Schumacher Feeling Confident of Winning

German Michael Schumacher is confident of fighting for victory at the British Grand Prix despite the strong opposition from Ferrari's main rivals at their home race.

World Champion Schumacher, dominant winner of nine of the season's 10 races and seeking his 80th career victory on Sunday, was third fastest in today's practice, finishing behind McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen and Sauber's Giancarlo Fisichella.

"It was a slightly different Friday to the usual for us due to the fact that we expected rain in the second session, so we set ourselves a bigger workload in the morning," said Schumacher. "In the second session, we tried a few variations in set-up which worked very well.

"Overall, I am quite happy with our performance today. We know the competition is tough with some of them looking very strong today. However, I believe we will be in the fight for the win. Now we have to work out the best way to go about achieving that."

Rubens Barrichello fired up his challenge for a second successive win at Silverstone with the fastest time in opening free practice. The Brazilian, without a victory so far in a season dominated by his teammate, was unable to repeat the feat in the afternoon and finished down in sixth.

Barrichello feels at home at the former World War Two airfield, winning from pole position with a lap record time in 2003, and is eager to repeat the feat after finishing runner-up six times in the last 10 races.

"This morning's session was very straightforward, but in the afternoon, I encountered a few problems while evaluating the tyres," he said. "However, we have a good base line in terms of the set-up of the car to suit this track and I am sure that a bit more work tomorrow morning will get us back on track."