Ralf Schumacher (1m15.923s) will start his home grand prix eighth on the grid for Panasonic Toyota Racing but Jarno Trulli faces a difficult German Grand Prix after needing an engine change on Saturday morning. Jarno therefore suffers a 10-place penalty on the grid, meaning that he is tasked with driving through the field from the back.

Hockenheim is the second 'home' race of the season for the Cologne-based TMG squad, which guarantees healthy support for the race team. Schumacher admitted that sixth might have been possible without a tangle with McLaren Mercedes driver Pedro de la Rosa at the beginning of the final part of qualifying.

"I tried to go inside him at the Hairpin and perhaps it was bad judgement on both sides," Ralf admitted honestly. "I thought he was going to let me by and he thought I wasn't going to for it, so it was just a misunderstanding. It was a shame for both of us because we could have both done slightly better. I damaged a track rod but the mechanics did a great job of getting the car out again and at least we finished up eighth. We are possibly not quite as competitive as we were in Magny Cours but the team has still done a very good job."

Trulli, meanwhile, came to Hockenheim after signing a new three-year deal with Toyota but circumstances did not allow him to celebrate in the manner he had hoped.

"I think it's been the most problematic couple of days of the season," Jarno explained. "Yesterday I had a brake problem and I didn't run much, then this morning I had an engine problem and had to switch to the T-car for qualifying. I didn't know the car, the set-up, anything. On the first run I had a problem with the electronics, then on the second run a problem with the brakes and I think that set of tyres wasn't as good as the first set. So overall it seems like it is determined to be a bad weekend. Tomorrow I will fight but not having done more than three laps in a row, I can't predict what is going to happen!"

Kimi Raikkonen (1m14.070s) claimed the first pole position of the year for Team McLaren Mercedes, ahead of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro drivers Michael Schumacher (1m14.205s) and Felipe Massa (1m14.569s). Jenson Button achieved his best qualifying position since round 4 at Imola (1m14.862s) for Lucky Strike Honda, ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella's Renault (1m14.894s). Rubens Barrichello (1m14.934s) was sixth quickest with the second Honda, ahead of championship leader Fernando Alonso (1m15.282s) and Ralf's TF106B.

Senior General Manager Chassis, Pascal Vasselon, said: "We have obviously had a few problems here, which is a shame because we had hoped to be as competitive as we were in France a fortnight ago and get both cars into the top six. In the final analysis though, Ralf has done a good job to be eighth taking into account our race strategy. We will be fighting hard for more points tomorrow."