Michael Schumacher staged a late salvage job to keep himself in the hunt for pole position at the Chinese Grand Prix, as the weather continued to make life difficult for the Bridgestone runners.
With the clock ticking down, the seven-time world champion pieced together one last flying lap that proved good enough to haul himself out of the Q2 'drop zone' and back into the top ten shoot-out. With fellow Bridgestone runners Mark Webber,
Nico Rosberg and
Ferrari team-mate
Felipe Massa all missing the cut, only Schumacher will represent the Japanese company in the final stage. Massa managed only 13th spot in the second session and, with a ten-place engine penalty already hanging over him, the Brazilian will start from the back row, alongside Takuma Sato.
Fernando Alonso and
Giancarlo Fisichella again headed a
Renault - and Michelin - 1-2, with
Jenson Button adding further weight to the belief that the conditions favoured the French rubber by claiming third. BMW's
Nick Heidfeld put in a late lap for fourth place, while team-mate
Robert Kubica followed Schumacher across the line to keep his session alive.
Red Bull debutant Robert Doornbos was the revelation of the session, claiming tenth spot at the expense of RBR team-mate David Coulthard, but the two
Toro Rosso cars missed out, despite both holding strong positions with just two minutes to go. Scott Speed was lucky to be able to complete the session, however, having brushed the barrier after aquaplaning in pit-lane.
