Ferrari will still win says Lauda

Although it is often believed that new rules level the playing field between teams, Lauda is absolutely adamant that the reigning world champions will be just as strong next year as they were this season - something that will be bad news for the opposition.

"That the new regulations will be a disadvantage for Ferrari, I would doubt," said Lauda in an interview with German newspaper Bild on Wednesday. "Why would the best team not also be the best with changes of the rules?

"Michael Schumacher, who will enjoy a winter break as a world champion, will come back strengthened and motivated like always when he comes back for the season. There is no doubt."

Lauda is adamant that the key to Ferrari's dominance this year lay not in the car design or Schumacher's driving brilliance, but in the ultra-close relationship the team enjoyed with tyre supplier Bridgestone.

"They developed together with Bridgestone tyres and optimised the handling of the car to turn things around. That is the key to where their superiority lay."

Despite Lauda's pessimism about the form of Ferrari next year, he does believe there will be plenty of excitement in the sport during 2005 however, not least with the new driver line-ups elsewhere on the grid.

Speaking about McLaren teaming up Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen, Lauda said: "It is the most spectacular and most unpredictable driver partnership. It will be interesting to see, who over the 19 races, at the end is the better one. I look forward to the duel."

Lauda also believes that Williams will suffer next season because it will lack consistency with both Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher moving elsewhere

"Team boss Frank Williams has made an error with his driver politics," he added. "It is not good to let both drivers go. It is always an advantage to let a driver test in the season with things that are intended for the next. However, Williams could do that neither with Ralf Schumacher or Juan Pablo Montoya."