Schumacher Remains Calm Despite Slow Start

World Champion Michael Schumacher remained calm despite a slow start of his Monaco Grand Prix, where the Ferrari driver aims to score his fifth consecutive win this season.

The German driver, leader of the Championship by 27 points over Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya after six rounds, wound up 11th fastest in Thursday's practice session, nearly 1.5 seconds off the pace of Jarno Trulli, who topped the time with his Renault.

However, Schumacher - winner at Monaco five times - kept his cool despite not being completely happy with his F2002's handling.

"The session went reasonably well and we had no particular problems," said Schumacher. "We have not yet found the ideal set-up for the car, but I am not too worried about this. We still have work to do to improve the handling.

"Generally it looks as though everyone's times are much closer here than in recent races. But we will not know the real situation until Saturday afternoon. As usual in Monaco, it takes a few more laps than at other tracks to find your rhythm."

Schumacher was outpaced by Brazilian teammate Rubens Barrichello, who finished in seventh position in the second Ferrari.

"As usual in Monaco, the first day is a case of getting to grips with the circuit and to work steadily on finding a good set-up," said the Brazilian. "It seems that some drivers were trying qualifying set-up, but we stuck to working towards the race.

"I am reasonably happy with the work we have done so far, but there is still more to do to find the right balance on the car."