Proving that pole position in Imola a fortnight ago was no fluke, Michael Schumacher again put his Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 248 F1 on the front row of the grid at the Nürburgring this afternoon, although this time in second place, alongside pole sitter Fernando Alonso in the Renault. Felipe Massa on the other hand, actually improved on his San Marino performance by qualifying third at the Nürburgring, with Rubens Barrichello in the Honda making it an all-Brazilian second row in fourth place. Kimi Raikkonen is fifth for McLaren-Mercedes while in the other Honda, Jenson Button is sixth.

It was an incident filled session in more ways than one: firstly, just before the end of the first 15 minute sector, an error in the timing system provoked the red flag icon to be shown on the timing screens and by the time the message was posted stating it was incorrect, it had affected the runs of some of the slower competitors. There was plenty of action in Race Control after the session: Christian Klien was badly delayed by Takuma Sato, but the Austrian's Red Bull team declined to lodge a protest as it would have no effect on his position. Giancarlo Fisichella and Jacques Villeneuve were also called up to explain what they got up to, as the Italian Renault man had gone into the BMW garage to complain very vociferously to the Canadian, whom he felt had held him up unnecessarily.

Although it has no effect on the two Ferrari drivers, both Williams are due to change their Cosworth engines and as they are currently 10th and 12th fastest at the end of the session, both Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg will have to move down the grid tomorrow.

Jean Todt: "It was a very closely contested qualifying session, which saw us come away with second and third places for Michael and Felipe respectively. Drivers, team, chassis, engine, Bridgestone tyres and Shell fuel and lubricants all worked well and this result should allow us to fight as front runners tomorrow. The decisive factors that will influence the final outcome are the same as ever: reliability, strategy and consistent tyre performance."
 

Michael Schumacher: "I am happy to be on the front row. We have been strong all weekend and so we can be optimistic about tomorrow's race. The fact that the Renault is on pole does not surprise me, but I think we have a great chance of fighting for the win. Naturally, strategy will be vitally important. I think we will see a very close race for the win and as you know, I like a fight."

Felipe Massa: "This third place is a good starting point and I am pleased with my performance today. Our package works very well at this track and so I am confident for tomorrow's race, when I hope to improve on my performance in Imola. I am not surprised to also be competitive here at the Nurburgring, because the 248 F1 has proved to be strong right from the start of the season. My quick lap was very good. With this qualifying format, you need to be very careful about choosing the right moment to go out on track and today, I waited for a moment in pit lane after changing tyres, in order to create a space  between me and the cars that had gone out before me."

Ross Brawn: "I'm very pleased with the cars' performance and the balance that we had. We have made some genuine progress over the last few races and we saw that again here today. The Bridgestone tyres are very consistent which means we have a good tyre for the race and so I am optimistic for tomorrow. This afternoon, we had no problems, both drivers got clean laps, so it all points to a very exciting race tomorrow."

Qualifying session: Q1: MS 2nd 1.31.235 3 laps FM 14th 1.31.921 4 laps; Q2: MS 1st 1.30.013 3 laps FM 6th 1.30.732 4 laps; Q3: MS 2nd 1.30.028 13 laps FM 3rd 1.30.407 13 laps; Chassis: MS 254 FM 250; Temperatures: air 20 °C, track 32/30 °C