Schumacher 'Very Optimistic' ahead of Malaysian GP

World Champion Michael Schumacher, who won the first Grand Prix of the season in Australia, believes his Ferrari team will be equally competitive at the Malaysian Grand Prix this weekend despite using an updated version of last year's car.

The German driver scored a dominant win in Melbourne after the Italian squad had topped all the practice and qualifying sessions. Schumacher finished nearly 20 seconds ahead of Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya in the Williams, and following Ferrari's decision to use the F2001 chassis again, Schumacher is confident that his team will be again on top in Sepang.

"In Australia, we saw that our car is not inferior to our rivals' 2002 cars, both in general and specifically, in terms of speed," Schumacher said. "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."

Williams driver Montoya complained after the Australian Grand Prix about the performance of his Michelin tyres compared to Schumacher's Bridgestones, and though the French manufacturer will take a new tyre to Malaysia, the Ferrari star expects Bridgestone to have the upper hand again.

"I think we will still have the better tyre," Schumacher added. "Maybe not to the extent we saw in Australia, but I disagree completely with the idea that Bridgestone will not be competitive in Malaysia. This opinion is based on last year, when the Bridgestones suffered a bit in the hot weather in the early part of the season.

"At the beginning of last year, there was definitely a gap between us and Michelin. But by the mid-season the gap had closed. At the French GP, we were more than competitive, even if the so-called experts believed the opposite prior to the race.

"That's why I'm very optimistic about the Malaysian race. I am sure we will be in contention for the win."