MONTE CARLO McLaren's pole setter David Coulthard, hoping to win two races in a row for the first time in his career and take the title lead, was quickest in Sunday's warmup for the Monaco Grand Prix.

The Scot ripped around the tight street circuit, with thousands of flag-waving Formula One fans cheering from grandstands and perched on the rocky slopes overlooking the harbor, in one minute 20.944 seconds.

His Finnish teammate, two times world champion Mika Hakkinen, was second fastest in 1:21.017 as drivers used the half hour session to fine-tune their cars for the tough race ahead, Reuters reported.

Michael Schumacher, the championship leader who is chasing his fifth Monaco triumph, powered his Ferrari through the sun-bathed streets in a third fastest time of 1:21.650.

He was nearly a second faster than the second Ferrari driven by Brazilian Rubens Barrichello.

The only real incident of the session was provided by Brazilian Tarso Marques, whose Minardi slammed into the guardrail some four minutes from the end of the session.

Coulthard seized pole on Saturday with a dramatic flying lap at the end of qualifying just when it looked as if Schumacher had secured his sixth in seven races.

World champion Schumacher is four points ahead of his main title rival Coulthard in the championship and will be fighting to be first off the grid in a race start that has raised concerns about the electronic 'launch control' systems.

Four cars stalled on the grid while using the systems in the last race in Austria and a repeat of that would be a nightmare for organizers, given Monaco's narrow track and lack of runoff for drivers to avoid blocked cars.