Schumacher dismisses McLaren threat
Despite Kimi Raikkonen heading into the Monte Carlo weekend - round seven of the world championship - with a two-point lead, Michael Schumacher says he is not unduly concerned about the new McLaren MP4-18A. The car was tested for the first time at Paul Ricard last week and is due to make its race debut at Nurburgring in a month's time.
"I am not dramatically worried about the new car," Schumacher said in Monte Carlo. "We have such a masterpiece in our hands that I'm sure it will survive the new McLaren."
Schumacher has won back-to-back races since the new Ferrari F2003-GA was debuted at the Spanish Grand Prix earlier this month. He added: "The races might be tighter but that's not a worry for us. I don't think that the car looks out of the ordinary. Looking at it, we are not saying that we have forgotten something on our car so that we should be worried.
"I'm sure McLaren will work on the new car's speed and reliability but I know what we already have and we will be difficult to beat."
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