Montoya

MONACO -- Juan Pablo Montoya won the pole position Saturday at the Monaco Grand Prix in his Williams BMW, beating out David Coulthard on the final lap.

The Colombian weaved through the winding streets of picturesque and hilly Monte Carlo in 1 minute, 16.676 seconds.

His team in the pit broke into wild cheers as Montoya, in Formula One's most prestigious race, finished 0.392 seconds ahead of Coulthard in his McLaren Mercedes.

''We did everything right for the race. But when you think you will win, something happens,'' said Montoya, who crashed on the second lap in his Monaco debut last year.

Michael Schumacher, trying to match Aryton Senna's record of five wins at Monaco, will start right behind Montoya on the second row after a third-place time of 1:17.118 in his series-leading Ferrari.

The German said he caught something in his eye during his second lap of qualifying. In the pit, he was seen trying to wash it out with eye drops.

''I still haven't gotten it out. It's still irritating me,'' Schumacher said.

Schumacher said he was worried about the performance of the two Williams cars. Besides Montoya's pole performance, Michael's younger brother Ralf finished fourth in 1:17.274.

The four-time German world champion has won five of six races this season, igniting complaints that Ferrari success is making Formula One boring.

	Juan Pablo Montoya maneuvered the streets of Monaco to grab the pole on Saturday.

Montoya's pole position is crucial on the hairpin curves of Monte Carlo, where passing is nearly impossible.

Still, the Williams driver, who said he didn't like the technically demanding street racing, didn't want to make any predictions about winning his second Formula One race.

Montoya would also be adding another of racing's most famous events to his collection after taking the Indy 500 two years ago.

''You always want to win, but when the time comes, the time comes,'' he said.

Schumacher, chasing Juan Fangio's record of five drivers' world titles, has 54 points, with Montoya at 27 and Ralf Schumacher at 23.

Montoya used a clear path around the course to seize the pole with qualifying time running out. Drivers spent the entire hour blocking each other on the tight curves.

''Having it clear helped me a lot. I could have had a lap like that earlier, it was just a matter of putting it together,'' Montoya said.

Coulthard and McLaren-Mercedes have struggled this year after being Ferrari's biggest rival in recent years. But the British driver wasn't too upset about having the pole snatched away at the last minute.

''There's something about this course our cars like,'' Coulthard said. ''We have our best chance to win this season.''