Ralf delighted, Jenson despondent

'The Williams was really perfect, we have a very good car,' he said. 'I must say that we didn't expect fifth position. I am quite optimistic for tomorrow's race because normally the FW22 has performed better in the race than in qualifying trim.'

His team mate Jenson Button had a dismal time however. Struggling to get to grips with the circuit, hydraulic problems in the morning meant he had virtually no mileage during Saturday practice. He was 2.3s slower than Schumacher and only managed 18th on the grid.

'I have found it very difficult to get familiar with using the kerbs,' he explained. 'I am still not really confident. My lack of mileage due to problems we had with my car didn't help.'

BMW Motorsport boss Gerhard Berger put Button's tribulations down to inexperience.

'Imola is a very difficult circuit to learn. To find the right braking points on this track you need a lot of experience,' he said. 'After having run a race distance, I'm sure Jenson will feel more at home here.'