Barrichello Fears Ferrari will be Lapped

Barrichello and teammate Michael Schumacher failed to make an impact during first practice, ending the day 15th and 11th respectively in the standings, and the Brazilian is not expecting a dramatic improvement in their form when the action resumes on Saturday.

"I hope it's just a matter of the tarmac not being fully rubbered, and it should improve," he told reporters at Monaco yesterday after practice. "But it will be tough: even in our best years we always suffered here, and we knew that this would be a difficult weekend.

"We haven't the rhythm to think about fighting for pole, nor to keep up in the race with who's in front at the moment. What do we lack? Everything: we are neither fast nor consistent. I have problems in balance and grip.

"If Renault and McLaren will carry on with the pace shown in practice on Sunday too, then we'll end up being lapped. But this is not the time to look at others. We need to reflect over ourselves and to try to find a solution."

Barrichello says his only hope is that the team can discover something in the car's set-up during Friday's rest day to help them make a dramatic improvement in performance.

"This Friday can be of help to us," he added. "I hope to be able to make up at least half a second, by improving the balance of my F2005.

"It suffers from oversteering, and that is not the best thing here. If we manage to qualify in the top six it will be like squeezing blood from a turnip..."