Schuey to drop 10 places

Schumacher appeared to lose the front end of the Ferrari on the bumps going into Turn 6, and a spokesman for the world champion confirmed that he has found Interlagos just as bumpy as ever despite resurfacing work carried out since last year.

"Last year Michael said it was very bumpy. This year he says it's extremely bumpy! He has talked with his engineers but as yet we don't know why he went off."

Schumacher went backwards into the tyre barrier and there was a brief flash fire around the engine bay, which convinced the team that it needed to take the spare car with a fresh engine, ahead of qualifying, in case any damage had been done to the engine ancillaries.

Barrichello and Schumacher have been pretty even on pace thus far at Interlagos and the team is happy with the single lap pace of the Bridgestone tyres at Interlagos. If Rubens can start 10 places or so ahead of Michael on the grid, he will give himself an excellent chance of achieving a lifetime's ambition and winning his home grand prix tomorrow.