Ralf Still Getting to Grips with New Qualifying

German Ralf Schumacher has admitted he hasn't got used to the new qualifying system yet after struggling in today's session for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Schumacher was unimpressive in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, where he qualified in ninth position, and he again failed to shine at the Sepang circuit today, where his flying lap was only good enough for a disappointing 17th place, nearly a second off the pace of his teammate Juan Pablo Montoya.

"I am still not happy with the balance of my car and in addition to this I made a couple of mistakes in two corners, where I lost some time," said Schumacher, winner of the Malaysian Grand Prix last year.

"Anyway, I shouldn't be eight tenths away from my teammate. It's clear that I have to get used to this new qualifying system. Nevertheless I believe we have a good strategy compared to the other teams and our performance will improve for Sunday."

Colombian Montoya will start the race from a somewhat disappointing eighth position, but the Williams driver was confident of moving forward thanks to the team's strategy.

"I had some balance problems, which were expected with the set up we need for the race on this track," said Montoya. "I was very worried when I saw Ralf's lap though, as he was struggling with his balance quite a lot.

"However, I am pretty happy that we are quite close to McLaren and I think that we look pretty good for the race thanks to our strategy."