F2002 No Big Step Forward, Says Ralf

The Ferrari F2002 is not such a big step forward compared to last year's F2001, according to Williams driver Ralf Schumacher.

World Champion Michael Schumacher raced with the new F2002 for the first time at this weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix, and the German driver won the race ahead of his brother Ralf, but with less than a second separating them as they crossed the finish line.

Ralf, winner of the Malaysian Grand Prix two weeks ago, claimed he was confident for the San Marino Grand Prix after seeing that the new Ferrari is not as fast as he had expected.

"I must say that according to comments from Ferrari's side, we were expecting a really big step forward and it has been a step forward but not as big as we were expecting," said the younger Schumacher, who is now second in the standings, eight points behind his brother.

"We were able to qualify beside them, with a better start maybe we were able to win the race or a bit better first stint, so I'm full of hope that we can go to Imola and again have a very tight and close race with them."

Schumacher's teammate Juan Pablo Montoya started from pole position in today's race, but after clashing with Michael at the start, the Colombian had to settle for fifth.