Schumacher Wary of Starting from Dirty Side

World Champion Michael Schumacher suggested he would have preferred to qualify in third position to avoid starting from the dirty part of the track in tomorrow's European Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver lost out to Finn Kimi Raikkonen in today's grid-deciding session and will start the race from second position behind the Finn.

The McLaren driver, three points behind overall leader Schumacher halfway through an unpredictable season, pipped his rival by a mere 0.032 of a second on the German's home territory.

Last on track in the decisive single lap qualifying session, the 23-year-old 'Iceman' kept his cool to shatter local hopes of an all-Schumacher front row. Williams driver Ralf Schumacher will start from third place.

"We're very close to the guys and I think our tyres will be quite good tomorrow," said five-time champion Schumacher, whose Ferrari uses Bridgestones while McLaren and Williams are on Michelin.

"I hope that in terms of strategy we made the right decision and we can use that to our advantage. We will find out tomorrow.

"I'm not sure if I should happy about second position and not prefer third position because usually it's a little bit more dusty on the inside of the circuit, but we will find out tomorrow."

Schumacher's teammate Rubens Barrichello will take the start from fifth place.