Michael Schumacher will be looking to extend his Drivers' Championship lead tomorrow afternoon in front of his home crowds. Although out-qualified by his brother Ralf, the reigning World Champion is well poised to do just that having qualified on the third row of the grid this afternoon. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro teammate Rubens Barrichello put in a fine performance. After winning the last round at the British Grand Prix, the Brazilian driver will also be looking to turn his second row start into another podium finish tomorrow. With Ferrari leading the Constructors' points standings by ten points, every point will be crucial.

And it was another hot and sunny day at the Hockenheim circuit today which saw drivers battling against the heat, enduring ambient and track temperatures of approximately 36 and 48 degrees centigrade respectively. Survival of the fittest and shrewd tactics could well be the order of the day tomorrow.

Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport, said: “Second and third rows for Rubens and Michael today which is a good improvement on yesterday's results. I'm pleased with the performance and am expecting more to come tomorrow from all our teams. So far this weekend the tyres have shown good consistency in race trim so we'll be looking for some good points scoring finishes from the Bridgestone runners.”

The Teams
Ross Brawn, Technical Director of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, said: “A reasonable qualifying session this afternoon which I think will put us in contention tomorrow. The tyres are still very consistent so I think we'll have a good race.”