Schumacher Hopes to Fight for Points

The German, however, has ruled out any chances of fighting at the top despite a promising start to his weekend in practice.
 
Schumacher finished as eighth fastest, three places behind his teammate and local hero Rubens Barrichello.

But with Ferrari not bringing any big developments to Interlagos for the weekend, Schumacher believes it is too early to make positive predictions.

"Maybe it is a little bit better than usual," said Schumacher. "It is difficult to say the real situation, we don't have enough information to really judge it. There is nothing new or special in the tyres. We went quicker in the afternoon but we have to see the real situation. It was quite uncomfortable.

"I am sure it is not only for me but for all the drivers, it is very uneven, bumpy and slippery. It was not fun today, it was uncomfortable. The car was very nervous and unstable. You have to find a compromise between the high speed straights and the slow corners here and that makes it difficult.

"We looked a bit better than we have done in the last few races but it is not like we have made some changes on the car. Maybe the track suits us a little bit more. We drove a lot of laps today and I am sure the race will be exhausting. I think it is realistic to fight for points, but not more."

Barrichello, hoping for a strong performance in his last home race for Ferrari, managed the fifth best time in the afternoon.

Barrichello has a terrible record at Interlagos, retiring for nine years in a row before last year's third place, but was still keeping his hopes up.

"There are chances and I just take them," he had said on Thursday.

"With the knowledge that I have in Brazil, with the last two pole positions that I had, with the public behind me, I'm going to give everything because for me it would mean a lot to win my home Grand Prix with Ferrari."