Australia Preview Quotes: Ferrari

Michael Schumacher: "The new concession on the part of Formula One will, without a doubt, leave room for tactical speculation. Tactics will have a key role and the spectators will not know, in reality, who the fastest driver was: it could be that that driver in pole had a good day, or had little fuel on board, to have been really quick. It will throw sand in the faces of the competitors, but perhaps it will create a bit of confusion. In theory, you could imagine that the teams that are tactically strong would benefit from a situation like this; in reality even this is only a supposition, we need to wait and see how things evolve.

"I think that the most dangerous opponents will be McLaren-Mercedes, but also Toyota, BAR, Sauber and Renault have performed well during testing. Then, naturally, we have to see how the Williams behaves in races. Despite the numerous uncertainties the probability of achieving acceptable results right from the first races are good. In this sense there are no reasons not to be optimistic. Cautiously optimistic, obviously!"

Rubens Barrichello: "I am not getting stressed by the first three races, even though some people seem to be doing so on my behalf. The first three races are not the end of the world for me. I am in an excellent frame of mind and I know I am continuing to drive better than ever. These are the important factors. But, an early win this year would be nice. I have not paid too much attention to what the other teams have done in winter testing, but if asked to pick one team which might be the surprise of 2003, I would say Toyota, at least in the early part of the season.

"There are a lot of rule changes, but they are the same for everyone. That means that strong teams like Ferrari will have the best planning and methods to deal with the situation. I feel comfortable with these changes and I don't think they will affect our performance. The car and the tyres are good, the engine has been improved. So now we just have to get to Melbourne and learn about the new situation as it develops."