Ferrari Hurt by Heat Wave, Says Todt

Ferrari boss Jean Todt has put the sudden demise of the World Champions down to the introduction of new Formula One regulations for this season - and the record-breaking summer heat wave.

Michael Schumacher won the drivers' title in record time last season and Ferrari claimed their fourth consecutive Constructors' Championship by winning as many points as the rest of the field put together.

But Todt was forced to watch the team overtaken by Williams-BMW in the Constructors' Championship at the last race in Hungary and claims the record temperatures in Europe have hampered their challenge.

"For us the summer was too hot," complained Todt. "That may not be an excuse, but it is an explanation. We did not make the best of the tyres at high temperatures, particularly in qualifying, where everyone has only an attempt.

"Our success became a problem for the sport so the FIA laid some new rules out for 2003. We are always under pressure but it looks like we have not made the best out of them, particularly at the start of the season."

Ferrari are now faced with a tough fight in the remaining three races of the season and have courted controversy by protesting to the sport's governing body, the FIA, over the legality of their rivals' Michelin tyres.

The Williams-BMW and McLaren-Mercedes teams, who both use Michelin rubber, will be forced to use rapidly developed new tyres to ensure they are not disqualified from the next race in Italy this weekend.

Schumacher is currently defending a one-point lead from Colombian Williams-BMW driver Juan Pablo Montoya, with McLaren-Mercedes' Finn Kimi Raikkonen one point further back in third. The German has failed to finish on the podium since the French Grand Prix at the start of July. His last victory came in Canada at the start of June, since then he has picked up just 18 points.

In contrast Montoya has been present on every one of the last seven podiums, winning two races in Monaco and Germany and taking 40 points from a possible 50 in the five events since Canada. But Ferrari undertook a massive five-driver, four-car, test on two Italian circuits last week in a bid to get their championship chase back on track after their disappointing performance in recent races.