Schumacher

MONZA, Italy -- World champion Michael Schumacher won the pole position for Sunday's Italian Grand Prix, his first pole in four months.

His Ferrari covered the 3.6-mile Monza circuit in 1 minute, 20.963 seconds Saturday. He had not finished first in qualifying since the Austrian GP in May.

"I think it was the right time to be back," said the relieved Schumacher. "It's a great relief now to have both cars back in the first three.

"The nature of the sport is that sometimes you have your ups and sometimes you have your downs."

Schumacher was eighth in the previous Grand Prix in Hungary three weeks ago. His poor streak has cut his lead in the standings to one point.

The German's two main rivals for the title finished just behind. Juan Pablo Montoya of Colombia, in a BMW-Williams, was second fastest in 1:21.014, and Finland's Kimi Raikkonen was fourth in a McLaren-Mercedes in 1:21.466. Schumacher's Ferrari teammate, Rubens Barrichello of Brazil, was third in 1:22.242.

Schumacher leads Montoya by one point and Raikkonen by two.

Brother Ralf Schumacher pulled out of the race Saturday because he needs more time to recuperate from a crash during testing last week.

Spaniard Marc Gene, stepping into Ralf Schumacher's Williams, qualified fifth for his first race since 2000.

"I think that we're in a good position for tomorrow and it's going to be quite interesting," said Montoya, whose team lead Ferrari by eight points in the constructors' standings.

"I think that having Marc here is good for the championship. He's done a really good job. Tomorrow we've got to do the best we can to try to keep that lead."

Michelin's dominance in the tire war was less marked than it had been in Hungary, with six of the top 10 cars. Both the BARs, using the same Bridgestone tyres as Ferrari, qualified in the top half of the field.

Sunday's race follows a bitter controversy over Michelin's front tires, with the French company redesigning them to ensure none of their drivers were disqualified after an official clarification of the rules.

Information from The Associated Press and Reuters was used in this report.