Schumacher facing uphill battle

Michael Schumacher admits he faces an uphill battle as he looks to claim a first win of the season in this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix following a disappointing first qualifying display.

The world champion ended first qualifying in seventh and has little chance of improving on that in tomorrow’s crucial second session.

Schumacher came from 13th on the grid to take second two weeks ago at Imola after a titanic battle with eventual winner Fernando Alonso but he rejects any thought that a higher starting slot will propel him to victory.

He said: “It would be nice if you can see it like this but you have to see we were really strong on long runs in free practice at Imola.

“Here we are also strong but not that much compared to the others. It will be extremely difficult to win but in racing nothing is certain.

"We have already proven that we have struggled on the one-lap qualifying and you have to say that is not very good. Luckily we are quite okay on our long runs and we are quite happy with them so tomorrow we have to rely on our race pace.”

Team-mate Rubens Barrichello was forced into an engine change this morning, earning him a 10-place grid penalty, but Schumacher is confident the problem “happens maybe once every hundred years and unfortunately it happened to him”.

The seven-time world champion still insists it is “too early” to make predictions on the outcome of the title race despite Alonso’s three consecutive wins and the Spaniard’s 18-point lead.

Schumacher rejects comparisons between the 23-year-old and himself, claiming they are unfair on other drivers who still have a chance to win the world crown.

“I know this comparison is fashionable at the moment but honestly I have to say I have a bit of a problem with it,” he added. “There are a lot of other guys who are very fast and also when I was young I didn’t want to be compared to other drivers.

“Clearly it would be an advantage for us if we scored more points than him but again there are also other drivers that I see fighting for the championship. I still believe McLaren-Mercedes will have a big chance.”

Jarno Trulli set the fastest time in first qualifying to give him a strong chance of claiming Toyota’s first-ever Formula One pole position tomorrow.

Schumacher is taking the Toyota threat certainly, although he admits surprise at their speed this weekend.

“Honestly if you look at the pace of the Toyota they have been quite quick so we have to think they will not be blocking anybody but they are going for the victory,” he said.

“I was a bit surprised if I look at the performance in the last race. Honestly I did not think they were that strong coming here but obviously they have worked very well.”