Schumacher Unfazed by Michelin Domination

World Champion Michael Schumacher played down Michelin's dominance during today's practice for the French Grand Prix in sweltering conditions at the Magny-Cours circuit.

The Michelin-shod McLarens dominated today's sessions, with Scot David Coulthard and Finn Kimi Raikkonen outpacing the four-time champion and his own teammate Rubens Barrichello. The Ferrari drivers were the only Bridgestone runners in the top ten, but Schumacher remained calm and said he was confident of fighting for pole position on Saturday.

"As usual here when it gets hot, unlike at other circuits, the track surface gets more slippery and so you end up sliding around a lot," said Schumacher. "The other tyre company seems to be showing strongly here, but we have often been in this situation at the start of the weekend, only to find it changes for the race.

"We planned to do a long run to see what the tyre performance was like. I think it will be close between us and our main competitors tomorrow, but I believe we are in with a chance of fighting for pole position."

Schumacher, who could clinch his fifth title this weekend, outpaced Barrichello in the second session, while the Brazilian was the quickest of the two in the morning. Barrichello was more than half a second off Schumacher's pace, but was still confident on a strong performance in tomorrow's qualifying and in the race.

"This was a day of experimenting with various settings on the car, including the new aero package and, of course the tyres," said the Brazilian. "The high temperatures obviously have an effect on the car's performance and I would say we still have work to do on improving the car's set-up.

"Nevertheless, I am confident for both qualifying and the race. Tomorrow we will be fighting for places on the front two rows."