Pretenders challenge Michael

Schumacher has won every race he has finished this year, with only his controversial exit from the Monaco Grand Prix blotting his otherwise perfect copybook. Raikkonen delighted the McLaren-Mercedes team with pole position on only the second appearance of the revised McLaren MP4-19B.

The Finn said: "The car is definitely a big step and it gives you a lot more confidence. Let's hope we can start to get some results now after such a difficult start to the season. Whether it is quick enough to win the race we can't say at the moment but it is definitely a lot better."

Barrichello, meanwhile, outqualified Schumacher for the fourth time in the five British GPs they have done as Ferrari team-mates.

"The car has gone really well all weekend," the Brazilian said, "The balance has been good and the car has been particularly strong and consistent on the longer runs that we've done, so hopefully that should bode well for the race."

With Button splitting the Ferraris on the grid, Barrichello could well spearhead the Maranello attack tomorrow.

Button, who starts third, is still not totally happy with his BAR Honda but said: "The balance is a lot better than it was yesterday, although we're still not quite where we would like to be. It was very windy out there. I got a good run through Becketts but at other high-speed parts of the circuit I found that the car was very different. Altogether it wasn't a bad lap and I'll be doing everything that I can tomorrow."