Ralf: I'll make Michael's life difficult

Ralf's lap of 1m14.570s looked good enough for pole at the new Hockenheim circuit right until Michael's last-gasp effort demoted little brother to second, but the Williams driver was far from being downhearted as he out-qualified his team mate Juan Pablo Montoya for the first time since the Austrian Grand Prix.

"So far this has been one of those weekends where everything ran well and I was able to find the right balance for my car quickly," said Schumacher Jr. "It's obviously great for me to start the German Grand Prix from the first row. A big thank-you to the team for a great job and I'm happy that finally I could get a positive result in qualifying. I hope I will be able to make my brother's life difficult tomorrow!"

Montoya will start Sunday's race directly behind Ralf after setting the fourth fastest time in qualifying, ending his run of five pole positions in a row.

"On my last outing I made a mistake at the hairpin and locked the front tyres," explained the Colombian. "But after having achieved five poles in a row, I can cope with starting from the second row. For the race I am quite confident, even though I believe Ferrari will be strong."