Ralf Expecting Difficult Race

Ralf Schumacher is expecting a tough race at Sunday's United States Grand Prix after setting the third quickest time in today's qualifying.

The Williams driver, who along with teammate Juan Pablo Montoya is one of the favourites to win the race, was unable to fight for pole position, finishing the day nearly three tenths of a second behind his brother Michael, who took finished on top.

Ralf, who has scored three wins so far in 2001 with his BMW-powered Williams, said he expected a difficult race at Indianapolis tomorrow.

"On my last lap I was braking too late into turn four so that is the reason I didn't improve my time," Schumacher said. "I simply braked too late, locked a front wheel and couldn't get the turn. We have struggled all weekend to get a decent balance.

"We worked through it but it's going to a difficult race. We've had circuits where the car is perfect but here it is a bit more difficult."

Montoya, winner of the Italian Grand Prix a fortnight ago, finished right behind his German teammate in fourth place. The Colombian admitted he was not happy with his car's handling, and claimed he could have gone faster.

"It was a very difficult session," admitted Montoya. "We couldn't come to grips with the car. On my third run, the quickest one, I had a lot of traffic, and then on the last run I made a mistake, so I couldn't improve on the time. For me, it was an average session. I felt that I could do better."