Formula One: Schumacher Faces Bruising Weekend

Michael Schumacher's modest tally of three German grand prix victories looks positively majestic compared with some of his rivals, notably Kimi Raikkonen, who has failed to finish this race in his four appearances here. Yet the fanatically loyal fans who annually crowd through the gates of this circuit to pay homage to their hero will have to brace themselves for a bruising weekend.

Yesterday the Ferrari team leader finished the first free-practice sessions a lowly ninth fastest overall with the prospect of playing the role of distant spectator as the race lead is contested by Fernando Alonso's Renault and the McLarens of Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya.

"I think we did a reasonable job today, getting through much of our [planned] programme in the morning session in case we had to deal with a wet track in the afternoon," said Schumacher. "The car was handling well but, as we expected, we lack performance. At this stage I would still hope we can manage to finish on the podium but it will be tough."

In fact the German's only hope is for a wet race, where the combination of his dazzling car control in the rain and the proven superior form of the Bridgestone wet-weather tyres could confer a performance advantage which recent races have demonstrated he cannot expect on a dry track.

Alex Wurz, the McLaren test driver, set the fastest time by 0.6sec ahead of Raikkonen, Toyota's test driver Ricardo Zonta, Alonso and Montoya.

Wurz took part only in the Friday session, leaving his team-mates to benefit from his tyre-evaluation work in today's qualifying battle for grid positions.

"We spent today working on our race set-up," said Raikkonen. "The car was quick almost immediately, which is always a good sign. My aim is to win the race and after today's sessions I'm certain that we have a very strong package which will allow us to do that."

Despite all this optimism Alonso may yet spoil the McLaren party. "The cold temperatures meant that the grip levels on the track were very low today so it was really hard to brake properly and stop the car for the hairpins," said Alonso, who leads the championship by 26 points. "Apart from those problems the car actually felt pretty good. The balance was consistent and we are higher up the times than usual on a Friday."

Jenson Button was not reading much into his sixth-fastest time in the BAR-Honda on a circuit where last year he delivered one of the best drives of his career, finishing second after climbing from 13th on the grid. The Englishman has already admitted that BAR will not achieve their first grand prix victory this season.

"We just don't have a good enough car this year," he said. "We are not where I want us to be. We are not competitive enough, so in a way it's nice to get points but it's also frustrating."

At least he had a better day than his good friend David Coulthard, who spun his Red Bull into the barrier on the outside of the final corner before the start-finish line.

· The FIA World Motor Sport Council yesterday confirmed it has rescinded the guilty verdicts on the seven teams who failed to race in the United States grand prix last month.