Good guesswork needed after Schuey setback

Michael Schumacher will put his faith in “educated guesswork” today in qualifying for the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.

The German’s preparations were hit yesterday by a hydraulic problem which denied him vital track time in second practice, when he was planning to evaluate tyres.

Tyre choice is a crucial part of Formula One – so much so it can decide the outcome of a race – but Schumacher will have to piece together team-mate Rubens Barrichello’s data and hope to draw a conclusion from that.

Technical chief Ross Brawn admits the situation is far from ideal for the six-time world champion ahead of today’s two qualifying sessions.

But the Englishman was looking on the bright side, insisting Friday is the preferred day for problems to occur.

He said: “We’ve had a little bit of a messy day – we lost Michael’s car in the afternoon with a hydraulic leak.

“After the accident in Monaco we changed chassis and the chassis that he used sprung a hydraulic leak – luckily it happened now. He didn’t really get the programme done that we wanted to.

“It will make the tyre choice more difficult because Michael didn’t get a chance to try both tyres, only Rubens did and, of course, it’s much better if you’ve got both drivers giving input on the tyres.

“Rubens had a reasonable afternoon but the first lap on the tyres we think we’re going to race was spoiled with a little problem we had. He went straight on at the first corner, so we didn’t see the true lap time on those tyres.”

Jarno Trulli, who ended Schumacher’s winning run in Monaco last Sunday, is content with his preparations after being fifth-quickest in second practice.

The Italian broke his grand prix duck in the Principality and approaches tomorrow’s race in confident mood, even if he is hardly able to shout about it after losing his voice.

The Renault driver said: “It was a standard opening day – our car was designed to help us choose tyres and begin the car set-up programme.

“The car was lacking some grip in the cold conditions and we hope to see the circuit evolve some more by today. However, we still seem quite competitive.”

The top of the timing sheets had an unusual look about them yesterday, with first Anthony Davidson setting the quickest time and then Kimi Raikkonen.

Jenson Button was second in the afternoon – with David Coulthard fourth – but he expects Ferrari to be the team to beat again despite their blip in Monaco.

“I think it will be very similar to Barcelona, Ferrari are very strong with ourselves, Renault and Williams up there. It’s going to be pretty similar to previous races,” he said.

“This morning Ferrari were very strong and if you look at their stints they were very strong. Their long runs were exceptional so they are going to be quick - they always are.

“This is a circuit you can overtake on so even if they don’t qualify on pole they have a good chance of winning here.”