Toyota duo eyeing top ten in qualifying

The Toyota driver, who has been struggling for pace since the start of the season, was the quickest of the Japanese squad's drivers after posting the 10th fastest time.

Schumacher is now hoping to keep the momentum and qualify in the top ten tomorrow.

"The car definitely improved during the two sessions so I am optimistic for the weekend but the battle in the midfield is very tight so it is difficult to say exactly where we are this weekend," said Schumacher.

"Our target for tomorrow is clearly to get into Q3, I was very close to that in Indianapolis and I hope to achieve it this time."

Jarno Trulli finished four places behind his teammate, but the Italian admitted it was hard to tell how competitive Toyota will be this weekend, with the top 15 drivers covered by less than a second.

Trulli, however, is also looking to be in the top ten tomorrow.

"We will have to wait and see where we stand in terms of performance because it is hard to judge on a Friday," said Trulli.

"We had a great race in the US with my sixth place but every race is a different challenge and it depends a lot on many variables, things like the weather, how the car is suited to the circuit and so on.

"For tomorrow I aim to qualify in the top 10 again so I can fight for more points in the race."