"There are some places where Bridgestone will be good and some where our rivals will be good." So said Michael Schumacher after setting second fastest time for the Brazilian Grand Prix. Furthermore, this was in a car that "we won't really know for three or four races."

But a swift look down the order does reveal that Michael is the only Bridgestone driver in the top six, and only eighth placed Barrichello and ninth placed Heidfeld are the other Bridgestone-shod runners in the top ten. So it does seem that Bridgestone are at a disadvantage here. Furthermore, the fact that both Michael and Rubens were happy to do only three runs confirms that they need to conserve tyres and suggests that they might make several stops in the race.

The problem faced by drivers, teams and tyre manufacturers here in Brazil is that of heat. We've had two absolutely brilliant days here: as clear blue skies as you could wish for, little pollution, low humidity (mostly), and thanks to it being Easter, the traffic has been positively sparse.

But that sun means that track temperatures can escalate massively. In the second part of this morning's session, the temperature rose from about 24 degrees to 39 in the space of 45 minutes. Imagine trying to chase that kind of change in track conditions, balancing the car to keep up with the changes. It's a task that no one wants this early in the season.

So in a way, this race is a problem one, and if Michelin can make their tyres work here better than Bridgestone, good luck to them. It does mean a slightly one-horse race in that Michael is likely to be the only Bridgestone runner in the top six. Having said that, the circuit is anti-clockwise and tiring, the temperature is going to be around 30 degrees probably, it's bumpy out there, there is still potential for punctures as we saw in the Formula 3000 race and it's early in the season, when cars are still subject to unreliability.

Interestingly, McLaren's straightline speeds are not bad here, given the uphill 'straight'. Raikkonen is only 1.2 kph off Ralf's fastest speed, and even though Coulthard is some way down the order, the margin is still only 2.4 kph. But the reliability is still suspect as Raikkonen showed today, so whether they will figure in the race remains to be seen.

Renault's performance is refreshing; they were third (Button) and fourth (Trulli) in the morning session and there's a new spring in the step of the Renault men, particularly after last year's disasters. Of course, they, too, are helped by Michelin here but it is always refreshing to have as many potential front runners as possible.

So we go into Sunday's race with optimism of a good, eventful race. The penalties that have been levied on Takuma Sato and Rubens Barrichello have made little difference to final outcome of the grid, and while we had a clean sweep of Brazilians on the rostrum for the F3000 race (Rodrigo Sperafico, Mario Haberfeld, Ricardo Mauricio and Antonio Pizzonia), I don't think we're going to hear the Brazilian national anthem again - apart from at the start of the race. Incidentally, while we're on about the F3000 race, the star of the day was certainly Bjorn Wirdheim who qualified fifth, scarcely got off the line, then fought back up to fifth in the race and was still moving up the field when the chequered flag came out. Watch him.

But I digress. Raceday is what it's all about in Grand Prix racing and although it would seem that most drivers are on the softer option as usual, it does look as though it should be a Michelin win tomorrow and my own personal favourite would certainly be Williams. We shall see.

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Bob Constanduros