Schumacher happy with performance

The German will be joined on the front row by team-mate Rubens Barrichello who was also satisified with his run, although the Brazilian has said that he has yet to perfect the set-up on his Ferrari.

"We had a great day today, without any mistakes the track was quite clean," said Schumacher. "My lap was neat and tidy. We had a very good set-up having made improvements to the car in the break between the two sessions. Overall we are very happy with these conditions and our starting position for tomorrow's qualifying and I am looking forward to it. I just hope there is no rain, even though I am fully aware there is always a chance of a downpour here."

Barrichello, who was0.701s slower than Schumacher, said: "It was quite a good day today. I feel good about it because we tried a lot of things. Right now the car is not at its best, but there are some things we plan to try tomorrow morning. That way we will be ready for the afternoon."

However, Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn sounded a note of caution over the teams dominating performance. He said: "Friday is not completely indicative of what to expect for the rest of the weekend, but first and second is obviously better than having a problem! The key issue now is to sort out tyres and set-up as Sunday's race will be very hard on the tyres. As track conditions change quickly here, tomorrow it will be important to anticipate what will happen."