FORUMULA ONE And the first shall be last

Under a new system, drivers will go out in reverse order today in qualifying.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Jarno Trulli's record lap put him last in today's qualifying for the U.S. Grand Prix.
"We learned a lot about the personality of our car," the Renault driver said Friday after his lap at 134.795 mph. "We did a very good lap. It was definitely a big advantage to test the tires this morning."
Trulli also was the fastest in a morning test session and in the final practice before qualifications. His lap of 1 minute, 9.566 seconds on the 13-turn, 2.605-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course made him a pole contender for Sunday's race.
Confident for weekend
"We got the best out of the car for the two-hour practice session. It shows we're very competitive," he said. "Of course, I am extremely happy with this result. Looking ahead, I am very confident for the rest of the weekend."
Under a new format adopted by Formula One this year, however, Friday's speeds determined only the qualification order for Saturday, when drivers will go out in reverse order. That means the first to make an attempt will be Jos Verstappen, who did not finish his run Friday because of an electrical problem.
"This is the second time I couldn't complete a run," Verstappen said. "I must say, the car felt pretty bad the first thing out this morning. ... I'm pretty disappointed, but I hope I have a better day tomorrow."
Only today's speeds will be used in determining the lineup for Sunday's race.
Michael Schumacher, who holds a narrow lead in the driver's standings over Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen going into the next-to-last race of the season, broke his own track record of 1:10.790 on the first attempt Friday.
Four other drivers lowered the record after that -- Montoya, Ralf Schumacher, last year's winner Rubens Barrichello and then Trulli.
"It was a bit of a gamble to know if the setup of the car was OK for qualifying, since I didn't get much running in the dry," Montoya said of the rain that hit the track during the final practice.
"I lost a bit of time in a couple of corners because I braked too early," he said.
Another heavy rain fell about midway through the session, and after a lap at 1:13.541 by Heinz-Harald Frentzen, no driver came within four seconds of the earlier times.
Nicolas Kiesa, the final qualifier, was the slowest at 1:21.973, or 114.393 mph.