Schumacher Congratulates Minardi

World Champion Michael Schumacher said the result of today's first qualifying for the French Grand Prix was "a fantastic thing to see".

The Ferrari driver finished more than seven seconds off the fastest time of the day, set by Minardi's Jos Verstappen, who took full advantage of running on a drying track while the top runners had to cope with a wet Magny-Cours.

"It was an interesting session and I say well done to the Minardis for taking first and second places," said Schumacher, 12th quickest today. "It is a fantastic thing to see. We are where we should expect to be given the track conditions when I made my run, so I am reasonably happy.

"Given the track conditions this afternoon, I cannot really give an accurate assessment of how the car was performing. This morning was more useful to us as at least the conditions were consistent and the car seemed to work well in the wet."

Brazilian teammate Rubens Barrichello finished right in front of Schumacher in 11th position, but despite his poor placing, the Ferrari driver was confident ahead of tomorrow's session.

"In the Nurburgring, people were unhappy that the track got wetter and wetter throughout the session and today it was the other way round," said Barrichello. "It is the inevitable result of the qualifying format and it benefits different drivers at different times.

"But the most important thing for me today was that I was able to significantly improve my car, so I am in good shape for tomorrow."