Schumi: I wouldn't have beaten Felipe anyway.

Although a series of scrappy laps prevented him from taking his fifth pole position of the year, Michael Schumacher admitted he would not have been able to usurp Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa from his first pole position in the Turkish Grand Prix anyway.

While many would not have bet against a Ferrari filling pole position, the majority were still expecting it to be Michael Schumacher on top, particularly as he had dominated final practice and set a scintillating pace through the knockout sessions.

25.08.2006 Istanbul, Turkey, Michael Schumacher (GER), Scuderia Ferrari, 248 F1 - Formula 1 World Ch
25.08.2006 Istanbul, Turkey, Michael Schumacher (GER), Scuderia Ferrari,…
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Although a series of scrappy laps prevented him from taking his fifth pole position of the year, Michael Schumacher admitted he would not have been able to usurp Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa from his first pole position in the Turkish Grand Prix anyway.

While many would not have bet against a Ferrari filling pole position, the majority were still expecting it to be Michael Schumacher on top, particularly as he had dominated final practice and set a scintillating pace through the knockout sessions.

However, the seven time world champion pushed too hard into the first corner of his flying lap in the top ten shootout, running wide and aborting his lap. He went on to be rather more cautious on his second set of new tyres, therefore settling for second rather than go for pole and possibly end his session in the barriers.

Nonetheless, Schumacher was not disappointed to have missed out on his fifth pole of the season, admitting that he made a mistake on his best lap and as a result held back on his second attempt.

"Getting myself on the front row is definitely not something I can complain about, but today I
definitely did not deliver a great qualifying performance, failing to get all the potential out of the car.

"I aborted my first run on new tyres in Q3 after I ran wide at Turn 1 and I also made a mistake on my second run when in any case, I took a slightly more cautious approach to the lap, knowing I only had one set of tyres left and that it would be better to be second or third rather than not managing to do a reasonable time. It's better to be safe than sorry."

Indeed, Schumacher was delighted to see his team-mate Massa claim pole position, admitting that the Brazilian's fastest lap would have been tough to beat anyway.

"I am very happy for Felipe on getting the first pole of his career. He drove an exceptional lap and I have to say I don't think I could have beaten him, even if I had not made any mistakes. We can be optimistic about the race as, from what we have seen so far, everything is in place for us to do well."

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