Disappointed Schumacher Stays Calm

German World Champion Michael Schumacher says he is not concerned despite starting tomorrow's Monaco Grand Prix from fifth place on the grid.

For the first time in seven races this season there was no Ferrari on the first two rows of the grid, five-time champion Schumacher qualifying fifth and Brazilian Rubens Barrichello seventh.

Schumacher, chasing a record-equalling sixth Monaco victory to reclaim the championship lead, had started and won the last three races from pole.

Schumacher's performance at Monte Carlo was his worst qualifying result at the principality since he raced there for the first time in 1993. Back then he qualified in sixth position.

"Obviously, I am not happy with this result, but I am not particularly concerned about it," said the German. "I drove a lap which was error-free. One explanation could be that, over the course of the weekend, the track has picked up more rubber and the performance level of the tyres over a single lap seems to have changed.

"However, this does not necessarily mean that the situation will be the same tomorrow. In fact, I still believe we have made a good choice for the race and we will only find out tomorrow how much fuel the cars have really got on board."

Brazilian Barrichello, who was also disappointed with his performance, said the Ferrari F2003-GA was not fast enough.

"This was not our best qualifying day," admitted Barrichello. "The car was going well, but it just was not fast enough. Now we will have to see what level of fuel the cars ahead of us are running. This result has not affected my confidence as far as the race is concerned."