Ten places, five rows and over one second separate the two Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro drivers on the grid for tomorrow’s German Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher is fifth and Rubens Barrichello is fifteenth. It has been clear throughout the two days of free practice that the F2005 cannot match the pace of the front runners and this led to the two Ferrari men making different tyre choices and opting for very different strategies for tomorrow’s race. The World Champion has evidently gone for the more aggressive option, presumably running a lighter fuel load, while Rubens is hoping his more conservative approach will see him move up the order as the race develops.

Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest time in qualifying and for the first time in three races, the McLaren-Mercedes driver is penalty-free and will therefore actually start from pole position for the fourth time this season. His team-mate was less fortunate: Juan Pablo Montoya spun and starts on the back row, alongside the Jordan of Narain Karthikeyan, after the Indian driver aborted his lap, having made a couple of mistakes.

Joining Raikkonen on the front row is Jenson Button in the BAR-Honda. The second row is an all-Renault affair with series leader Fernando Alonso ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella. On row three, Michael has the Williams-BMW of Mark Webber for company.

If one accepts the fact that the F2005 overall package is not competitive enough to win this race on merit then perhaps the weather might help Michael and Rubens put on a good show for the huge crowd expected at the Hockenheimring tomorrow. There is a chance of rain in the afternoon which would obviously add a welcome edge of uncertainty to proceedings.

Jean Todt : “Our two drivers will be quite a way apart on the starting grid, which is the result of their having made different choices. It is clear that fifth and fifteenth places in qualifying are not what Ferrari aspires to. That also goes for Michael and to a greater extent for Rubens. But this is our current situation and all we can do is accept it and continue working as hard as possible with our friends at Bridgestone to try and return to a much more competitive level.
 

"It will be a long hard race tomorrow during which the different strategies, the cars’ reliability and the wear rate of the tyres will be the key factors in deciding the outcome.”

Michael Schumacher : “I had a clean lap and I think I got the most out of the car, which behaved well. I don’t think we ran with a particularly light fuel load compared with the other cars. It is clear that the two top teams are quicker than us, as can be seen from our performance in free practice. As for the race, maybe I can battle with Button, but aiming for the top is unrealistic. At least I am starting from the clean side of the grid and I hope to put on a good show for all the fans here.”

Rubens Barrichello : “We had two options for this session: to go really quickly in qualifying and try for a good grid position, or to think more in terms of the race. I chose the second of those options, partly because this morning I did not feel the car was perfectly balanced and also I was bearing in mind that tomorrow could be very tough on the tyres. Of course, we will now have to wait until tomorrow afternoon to see if I have made the right decision.”

Ross Brawn : “At the moment, the main task we face is trying to catch up with the front runners in performance terms. We have new tyre technology here and we had our two drivers on different types of tyre this afternoon. The tyre Michael used proved to be much stronger than Rubens’ choice. Now, we will have to see how the race develops in terms of those tyre choices. Rubens might be able to move up the order if his tyres prove to be more consistent. Michael got the most out of his package, but it is still not quick enough. The weather forecast for tomorrow is mixed and that might give us the chance to do better than our grid positions would suggest.”

Qualifying session: Michael Schumacher: 5th 1.15.006 3 laps chassis 245; Rubens Barrichello: 15th 1.16.230 3 laps chassis 246; Temperatures: air 21/22° C, track 29/30° C