Michael Schumacher: “As usual here when it gets hot, unlike at other circuits, the track surface gets more slippery and so you end up sliding around a lot. The other tyre company seems to be showing strongly here, but we have often been in this situation at the start of the weekend, only to find it changes for the race. We planned to do a long run to see what the tyre performance was like. I think it will be close between us and our main competitors tomorrow, but I believe we are in with a chance of fighting for pole position.”

Rubens Barrichello: “This was a day of experimenting with various settings on the car, including the new aero package and, of course the tyres The high temperatures obviously have an effect on the car's performance and I would say we still have work to do on improving the car's set-up. Nevertheless, I am confident for both qualifying and the race. Tomorrow we will be fighting for places on the front two rows.”