Schumacher in Favour of Starting Season with F2002

World Champion Michael Schumacher says Ferrari's decision to start the 2003 season with the old F2002 is the best option, and claimed that the McLaren team are likely to give him a good run for his money.

Schumacher said at the launch of the new F2003-GA that he does not know what to expect in the new season following McLaren's impressive testing pace, but did admit that Ferrari are right to start the year in last year's dominant F2002.

"Well, it's never realistic to know up front, but I feel that first of all we have to start with the old car," said Schumacher, who won 11 of the 17 Grands Prix last year as he claimed a record-equalling fifth world crown.

"We have a good old car, which should give us important points at the beginning of the season. Then the new car hopefully gives us another step forward because you have seen that winter testing has been much closer than some people may have expected after the results of last year.

"Anticipating that McLaren and Mercedes are coming with their new car, it's going to be very important that we do a very good job with the new car, that we should be able to fight for it (the Championship) again."

Ferrari's sporting director Jean Todt said the F2003-GA is expected to be introduced at the San Marino Grand Prix, the fourth round of the Championship.

Schumacher said that teammate Rubens Barrichello, who won four races last year, will be a title rival this time around, but with a much closer challenge from McLaren pair David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen.

"It depends very much where McLaren, in the end, will end up," Schumacher said when asked if Barrichello will be his closest challenger. "If they end up very close to us, then you are going to have the McLaren drivers and Rubens.

"Rubens will certainly be a big challenge and we have seen in winter testing, again, and last year, that he is a bloody fast racing driver. For me, it's a big challenge to keep the upper hand and we will find out who, in the end, it will be."

But Schumacher warned the Tifosi not to expect the dominance of 2002 to be repeated and insisted the title race could go down to the wire this year.

"No, I don't expect to match what we did last year," he said. "It would be too much to think we could do that again. For me, it's important to achieve a Championship and if it is in the last race, or if it is in the middle of the season, it's more comfortable to do it earlier but there's one goal to achieve."