Schumacher Stays Cool Despite Slow Start

Seven-time champion Michael Schumacher is confident of a strong Chinese Grand Prix despite a slow start in today's practice sessions.

Ferrari's Schumacher, who secured his seventh World Championship at that race in Spa, was only 15th quickest on the timesheets in the morning after stopping at the end of the pit exit with three minutes remaining due to a software problem.

The German phenomenon, winner of 12 of the season's 15 races to date, was eighth best in the afternoon but still more than a second off the pace.

"This has been an interesting Friday for us, mainly because it is a new circuit," said the World Champion. "We only saw it for the first time yesterday and today we tackled it for the first time in the car, when I got a slightly different impression. Several corners have a blind apex and, generally, it is a very challenging circuit.

"We still have to adapt our car to the demands of the track and it is not yet perfect. So there is still some work to be done. This morning, I had a small problem with software at the end of the session, but I am confident we can have a good weekend."

Schumacher's Brazilian teammate Rubens Barrichello, winner of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza 12 days ago, was fifth quickest overall.

"We had a pretty good day," said Barrichello. "I like the track very much and think it's amazing. The number of corners and different lines into the corners make it interesting. It will be tough physically and I think there should be some good overtaking opportunities.

"This place is superb, but I don't understand why there are not yet any Chinese F1 drivers, because on the roads it is mad. They say Brazilians make good racing drivers because of our traffic, but here they should have much better ones than us."