Schumacher Expects Tough Start of 2005

World Champion Michael Schumacher says he expects a tough start to the 2005 season despite the Ferrari F2004M already matching the pace of last year's car.

Ferrari will start the season with a modified version of the F2004 before introducing the new car at the Spanish Grand Prix in May. Rivals BAR, Renault, Williams and McLaren will all start with new cars, which have already been unveiled and tested.

Schumacher, who over the weekend tested the revised F2004M at Barcelona, was happy to see the car could match the pace of the F2004, driven by test driver Luca Badoer.

The German seven-time champion, who suffered engine related problems during the test, however expects his rivals to be strong come the season opener in Australia.

"It's encouraging to see that the modified car already laps as fast as the hybrid one, but I keep thinking that a difficult start of the season awaits us," Schumacher told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"We have to keep in mind that we are using a car which is basically the one used last year and it's therefore at its maximum development.

"We know it in its tiniest details so we can make the most of it immediately set-up wise. Our rivals, on the other hand, use completely new cars which they need to learn how to set-up properly, and they can count on vast margins of improvement.

"There's still over a month to go to Melbourne so they can surely improve. I'm aware that we are facing a very difficult challenge, even if not an impossible one, during the first phase of the Championship."

Schumacher also played down the impact of the regulation changes, aimed at making the cars slower, but said driving was now different.

"The cars are more slippery, but it isn't as bad as I feared," Schumacher added. "In fact driving-wise the drivers' abilities are better highlighted now compared to what it was before.

"Have the cars become harder to drive? I wouldn't say so, but it's rather the type of effort that has changed: before we approached the turns at higher speeds and we would suffer the Gs more. Now there's more work to do on the steering wheel."