrari no time
10th row: 19.Takuma Sato (JPN) BAR-Honda 1:34.993, 20. Gianmaria Bruni (ITA) Minardi no time.
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SHANGHAI, China -- Rubens Barrichello gave Ferrari pole position for Sunday's inaugural Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, but his team mate, world champion Michael Schumacher, skidded to the back of the grid.
Barrichello, winner of the last Italian Grand Prix, secured his third pole of the season with a lap of one minute 34.012 seconds.
Schumacher, winner of 12 of the season's 15 races, was last to run in Saturday's decisive session and spun off at the first corner on his fast lap.
He lost control in ideal conditions as he pushed too hard to try and reel in his teammate.
The rare error saw the German world champion's car slide away from him and career backwards onto the gravel. He was unhurt and drove back to the pit lane.
He will start in the second to last row in Sunday's 56-lap race in 18th place. Takuma Sato, who had qualified ninth, was demoted 10 places after his engine failed on Friday.
It will be the German's worst starting position as a Ferrari driver. In 1998 he had the pole position for the final race of the season, the Japanese GP, but stalled on the grid and was put to the back of the pack.
Barrichello will share the front row with Finland's Kimi Raikkonen, winner of this year's Belgian Grand Prix for McLaren.
Briton Jenson Button for BAR and Brazilian Felipe Massa, in a Sauber, filled the second row.
Schumacher has already won his seventh world championship while Ferrari clinched their sixth successive constructors' title last month.
Worst performance
It was the worst qualifying performance of the German's 210-race career and he will have to start at the rear with the struggling Minardis and fight his way through the field -- not an impossible task.
"If you know me, I never give up," said Schumacher, who has achieved 12 wins in the first 13 races of the season.
"I'm Michael Schumacher. I don't need to test my driving ability, but it's certainly interesting to do what I have to do from where I am now."
Schumacher showed what he could do in Italy two weeks ago, after spinning on the first lap and rejoining at the rear. He roared back to anchor the victorious Barrichello in an extraordinary home one-two finish at Monza.
The German also won for Benetton in Belgium in 1995 from 16th place on the starting grid.
"When he (Schumacher) spun, it was a shock," said Barrichello, who should mathematically clinch second place in the championship in Shanghai.
"Obviously he's going to have a tougher race but we've seen this year that Fisichella or Massa have started from the back and had really good races where they've finished in the top six.
"I guess the nature of the circuit will provide some overtaking and I think Michael still can be up there. Whether he can win the race or not is probably a little bit more difficult, but I wouldn't discount him."
Raikkonen, overall runner-up to Schumacher last season, was just 0.166 of a second off Barrichello's pace and sounded confident of doing well in a key race for all the major carmakers as they seek to impress a rapidly growing market.
"We have been pretty strong the whole weekend," he said. "I just made a small mistake on the last corner but I'm very confident for the race."
BAR and Renault are fighting for second place in a championship already won by Ferrari, with the Honda-powered team three points ahead.
Button's performance raised BAR's spirits after an engine failure in practice cost Japanese team mate Takuma Sato 10 places on the grid. Sato was ninth fastest but will be battling it out with Schumacher at the start.
Germany's Ralf Schumacher made a strong comeback after three months out following his big crash at the U.S. Grand Prix, qualifying his Williams on the third row alongside Renault's Fernando Alonso.
Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, who will start his first race in almost a year as a replacement for Italian Jarno Trulli at Renault, qualified 12th.
