Montoya confident in his equipment

The British team has enjoyed a resurgence in the last two races, after its new car struggled for pace at the start of the season, but the long, fast corners that make up much of the German track were expected to provide a tough test of the car's competitiveness.

"I am reasonably satisfied with my qualifying lap today, despite losing a bit of time in the first corner," said Montoya. "We seem to be able to pick up the pace here, and this is what counts. We are aiming to be ahead of Ferrari and McLaren and I am confident we've got the equipment to do so."

Team-mate Ralf Schumacher was fourth fastest, and reckons that his car still needs a bit of work, especially after watching Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest time. "My flying lap was more or less all right and the car had quite a good balance," he said. "I didn't really get the last chicane right, which cost me some fractions.

"However I believe we are facing a demanding weekend here as McLaren seem to be very strong on this track. We still have a lot of work to do in order to improve the car's set-up for tomorrow and the race."