No crisis at Ferrari, says Schumacher

Schumacher lies fourth in the championship after a troubled season opener in Melbourne. He has played down talk in the German and Italian media of a 'crisis' which, they claim, has been compounded due to testing problems with its new F2003-GA, which has crashed twice due to mechanical failures.

"The race in Australia had its own laws," said Schumacher. "There is no reason why I should change my current impressions - that under normal circumstances, we are competitive and have a nice shot at winning. Of course we were disappointed not to have won or to have finished on the podium, but you have to stick with the positive points."

The German is confident of his chances in Malaysia this weekend, a grand prix which he has started from pole position in each of its four runnings.

"We saw that our 2002 car was fully competitive, so we can travel with high hopes to Malaysia," he said. "We have five points in our pocket despite the fact that the race was far from ideal for us. That's not too bad."

For the full story, check out this week's AUTOSPORT magazine, on sale Thursday priced £2.80.