Schumacher unfazed by age gap

"I don't really need to feel anything different," said the seven-times world champion, at 37 the oldest driver on the starting grid, after Ferrari presented their new 248 F1 car today.

"There's one thing that is in your passport and another thing that you feel in your body and your brain," he told a news conference at the Mugello circuit.

"I've seen those guys around for quite a while now, I know them pretty well - we play soccer and do things together - and I don't have a feeling that I am an old man hopelessly lost against these young guys," added the German.

"Not at all. In a lot of areas, I am still able to show them what's possible."

Renault's Alonso and McLaren's Raikkonen each won seven of last season's 19 races, with the 24-year-old Spaniard becoming the youngest champion in the history of the sport.

Schumacher, the most successful grand prix racer of all time with 84 wins, climbed to the top of the podium just once last year - in the six-car US Grand Prix fiasco that all the Michelin-equipped teams did not start.

It was his worst season since he joined Ferrari in 1996.

For the first time since 2000, the Ferrari ace starts the season without the number one on his car - he will have the number five as the lead driver for the third placed team - but he brushed that aside as well.

"It's back to what it used to be," he said. "It's not so long ago not to remember it. I don't really care very much what is there other than the number one."

This season could be Schumacher's last, with the German's contract expiring at the end of it although Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo stated again on Tuesday that it would be the driver's decision whether to stay or go.

Asked how important the car's performance would be in helping him make that decision, Schumacher declined to fuel any more speculation however.

"Next question," he said.