Tyres stymie Ferrari domination

"There was a lot more grip with the extra soft tyre but we couldn't use it," claimed the Englishman.

Ferrari had opted to use the harder of the two available types of Bridgestone rubber, but couldn't find a set up to work with the softer, potentially quicker, variety.

"We think this may have put us at a disadvantage in qualifying," claimed Brawn, despite Schumacher taking pole by a slim margin.

He went on to explain that the team failed to make sense of the extra-soft compound tyres when working on race set up in the morning practice session, stating "we completed good race work this morning but at first settings were wrong because we had over compensated for the new tyres.

"We made a comparison between the two tyres, but we couldn't get the right balance and decided to stick with what we knew."

Rubens Barrichello may have been the worst hit by the set up problems, as the Brazilian claimed his car was difficult and set up problems had not been resolved.

"I did all I could in qualifying on a track I like a lot," said the Brazilian. "Yesterday we did some good work, but there are still some aspects of the set up to improve on as the car feels nervous."

Barrichello ended the session sixth, nearly a second behind Schumacher, who claimed his session was "almost perfect".