Ferrari admits to sandbag tactics.

Suspicions that Ferrari may not have been going all out in free practice were confirmed when the qualifying hour arrived at Interlagos yesterday - and were later acknowledged by the team's technical director Ross Brawn.

Neither Michael Schumacher nor Rubens Barrichello featured regularly at the top of the timesheets in the four 'untimed' sessions on Friday and Saturday mornings, dividing paddock opinion between problems with F2001 and a case of 'sandbagging' to hide the Scuderia's true Brazilian potential.

When Schumacher duly took his seventh successive pole position, speculation shifted positively in one direction, and led Brawn to confirm that outright speed had not been the team's main priority prior to qualifying.

"For various reasons, we have been running with more fuel this week than we would normally, which is why we were a little bit off the pace in practice," he admitted, "The improvement in qualifying times was mainly because of fuel weight. This is a strange circuit in that a lot of depends on engine power, then there is the middle section which is demands more from the tyres, the car and the driver. Apart from the middle sector, it is not a technically challenging circuit. This is why the grid is tighter than at other races and why some teams' drivers are so close to each other."

Asked about the comparatively poor showing from the second Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello, Brawn revealed that the Brazilian had had problems throughout the timed hour, leaving him a disappointed sixth on the grid in front of his adoring home crowd.

"We have not been able to find the right balance with Rubens' car. The tyres were good, very consistent. As long as we make a good start tomorrow, we should be competitive. We are not afraid of rain, but if it does rain then I think we have the advantage with the Bridgestone tyres."

Schumacher will be shooting for his seventh successive victory in this afternoon's Brazilian GP, a streak stretching back into last season.