Raikkonen claims provisional pole
IMOLA, Italy -- Finn Kimi Raikkonen put McLaren on provisional pole for Sunday's San Marino Grand Prix after first qualifying at Imola.
He lapped Imola's Enzo and Dino Ferrari circuit in one minute 19.88 seconds, just three thousandths of a second quicker than the Renault of championship leader Fernando Alonso.
Ferrari's seven times world champion Michael Schumacher, with just two points to his credit in three races won by Renault, was third in 1:20.260.
Australian Mark Webber was fourth in a Williams.
Briton Jenson Button, who started on pole at Imola last year and finished second in his best race yet, was fifth fastest for Honda-powered BAR.
The starting grid will be decided by Sunday's final qualifying with Alonso still a strong candidate for his third pole position in succession.
Raikkonen was pleased to finish ahead of the field but admitted: "Fernando almost caught me right at the end, but now I am looking forward to the race. I am very happy with the performance."
Alonso, who has won the last two races and leads the drivers' standings from Toyota's Jarno Trulli, said he is not surprised that the other teams have caught up with Renault.
"I always knew that the opposition would come closer. Imola has not always been good for us, so we are extremely happy. We are fighting for the pole position, we are still there.
"I realised that it was very close and I did the maximum on the last sector to try to catch him, but it was just not enough."
Ferrari's decision to put in a lot of tests after disappointing in the new car at the last Grand Prix in Bahrain paid off as Schumacher showed the field that he is not willing to give up his title without a challenge.
"I am happy with the performance. I had to start early after going out in Bahrain, so overall I am pretty happy," he said.
"After this poor start to the season, we are all very motivated to do better now and I think the result we can see.
"We will be there tomorrow. It will be tight and tough, but we will be there."
Ferrari agree engines deal
Meanwhile, Ferrari will supply Formula One newcomers Red Bull Racing with engines for 2006 and 2007, the world champions have confirmed.
The deal is likely to see the Swiss Sauber team, who have been powered by Ferrari engines for the last nine years, switch to BMW while leaving privately-owned Cosworth with just struggling Minardi.
"We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Red Bull Racing to supply them with our F1 engines," said Ferrari team boss Jean Todt.
"This collaboration fits in with the fact that, since 1991, with a break from 1993 to 1996, Ferrari has supplied its F1 engines to other teams."
Red Bull, owned by Austrian energy drink billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz, are using Cosworth engines this year as a legacy left behind when they bought the Jaguar team from Ford last November.
Ford also owned Cosworth until last year when Champ Car team boss Kevin Kalkhoven bought the company to ensure an engine supply for the U.S series.
"Ferrari is synonymous with success in Formula One," said Red Bull team boss Christian Horner. "This is an enormous boost for the team and underlines our commitment to compete at the forefront of Formula One."
