Schumacher Confident Despite Slow Start

World Champion Michael Schumacher has dismissed suggestions that his Ferrari team struggled in today's practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix.

The Championship leader finished down in third place with his Bridgestone-shod F2002, being outpaced by Monaco Grand Prix winner David Coulthard and Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, both drivers using tyres from French manufacturer Michelin.

Schumacher, who damaged his car in the first session after touching the wall, was unable to match his brother Ralf's pace last year at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit, finishing in a distant second place. However, the German is not expecting a repeat of last year's result.

"We have not done much work on car set-up for qualifying, but we have plenty of time to do that tomorrow morning," said the German at the end of the day. "The gap to the quickest today is pretty small.

"Last year, we were struggling a bit at this track, but I don't think that is the case now. I brushed the wall this morning because I was just going too fast and ran wide."

Schumacher's teammate Rubens Barrichello posted the eighth quickest time of the day, over a second slower than Coulthard's time. But like his teammate, the Brazilian stayed calm and is confident of a strong qualifying on Saturday.

"Overall the car was going pretty well," he said. "I just have a few problems with the brakes in the second hour and have not yet found the right settings for them. Apart from that, I am not worried as the car is quite well balanced. The car works well; we just have to find the right settings now.

"It's true that pole position is far less important here than in Monaco, but that does not mean we will not be working to be in front tomorrow afternoon."