Schumacher Confident of Strong Weekend

Ferrari have been working flat out since the Bahrain Grand Prix to cure the reliability issues that marred the debut of the F2005, and although the car did not set any impressive times in practice Schumacher claims he has seen enough to feel optimistic about his chances for the weekend.

"It has not been bad," said Schumacher, who ended the day just a few tenths behind World Championship leader Fernando Alonso. "We are very close to most of the teams. Alonso is only within a tenth or so of myself and Rubens Barrichello, so that is a good indication for the rest of the weekend.

"The car is very strong in many areas and also the tyres worked well with a new compound. I think consistency is our strong point. There were no reliability problems.

"I am happy with the handling, we had a good balance right from the start so we could work well on the car. We brought a new aerodynamic package and we  worked a lot on tyres and this is why we are better. I think we can be confident for qualifying and the race."