Schumacher Surprised by Pole

The German roared around the twisty Hungaroring circuit, where he won last year to clinch his Ferrari's sixth successive Constructors' Championship, in 1:19.882, beating Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya by nearly a whole second.

"It is a little bit of a surprise to us as well, honestly, as a surprise to be as slow recently," Schumacher said. "We have changed the tyres substantially and it paid off. We have to find out if it is a combination of many things or a general trend to be established, but I am pretty confident.

"There was no reason not to believe in Ferrari's return and it is a great result for everyone a great pleasure for everyone."

It was the 64th pole position of the seven-times champion's career, leaving him one short of the record set by the late Brazilian Ayrton Senna.

"It was a good lap, we obviously feel very delighted after suffering a period where not very much seemed to work in our favour, all weekend long we have been very competitive," added Schumacher, who praised tyre supplier Bridgestone after the Japanese company's first pole of the year.

"A big compliment to Bridgestone. I think they had to suffer a lot this season so far and a big reward for the effort they have been putting in."

It remains to be seen how much fuel Schumacher is carrying on board, and Ferrari's technical director Ross Brawn hinted at a likely three-stop strategy after claiming the Italian squad had opted for an aggressive approach.

"We are pretty comfortable with our strategy, it is an aggressive strategy but we have to be at the front," said Brawn.