The new F1 qualifying format introduced at the start of this year has definitely succeeded in improving the spectacle for the spectators and TV viewers. However, the hour long show can also be a cruel one as the slightest slip is penalised heavily.

Today, both Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro drivers were caught out by circumstances. Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa ended the first 15 minutes of the session in 9th and 11th places respectively, thus making it through to the second phase of qualifying. However, this would be as far as either man would get, thus losing out on the chance to fight for a place on the top five rows of the grid.

The Brazilian was looking set to comfortably get through to the final period until he was caught out by the kerb at Turn 11, losing the back end of his 248 F1, taking a high speed spin across the multi-coloured gravel traps and ending up in the barrier. He was credited with the sixteenth fastest time. As for Michael, he never got the best out of his two sets of tyre, possibly because of the colder than expected conditions and just missed the final cut, ending up in eleventh spot. So a difficult race is on the cards for tomorrow.

Jenson Button took his third career pole, setting the fastest time in his Honda, while the winners of Malaysia and Bahrain respectively, Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso were second and third for Renault. Then came the two McLaren-Mercedes in fourth and fifth places, with Kimi Raikkonen outpacing Juan Pablo Montoya. Ralf Schumacher completed the top six for Toyota. At the moment, pending any further engine changes, both Michael and Felipe will move up one place on the grid tomorrow, as Jacques Villeneuve, eighth quickest for BMW-Sauber, required an engine change and will therefore drop ten places on the grid.

Jean Todt: "It was a disappointing qualifying session. In the second part, first we had Felipe going off track after he clipped a kerb with the left rear wheel, losing control of the car. Then Michael did not manage to get the most out of his first set of tyres and, at his second attempt, a few drops of rain meant he could not improve. This result does not reflect our potential but we have to accept what happened.
 

"Tomorrow, despite the handicap of less than ideal grid positions, we will do our best to make up the ground we have lost today."

Michael Schumacher: "Obviously, we cannot be satisfied with this qualifying. In the second part, I used two sets of new tyres, but I did not get the most out of them. Clearly, the few drops of rain did not help just as I was on my second attempt, but the main problem today is that we were just too slow. Now we have to find out what happened and try and do something to be quicker tomorrow. The cooling fan that stayed on the car when I left the garage? It happened right after the red flag and this is always a frenetic time, so things like this can happen. Tomorrow, it will definitely not be nice to start from this far back on the grid, but we will try and make the most of the situation."

Felipe Massa: "What happened was a shame, because I was on a good lap at the time I went off. I had gone into Turn 11 when I lost the rear of the car. I touched the kerb and I could not correct it in time and that was the end for me. Fortunately, the car was undamaged, which is the most important thing. It should have been a good lap, but now we have to accept this situation and do a good race, just as we did in Malaysia."

Ross Brawn: "We struggled a bit this afternoon. Track conditions were not ideal for us and maybe the tyre we have chosen is the right one for the race, but was not ideal for the temperatures we saw today. Now we have to hope that tomorrow it will be a bit warmer, the track cleans up and the tyre works well. At the moment, we are not completely sure what happened to Felipe, so we will have a look at the data to find the cause."

Qualifying session: Q1: Schumacher 9th 1.28.228 5 laps Massa 15th 1.28.868 6 laps; Q2: Schumacher 11th 1.26.718 6 laps Massa 16th - 2 laps; Temperatures: air 17 °C, track 26 °C