Ralf wants higher race temperature

The German, who qualified third behind his older brother and the McLaren-Mercedes of Mika Hakkinen, admitted that his Williams-BMW team is now banking on the track temperatures increasing for race day and the performace of the Michelin tyres improving as more rubber is laid down during the 73-lap event.

Rivals Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard both tipped Williams-BMW to be the pace-setters, because the super-fast banked final turn on the 2.706-mile circuit favours the powerful BMW V10. But Williams has not been in the hunt for pole since practice started on Friday. The Michelin tyres work best on a hot track, and temperatures have struggled to escape the mid-teens all weekend.

"We were a bit lucky that [the second Ferrari of] Rubens Barrichello and Hakkinen didn't get the optimum out of their cars, but apart from that we have had a difficult weekend," said Ralf Schumacher after qualifying. "We struggle a bit on the tyre side, but hope that will improve as the track and weather improve for the race.

"Our grid position is partly due to the low temperatures and partly because we have always struggled on low grip circuits. It has got better over the season, but it is still not as good as it should be. We didn't expect to be where we are now because of our problems.

"We have struggled all weekend to get a decent balance, but we worked through it and got up to here now - but it's going to be a difficult race. We've had circuits where the car is perfect but here it is a bit more difficult."

Ralf Schumacher has already won three races this season, but says he wants to round out the season with another. His team mate Juan Pablo Montoya, who qualified fourth, scored his maiden Formula 1 win in the Italian GP at Monza two weeks ago.