Ferrari cautious over form

Juan Pablo Montoya pushed the world champion throughout the grand prix at Sepang and the Williams driver recorded a faster time in the race - indicating at least that the performance gap between Ferrari and its rivals has reduced. But Malaysia is not considered a Ferrari-friendly venue and there were question marks over the competitiveness of the Bridgestone tyres in the Malaysia's heat. Schumacher's 72nd career F1 victory answered those.

"The F2004 confirmed it has great potential," said Ferrari sporting director Jean Todt. "The work done by Bridgestone in typically Japanese understated and methodical fashion is paying off. Today's battle has confirmed that we must leave nothing to chance in order to be competitive. The championship will be very close.

"Today Ferrari showed that, even in diametrically opposite conditions to Melbourne, it is competitive and, for the time being at least, victorious."

The team's technical director Ross Brawn agreed: "We are still keeping our feet on the ground, because McLaren and Williams could always close the gap and we are ready for that."

Schumacher admitted after the race that it had not been a foregone conclusion as in the case of the Australian Grand Prix and that Montoya had run him close. "It was a tough fight all the way to the end, but I was quick enough when I needed to be at the start and end of each stint," he said. "The gap to Montoya opened and closed throughout the race and it was pressure all the way.

Referring to the brief rain shower at the start of the race, Schumacher admitted it had caused him problems: "At the start, as I was first I had no reference as to where the water was. In fact Turns 4 and 11 were slippery. Even though it was not sunny it was a tough race.

"As for the championship, it is easier to lead rather than have to fight back like last year. But we have only done two races and we know how quickly the other teams can progress. I have to say that Bridgestone did a fantastic job here, after we struggled at this track in the past."

Schumacher's team-mate Rubens Barrichello effectively doomed his chances of a win on Friday evening when he selected to race with the harder of Bridgestone's two tyre compounds. "I pushed hard all race long, doing as much as I could," he said. "I made a different tyre choice to my team-mate and it did not pay off. On top of that, in the opening laps, when it rained, my tyres quickly lost temperature and that's why I lost a few places.

"Unfortunately, the two seconds that kept me away from [Jenson] Button in the fight for the podium were lost when I was overtaking [Zsolt] Baumgartner. Of course, I would like to have won, but at least I brought home five points which will be important for the championship."