Ferrari 'surprised' by lock-out

Michael Schumacher took his third successive pole position of 2004, and was backed up by second placed Rubens Barrichello.

"I am a bit surprised by our result," said Brawn. "We adopted a very conservative approach to this weekend, in view of the rule demanding we use just one engine for the duration of the grand prix weekend. On top of that was the added unknown of the sand, which made us even more cautious in terms of the way we used the engines. When evaluating this result, we have to consider we don't know what strategies our closest rivals have adopted.

"So far, the Bridgestone tyres have worked pretty well, but given this is a brand new track and that it has already changed a lot since the start of the weekend, we must bear in mind that we have no data which would allow us to make predictions about the race. But it is the same for everyone and will probably make the race even more interesting."

Sporting director Jean Todt was predictably delighted with the outcome: "It was a great qualifying session, with our drivers ensuring that the first ever Bahrain Grand Prix will have an all-red front row. It was a very closely contested session, right up to the very end. Michael and Rubens put on a great show and all the team did an excellent job in what, despite the excellent facilities, are still very difficult conditions.

"For tomorrow's race, the heat will be a key factor, making life tough for drivers, cars, engines and chassis. As is always the case therefore, reliability will be the crucial ingredient, along with a the drivers' ability to tackle a race run in very difficult conditions."