Poleman Schuey predicts tough battle for victory

Schumacher's will start from the top slot for the third time in four races and is confident he can get back to his winning ways and put an end to Hakkinen's three-race winning streak in Barcelona. The triple world champion won the opening two Grands Prix of the season, but slumped from his front-running form to score just six points in the last two races.

"I haven't seen a slump in our form," he countered. "This pole means we are back where we want to be and makes me hopeful for the rest of the weekend."

Hakkinen came to within 0.085s of snatching pole on a last-gasp flying lap, but it was not enough and the Finn had to settle for second. Brazilian GP winner Coulthard starts third, with Schumacher's team mate Rubens Barrichello fourth.

"I am confident for the race because we have been working on every eventuality and things look good," said Schumacher. "But they are also very tight. I am pretty confident with our technology. The top teams have worked the most and prepared themselves better than the smaller ones."

The Barcelona race marks the return of many previously banned driver aids, including traction and launch control, but Schumacher said the electronic gizmos will not make Sunday's start simply a case of pushing a button.

"If it was that easy we would go home now and celebrate," he said. "There are 60 hard laps to go and strategy will play a big part. We tested here when Michelin was part of the test and we were pretty confident we had the edge over them."

The German also denied he had any fears that the Bridgestone tyres would wear more easily than the Michelins, after he ran just eight laps of a possible 12 during qualifying.

"We wanted to prepare everything to be in the best shape for the race," he said. "We haven't saved tyres because we are worried. We simply want to have the best performance."