MONACO GRID POSITIONS 1 F Alonso 2 M Webber 3 K Raikkonen 4 JP Montoya 5 R Barrichello 6 J Trulli 7 D Coulthard 8 N Rosberg 9 G Fisichella 10 R Schumacher

Michael Schumacher has been stripped of pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix and will have to start from the back of the grid in Sunday's race.

The Ferrari driver controversially beat Fernando Alonso to pole position in qualifying on Saturday.

But stewards said that he had deliberately stopped his car on the track after spinning, stopping rivals from setting a faster time.

Alonso will now start on pole ahead of Australian Mark Webber in a Williams.

The verdict means that Ferrari will now have both cars at the back of the grid after Schumacher's Brazilian team-mate Felipe Massa crashed out in the first part of qualifying.

The error at the Rascasse hairpin had hampered Alonso, among others, and led to accusations Schumacher had stopped on the track to prevent anyone from challenging his pole position.

Monaco's tight and twisting circuit is almost impossible to overtake on, giving the driver on pole position a huge advantage.

The way Schumacher's Ferrari ran wide looked very unusual, and he then stalled the engine while making an apparently ham-fisted attempt to reverse it out of the barrier.

Renault team boss Flavio Briatore said: "It looked deliberate, and everybody is saying it, not just me. It wasn't like he hit the barriers - he just parked the car. I can't believe it.

"I don't know why he needed to do it - that's the way Ferrari manage.

"I think he is taking everyone for a ride.

"Someone who was seven times a world champion wants us to believe that he didn't do it on purpose - it's fairyland.

"It's really astonishing what he did. Incredible."

But Schumacher said he had made an error.

"It was a touch too much going into that final corner. I didn't know I was fastest, so I was really pushing on that lap.

"I came into the bend hard, locked up the front and went wide. I checked with the (pit) guys what position I was and they said P1.

"At the start I hadn't stalled the car but it was impossible to reverse because of the traffic behind me.

I am not going to give my true opinion on the matter here - it is not the right place or time Fernando Alonso

"There were cars coming behind me, I knew it, but I couldn't see them well enough to judge when to pull out. Then the engine stalled.

"Whatever you do in certain moments, your enemies believe one thing and the people who support you believe another," he added.

"Some people may not believe it, but unfortunately that's the world we live in.

"I don't care what other teams do. I know Flavio well enough," said Schumacher, who drove for the Italian when he was at Benetton from 1991-95.

Schumacher's punishment has lifted McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen to third, with team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya fourth, courtesy of another penalty, imposed on Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella.

Fisichella set the fifth fastest time but he was punished after the session for holding up David Coulthard. He lost his fastest three laps and will start ninth.

Rubens Barrichello is fifth with Toyota's Jarno Trulli up to sixth but Jenson Button registered his worst qualifying display of the season and will start 13th for Honda.

Monaco Grand Prix grid positions

1. Fernando Alonso (Sp) Renault
2. Mark Webber (Aus) Williams-Cosworth
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren
4. Juan Pablo Montoya (Col) McLaren
5. Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda
6. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota
7. David Coulthard (GB) RedBull - Ferrari
8. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams - Cosworth
9. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault
10. Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota
11. Christian Klien (Aut) RedBull - Ferrari
12. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Toro Rosso - Cosworth
13. Jenson Button (GB) Honda
14. Jacques Villeneuve (Can) BMW Sauber
15. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber
16. Christijan Albers (Ned) MF1 - Toyota
17. Tiago Monteiro (Por) MF1 - Toyota
18. Scott Speed (US) Toro Rosso - Cosworth
19. Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri - Honda
20. Franck Montagny (Fra) Super Aguri - Honda
21. Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari
22. Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari