Ferrari relies on Rubens

The Brazilian completed a tyre assessment programme and both Schumacher and technical chief Ross Brawn believe that his data will allow them to make a good choice of Bridgestone rubber for qualifying and race.

Barrichello had mixed feelings after today's two practice sessions. "From a work point of view, I can say that it was a good day for me," said the Brazilian. "We gathered sufficient data, so now we must prepare as well as possible for qualifying and the race. From what we have seen today it will however be a very tough weekend."

Schumacher wasn't too put out by his problems. "My day was slightly handicapped by a hydraulic problem," he said, "and we will now have to investigate to see what caused it. In general, we have enough data to make a tyre choice thanks to the work done by Rubens."

Brawn explained the options: "As usual we have one that has better performance over the opening lap and is less consistent and the second where the opposite applies. So we have to weigh up the various strategic options in order to make the best choice."