Schumacher Praises 'Perfect' F2002

World Champion Michael Schumacher was delighted with the performance of the new Ferrari F2002, and claimed Sunday's win at the Brazilian Grand Prix was the result of a hard work from the Italian squad.

It was Schumacher's second victory of the season, and the 55th of a record-breaking career, but the Championship leader had to sweat for it after being hounded by Ralf Schumacher's Williams throughout the closing laps.

"The car was perfect," claimed Schumacher after scoring his 100th podium finish in Formula One. "We didn't suffer any problems, but it was a very tight race with Ralf, though I was confident I could win and winning in the new car makes us optimistic for other races.

"Winning this race was not down to luck. We worked hard for it, developing the new car and the Bridgestone tyres."

Schumacher, using the F2002 in a race for the first time, took the lead of the event after overtaking pole setter Juan Pablo Montoya at the start. But the duo clashed yet again at the end of the second straight, with the Williams driver touching the Ferrari's rear left tyre and losing his front wing.

Schumacher and Montoya had already clashed at the Malaysian Grand Prix two weeks ago, the German being the one who lost his front wing.

"Juan Pablo drove well and I thought I could outbrake him for the first corner, but he left his braking really late, so I prepared to do it at the second," said Schumacher. "He left me enough space and I got by. I don't know what happened at Turn 4. I went for the inside line to leave him the outside."

Schumacher now leads the Championship by eight points from his brother Ralf, and the four-time World Champion said he was confident for the next races as the F2002 is yet far from reaching its maximum potential.

"Having won here with the new car I am much more optimistic about our performance on circuits where we struggled last year, even if there is still room for improvement," he said.