Ferrari Drivers Unsure about New Rules

Michael Schumacher and his Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello said they were still uncertain about Formula One's new rules despite qualifying first and second for Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Schumacher said he was concerned that the team's mechanics could not work on the cars between the end of qualifying and the start of the race.

The five-times World Champion, who earned his 51st pole position with a time of 1:27.173, said he was worried that teams were prevented from changing tyres or fuel loads even if the weather changed.

"There could be a (safety) issue with weather conditions suddenly changing from dry to wet weather," he said. "It feels odd because now we have all the time in the world but we can't do anything on the car, so it is strange."

Barrichello finished less than a quarter of a second behind his teammate despite running into some debris and having to pass Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren during his solo flying lap.

He was not held up by Raikkonen as the Finn was driving off the racing line but Barrichello said the surprise of seeing him cost him valuable fractions of a second and may have ruined his chance of snatching pole from Schumacher.

"I could have done a better time. Maybe we need to look at the rules concerning this type of situation," the Brazilian said.

Schumacher said he would reserve his judgement on the new qualifying regulations until after the race but Barrichello said he was not impressed.

"From a driving point of view I think this new qualifying is less exciting for the drivers because you cannot push as hard as in the past...but I think the new system might be more exciting for the spectators," he said.

The rules, which were partly introduced to stop Ferrari's domination of the sport, seemed to have little impact to the natural order of things with the two famous red cars once again filling the front row.

Schumacher was almost a second clear of third-placed Juan Pablo Montoya's Williams but Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn said the mystery of which fuel loads the teams were carrying meant nothing could be taken for granted.

"I am a bit surprised at the size of the gap between us and the competition," Brawn said. "But of course it could be the case that we had taken on less fuel than them."