Schuey fires warning to rivals

The German says that he expects the new Ferrari F2005 to be fully competitive, and reliable, when it makes its race debut in the Spanish Grand Prix on May 8.

Schumacher indicated that by starting the season in a revised F2004B chassis, Ferrari has given itself a better chance of maximising the new 2005 regulations, which have resulted in a massive cut in downforce, require engines to last two grand prix weekends and tyres to last an entire race.

"I think the current car is strong enough to challenge the competition," he said. "It is paramount at the beginning of a year to have a reliable car and this we have with the F2004. So I cannot detect any disadvantage in our planning.

"What I expect, however, is that Ferrari will face a tougher head wind in 2005. It would be foolish to believe that we will be winning all but three races again. Most of all, I expect quite a lot from McLaren-Mercedes, from the very first race at Australia onwards."

According to Schumacher, using a revised F2004 (one of the most successful racing cars in the history of the sport) for the first four races of the season is a worthwhile trade-off in pace against reliability.

"Clearly, we may lose some points but by the time we have the new car we will have the reliability all checked and we will gain," he said after making his return to an F1 cockpit following his extended winter break, on Tuesday.

"This may compensate for the initial loss," he added. "It's a trade off one against the other. Let's see who's going to be right."

Not launching the new car until Barcelona will give Ferrari more development time with its new car, which is expected to break cover in mid-to-late February, but it will also give the Italian team the opportunity to evaluate its rivals' interpretations of the new regulations.