Ralf Schumacher will start tomorrow’s US Grand Prix eighth on the grid for Panasonic Toyota Racing but team mate Jarno Trulli suffered a suspension problem in the first session of qualifying and will line up 20th.

Indianapolis is a key event for most of the manufacturers involved in F1 with America representing an important market. The teams are also doubly keen to put on a good show for the US fans, who missed out last year due to tyre problems that prompted widespread withdrawals.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway reported no discernible fall-off in interest at this year’s event and as the season enters its second half, Indy should witness one of the biggest crowds of the season.

“The car felt strong today, especially in the first two sessions,” said Schumacher. “In the shoot-out I felt I had a bit less grip and it was harder to get a time out of the car. I think my last run could have been better but eighth is a reasonable place to start on a circuit where overtaking is possible.”

Trulli, who lapped in 1m13.787s in the first session, was disappointed, being keen to follow-up his impressive race in Montreal with a second strong performance at Indy.

“Ralf has proved that the car has got decent pace and it was frustrating to have the suspension trouble in the first session of qualifying,” Jarno explained. “We were on old tyres at the time and it didn’t affect my lap time  but it would have been too risky to go out again. The car was running low on the track and we didn’t quite have enough time to solve the problems under the current high pressure three-session format. At least at Indianapolis there are more overtaking opportunities than usual, so hopefully all is not lost.”

Michael Schumacher took a dominant pole position, his first since Imola, for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro with a lap in 1m10.832s. Team mate Felipe Massa (1m11.435s) backed him up with second fastest lap, ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella (1m11.920s), Rubens Barrichello (1m12.109s) and Fernando Alonso (1m12.449s). Jacques Villeneuve (1m12.479s) was sixth quickest for BMW Sauber, ahead of Jenson Button’s Lucky Strike Honda (1m12.523s). Behind Ralf’s 1m12.795s best, Kimi Raikkonen’s McLaren Mercedes (1m13.174s) and Nick Heidfeld’s Sauber (1m15.280s) completed the top 10.