Current Drivers’ Championship leader, Ferrari's Michael Schumacher, topped the timesheets of those drivers on Bridgestone’s tyres this afternoon in final qualifying, putting the reigning World Champion on the second row of the grid for Sunday’s French Grand Prix. His teammate Rubens Barrichello starts from the fourth row of the grid.

In the meantime, there has been a frenzy of activity at the French circuit of Magny-Cours, after yesterday’s mixed wet weather conditions put paid to valuable dry running time. Consequently, this morning’s two free practice sessions saw the teams busy testing their two tyre choices before making their final choice for this afternoon’s final qualifying. They will also start the race on Sunday on the same specification, and indeed the same set of tyres, that was used in final qualifying. They will therefore have been mindful of the need for a good race tyre and set-up, as well as a good fuel strategy, when deciding their game plans for tomorrow.

Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport, said: “We may have missed out on pole today but we’re confident that we have the tyres to challenge strongly in the race tomorrow. We have won here for the past two years and we’re expecting a good race again tomorrow.”