Schumacher says Renault have the edge

But the Ferrari driver reckons the French squad are favourites to win Sunday's race.

"I think that, compared to the other teams, we are looking competitive but in order to see whether we really are quick enough to aim for the top, we need to wait till everybody is running on low fuel and with new tyres," said Schumacher.

"I still reckon that there are four teams capable of winning even if today perhaps some of them didn't want to reveal all their potential: what is clear however is that Renault seem to be very quick straight out of the box which gives them an edge."

Renault drivers Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella were fifth and eighth quickest respectively after not setting a time in the morning.

Schumacher, aiming to bounce back from a very disappointing 2005 season, posted the second quickest time of the day, but he was the fastest racing driver, only outpaced by Honda's Anthony Davidson, who will not race on Sunday.

"It's been a fairly positive day for us," said Schumacher. "We've completed the programme that we had planned for ourselves and we worked well, so I'm obviously satisfied with the way things went."

His new Brazilian teammate Felipe Massa was fourth.

"I think that I could have set an even better time but on the whole I'm satisfied with what we've achieved so far because I feel that we now have a good foundation on which we can build in preparation for tomorrow's qualifying and the race on Sunday," said Massa.