US GP: Ferrari Friday qualifying notes

Barrichello 2nd, Schumacher 8th

Jean Todt:

"We did not get to do much work in the dry because of the rain during free practice. It seems that, in the wet and thanks to the Bridgestone tyres, we have an edge over our rivals, while in the dry, we can expect a very close fight between the top teams. Once again, Michael paid the price for being first out on track: this time the surface was still a bit damp, but all in all, his time puts him very close to his closest rivals in the title fight. Rubens did a great job, only beaten by a driver who made his run after him, when track conditions were much better. Given that the forecast is for unpredictable weather tomorrow, anything could happen in qualifying. Only tomorrow afternoon will we have a clearer picture of the situation."

Rubens Barrichello:

"Overall, I am happy with this result. The car went well and I was lucky to be out on track when the conditions had improved. Theoretically, second place gives me a very good start position for tomorrow afternoon's qualifying, but the unpredictable weather could change everything. We still have some work to do on the car set-up in the dry, given that we only managed two runs in the dry before the rain arrived this morning."

Michael Schumacher:

"Once again, the early runners in qualifying were slightly disadvantaged, especially after the rain which fell in the morning, which meant the track was a bit dirty and lacked grip. This goes some way to explaining my time and position. However, if you look at the times set by Rubens and Ralf, it is clear that the situation is very close between us and our main rivals. As we expected, we look competitive. This morning in the dry, I was quite happy with the performance of the car, even though the rain meant we cannot draw too many conclusions about set-up. Hopefully, we can all run in the same track conditions tomorrow and have a good fight for the front row."

Ross Brawn:

"Obviously the conditions were changing during the session, with the track getting faster after every run in the dry. Michael had to cope with making the first run in the dry, after morning rain had left the track 'green' and dirty. But as today's times only serve to establish tomorrow's running order, there is no cause for concern. Both drivers are quite happy with their cars, although the rain prevented us from doing much tyre testing. We have only tried one of the dry types of tyre and will have to do an assessment of both tomorrow."

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