Ferrari's tyre dilemma

Schumacher's best lap, 1m14.741s, was 0.4s quicker than Michelin-shod BAR third driver Anthony Davidson, but was set on the 'super soft' Bridgestone which is an option for the four teams on the Japanese rubber. With qualifying so important in Monte Carlo and overtaking in the race almost impossible, there are obvious leanings towards a tyre that will offer qualifying performance as against race consistency but, as Brawn explained, the choice is not so clear cut.

"We have a very consistent tyre and we have a tyre that is very fast on one lap but then not so consistent," he said, "so we've got a difficult choice whether we want to be aggressive and pick the very fast tyre that is not going to be so good for the race, or to be conservative and pick the more consistent tyre. I don't know which way we are going to go yet."

For the past two seasons, Schumacher has been clearly the fastest man in the Monaco race, but has been beaten by Michelin drivers who out-qualified him and then could not be passed: David Coulthard in 2002 and Juan Pablo Montoya last year.

Brawn elaborated: "There is a reasonable time difference between the two tyres on the first lap and I think we need to look through all the data, both this year and last year.

"Last year, for example, Michelin was in trouble on the first day but by Sunday their tyres were working well. We need to understand the inconsistency in the fast tyre to see if it's going to be better on Sunday or not."

Double Dutch, perhaps, to anyone thinking that tyres are simply round and black, but the equation is complicated by changing circuit conditions that offer more grip as the weekend progresses.

"It's actually very difficult to judge because there are other cars on the circuit (laying down rubber) today and tomorrow and even during Saturday it changes," Brawn continued. "What we saw first thing this morning was that the fast tyre didn't work at all, but by the end of the session it was. So, even within one session, we saw tyre behaviour change quite a lot, which is normal for Monte Carlo.

"Basically, we have to guess what's going to happen by Sunday and if we have rain (washing the rubber off the track) in the meantime, then we go back to square one. If you have anticipated the way a tyre is going to move and then the rain comes, you lose that benefit and then you could be in big trouble."

The general consensus is that having lost out for the past two seasons, Schumacher will want to gamble on the softer tyre to take the pole and then control the race. But, as Brawn pointed out, it is not that simple.

"If it's just two cars, like we had a couple of years ago with David [Coulthard] and Michael, then you can do that. Everything we did with Michael then, McLaren responded perfectly to, which you can do with one versus one. But if you are the leading car with four or five behind you and they start going into the pits at different times, when do you come into the pits to try to defend your position? It's much more difficult."