Don't count us out, says Bridgestone

Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello (fifth) and Michael Schumacher (eighth) were its only representatives in the top 10 in qualifying, but Bridgestone is adamant that it can be more competitive on raceday after setting good times on longer runs in the morning's free practice.

"Looking at this morning's practice results we expect the Bridgestone-shod cars will be competitive in the race," said Suganuma. "We know this circuit can be difficult for overtaking but we're looking at race performance and do believe our cars will have a competitive chance. We now need to check all the data and wear rates so we can give our teams the best advice in order to maximise their performance for Sunday."

BAR's Jacques Villeneuve, who will start a lowly 16th tomorrow, is also confident his rubber will come into its own. He said: "It should be better for us in the race. The tyres will take five laps or so to clean up and start working but after that the car should be quick."