Rubens: I’m knocking on the door

As at Imola, Barrichello held provisional pole after two of the three qualifying runs. Once again, however, Schumacher managed to demote the Brazilian on his final run.

"I'm knocking on the door," smiled Barrichello. "Like the last time I wish I could have been on pole but it's been a fair fight and it's wonderful to push each other. The car became better towards the end in terms of set-up and Michael was better when it mattered.

"I thought I could have managed a quicker time on my last run but I made a bit of a mistake in Turn 12. But the car is running the way I like and Michael is having a bit of a tougher time, which I'm enjoying, but we all know how fast he is."

Schumacher himself claimed that he is enjoying the challenge from Barrichello.

"You think you are on the limit but your team-mate shows that you are not," he said. "I have enjoyed being pushed and in the first two runs he was going faster. You have to look around to see how to improve. I like the challenge and it's interesting to look and see how he's setting quicker sectors and you have to improve."

Schumacher confirmed that it was policy for both cars to do just three runs to keep a fresh set of tyres for the race. "We have traditionally done three runs this season and Imola was the only exception for myself."