Williams duo fear champ's pace

The world champion qualified on pole by a massive seven-tenths of a second with the Williams duo second and third respectively. Schumacher junior said his brother had such a significant advantage that he was "playing" with the rest of the grid.

"He has been playing with us all weekend," said Ralf, admitting they have little chance of competing with the four-time champion in Sunday's finale. "It doesn't look like it is to be realistic. Ferrari were so strong they were playing games with us. He didn't even need new tyres this morning. It will be a difficult race for us."

Montoya, who has started three of the last six races from pole, agreed. "I was surprised how slow we were through the first sector, although I was as quick as him in the other two. Our car is pretty good for the race but Michael has such a big advantage he has two or three new sets of tyres for the race.

"For my first time here it is not that bad - experience helps at Suzuka. But our car didn't have stability of Michael's through the S-curves which made it a bit hard. Second and third for Williams is good.

"Hopefully we will be just as good in the race."