Indy will be a compromise, says Schumacher

"The combination of the speedway banking and very fast straight, along with the tight infield section, will be a new one when it comes to setting up the cars," said Schumacher. "The last corner and main straight looks like being well over 200mph, and the infield more like Monaco."

With no pre-race testing at Indianapolis, Formula 1 teams have chosen a variety of circuits to carry out their pre-Indy set-up testing, including Estoril, Silverstone and Mugello. Ferrari chose the latter, in a test scheduled to end today (Friday).

"It will be tricky finding the best compromise," said Schumacher, who trails McLaren's Mika Hakkinen by just two points after winning last weekend's Italian Grand Prix. "Straight-line speed will be vital for overtaking at the end of the straight, but the cars will need a lot of downforce through the infield."

F1 tyre-supplier Bridgestone has warned teams against running their tyres below a recommended pressure for Indy. Bridgestone wants teams to run with high pressures to counteract the high loads which will be exerted on tyres through the final, banked corner of the track. But this will make the cars nervous in the twisty infield section.

"If they [the teams] want to reduce the pressure," said Bridgestone technical manager Yoshihiko Ichikawa, "then they have to be very careful. We will recommend a pressure, but we are not the people who make final decisions about pressures. If they do it [run low pressures] it is their responsibility.

A tyre failure at Indianapolis would be a massive public relations disaster for Bridgestone, coming off the back of several fatal road accidents involving its US-branded Firestone tyres.