Qualifying dream for Schuey

The German didn't get off to the best of starts when he went way wide at the first corner on his opening flying lap in the hour-long session. But the five-time world champion came back and right at the end grabbed his sixth pole of the season, lapping the 2.7-mile circuit in 1m14.389s.

"It's a dream to get my first Hockenheim pole and hopefully also win tomorrow," said Schumacher. "I am more excited about this and I would like to transform today's performance into victory in the race, as I have never won here with Ferrari. Seeing the excitement on the faces of the fans and feeling their excitement was a boost for me."

Team-mate Barrichello was always on the back foot in qualifying after crashing in the first of Saturday's practice sessions, so he was relatively content with third on the grid.

"I am pleased with the job the team did today on my car, after I went off the track in the morning," said the Brazilian. "In the end my car was perfect. The track is the sort where you have to be on the limit all the time and the smallest mistake could cost you a lot."