BMW-Williams driver Mark Webber of Australia during the first qualifying session in Monaco on Saturday. He finished third. (AFP)

Monaco: Narain Karthikeyan got first hand experience of street car racing and found the Monte Carlo Circuit a bigger challenge than he expected and finished 17th in the first qualifying on Saturday.

Karthikeyan timed 1:19.474 to finish once again behind his Jordan teammate Tiago Monteiro of Portugal (1:19.408).

McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen, meanwhile, set up a street fight with Renault’s championship leader Fernando Alonso on Saturday after seizing provisional pole position.

Karthikeyan, driving here for the first time, said the track was very difficult for him to get familiarised with in such short time. The 28-year-old said his team would concentrate on finishing the race rather than the timing, which was of no importance according to their strategy.

“I will start from the back of the grid because of an engine change. Our times and performance is of no significance here, in fact. We have chosen a different strategy than the Minardi team, the other Bridgestone equipped team for tyre choice. In fact, we have decided to use harder compounds.”

Barring mishap in Sunday’s final session, Raikkonen will start his third successive race from the top slot after lapping nearly half a second faster than his Spanish rival.

Australian Mark Webber was a surprising third for Williams, but still a massive 0.940 slower than Raikkonen, with Alonso’s Italian teammate Giancarlo Fisichella fourth on one of his favourite tracks.

With overtaking almost impossible on the winding street circuit, Ferrari's seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher faced a frustrating weekend. The German, without a win for six races, lapped two and a half seconds slower than Raikkonen and was 11th.

The session was halted for 15 minutes with three cars still to run when Ralf Schumacher’s Toyota clipped a barrier and speared across the track. The German was unhurt but oil and debris was scattered across the track.

Raikkonen, who won the last race in Spain from pole, was wearing a diamond-encrusted helmet that will be auctioned for charity after the most glamorous race on the calendar.

Italian Jarno Trulli, who won last year for Renault, went out after his Toyota teammate’s crash and was able to set only the seventh fastest time.

Canadian Jacques Villeneuve was comfortably quicker than Sauber teammate Felipe Massa for a change, while tiny Minardi had reason to celebrate after throwing off their tag as the slowest team in Formula One.

Both Austrian Patrick Friesacher and Dutch driver Christijan Albers were faster than the Toyota-powered Jordans of Karthikeyan Monteiro.

Meanwhile, McLaren’s Juan Pablo cfor causing an avoidable accident in practice, stewards said. They said in a statement after Saturday’s first qualifying that the decision could not be appealed against.

Montoya, winner in 2003 with Williams, was found to have caused a collision between Red Bull’s David Coulthard, Villeneuve and Ralf in the second and final morning practice session.

Both Coulthard, who blamed Montoya openly and Schumacher told stewards that they had left the pits when the fiery Colombian approached from the rear on a fast lap.

Montoya said in his evidence that he had slowed down because his lap had been ruined and was waiting for Villeneuve to pass, braking for that to happen. (AGENCIES)

FIRST QUALIFYING TIMINGS

1. Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren) 1:13.644; 2. Fernando Alonso (Renault) 1:14.125; 3. Mark Webber (Williams) 1:14.584; 4. Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault) 1:14.783; 5. Juan Pablo Montoya (McLaren) 1:14.858; 6. Nick Heidfeld (Williams) 1:15.128; 7. Jarno Trulli (Toyota) 1:15.189; 8. David Coulthard (Red Bull) 1:15.329; 9. Jacques Villeneuve (Sauber) 1:15.921; 10. Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) 1:16.142; 11. Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) 1:16.186; 12. Felipe Massa (Sauber) 1:16.218; 13. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Red Bull) 1:16.817; 14. Patrick Friesacher (Minardi) 1:18.574; 15. Christijan Albers (Minardi) 1:19.229; 16. Tiago Monteiro (Jordan) 1:19.408; 17. Narain Karthikeyan (Jordan) 1:19.474; 18. Ralf Schumacher (Toyota).