Panasonic Toyota Racing's Jarno Trulli will start the European Grand Prix from 7th on the grid after the Italian made it through to the final session of qualifying after a difficult day of free practice on Friday.

"Basically we had a vibration problem with the front axle," Trulli explained. "We could see it on the data but no matter what we did, we couldn't cure it. That meant I lost some circuit time and, overnight, the mechanics built me up a new chassis around the spare car. The problems were gone in free practice this morning and I think I got a good lap out of the car in qualifying. I hope that my fortunes change a bit tomorrow and I am finally able to open my points account for 2006."

Tyre choice will be a key element of tomorrow's race, the fifth round of the 2006 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. Weather in the Eifel mountains in north-west Germany in May is notoriously unpredictable, with the team's Pascal Vasselon pointing out that temperatures can range from zero to 25 degrees and cloud cover is a particularly significant element. And, proving the truth of his words, Nürburgring had snow one week ago but air temperatures for qualifying were around 20 degrees!

The teams make their tyre selection of two compounds the week before the race and then make their ultimate decision before qualifying. To reflect this variance in weather conditions the teams normally bring tyres of widely different performance, to be 'safe' and then make their final choice based on the most up to date forecast.

Ralf Schumacher will start the race from 11th place on the grid after being eliminated in the second session of qualifying but this will improve by at least one place as Mark Webber will incur a 10-place penalty on the grid after needing an engine change.

"I was disappointed to miss out on the final session of qualifying because I was third quickest behind the two Ferraris in morning practice and feeling quite confident," Ralf said. "Unfortunately I spun at Turn 1 on my first flying lap and then found that I was slower when I had a second run. It will be a challenge to come through the field and try to score points tomorrow but I have already proved in Malaysia that it is possible."

Fernando Alonso took his first pole position of the season for Mild Seven Renault with a lap in 1m29.819s, ahead of Imola victor Michael Schumacher's Ferrari (1m30.028s). Felipe Massa (1m30.407s) was third quickest with the second Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro car, ahead of Rubens Barrichello's Lucky Strike Honda (1m30.754s). Kimi Raikkonen's Team McLaren Mercedes entry lines up fifth (1m30.933s), ahead of Jenson Button (1m30.940s) with the second Honda. Behind Trulli, the rest of the top 10 comprised Jacques Villeneuve's BMW Sauber (1m31.542s), Juan Pablo Montoya's McLaren (1m31.880s) and Webber's Williams (1m33.405s).

Tomorrow's race is effectively a 'home' event for Cologne-based Panasonic Toyota Racing and the team will be cheered on by an enthusiastic contingent of employees who have made the trip to Nürburgring, one of motor racing classical venues.