Schumacher Delighted after 'Mindblowing' Lap

World champion Michael Schumacher described his qualifying performance for Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix as "mindblowing" after he grabbed pole position by more than half-a-second at Sepang.

The six-time title winner responded to a quickest lap from Jaguar's Mark Webber by flying around the Sepang circuit in 37-degree heat to finish 0.641 seconds ahead of the Australian, who recorded his best qualifying performance to date.

German Schumacher, who had been outpaced in the earlier qualifying session by Renault's Fernando Alonso, admitted he had not put a foot wrong during his lap as he scored his 57th career pole.

"We looked quicker on paper. It was a mindblowing lap I have to say, everything perfect and spot on," Schumacher said. "We worked very well with the car. We were looking in difficulty yesterday but managed to work the car very well and put it back on the road.

"I felt a lot more grip was available in the second session. You adapt to the temperatures we saw in that moment and we could work the car spot on for that final lap."

Schumacher's Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello will be directly behind him on the grid after securing third place in qualifying, and was not downheartened by the speed of the World Champion.

Barrichello said: "Michael put in a really good lap but my lap was good as well. I am quite happy, not with the gap to Michael but that we worked seriously hard on the race and I am hoping that everything comes to me for the race."