Schumacher: no tyre worries

Last year Michelin appeared to have an advantage in hotter conditions, and this weekend's race will be the hottest of the year. However, Schumacher feels there's little to choose between the two tyre makes now.

"I think we will still have the better tyre," he said. "Maybe not to the extent we saw in Australia, but I disagree completely with the idea that Bridgestone will not be competitive in Malaysia. At the beginning of last year, there was definitely a gap between us and Michelin, but by the mid-season the gap had closed. That's why I'm very optimistic about the Malaysian race. I am sure we will be in contention for the win."

For the second successive race Ferrari have opted to run their 'old' 2001 car rather than risk the F2002. Although Schumacher comfortably won the opening race in Australia, David Coulthard had a healthy advantage before the safety car and his gearbox trouble, and Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest lap. Schumacher is confident that the F2001 has the pace to guide him to yet another win on Sunday, though.

"In Australia, we saw that our car is not inferior to our rivals' 2002 cars, both in general and specifically, in terms of speed. It is an advantage knowing our car so well, because we did a perfect job working on set-up over the weekend. I don't see why things should be different in Malaysia, especially in the unique conditions we will encounter there. I am in total agreement with the team's decision, even if testing results with the new car have been very encouraging."