Forghieri: Ferrari will do it Again

Former Ferrari engineer Mauro Forghieri believes the Italian Scuderia will continue to be the team to beat in 2002, stating the team will retain their drivers and technical advantage.

"I think Ferrari has mantained the advantage from last season, especially because the other teams haven't reinforced themselves from a human resources point of view," Forghieri told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Ferrari, from a technical standpoint, can afford to lead the pack - as they have the means, the men, and the best driver on the market. Nevertheless, they must find new ways and further technical advances, as they are the strongest."

Analysing the upcoming season, the legendary engineer put emphasis on the tyre war, as well as the newly allowed bi-directional car telemetry.

"Tyres will continue to count more than the rest," Forghieri said. "Bi-directional telemetry will give an even greater advantage to the big teams, who now have another way to better control the car. It is surprising that the FIA has allowed this... probably because they couldn't police it, they decided to legalise it. But the result is that racing will suffer even more, and the winners will always be the same ones - the rich ones."

Asked who he sees as a challenge to Michael Schumacher this year, the Italian said: "Personally, I like Nick Heidfeld, but his car isn't able to give the red ones any trouble. Juan Pablo Montoya too could be challenging Michael, but his team must give him a good car for every circuit, not just some of them - as was the case last year. But Williams and BMW know how to manage their operations, so we'll soon see what the situation is like. Melbourne will tell us something; not all, but a lot."