Team order row 'no distraction'

Michael Schumacher only qualified third at the Principality and finished second to David Coulthard in the race. It was the first time in four races that the German had not won and marked the first defeat for Ferrari's F2002 chassis.

But when asked if the strong feelings directed against Ferrari since the A1-Ring race had proved a distration in Monaco, Brawn told Autosport.com: "Not really for us. If anything it strengthened our people. I was really impressed by the spirit of our people in difficult circumstances. If anything it brought the team closer together. That's the nice thing about Ferrari - in adverse circumstances we do stick together."

But then he did make a small concession. "I suppose it was a bit of a distraction, but you could see in Monaco the car was quick and reliable, it was just the tyres worked the wrong way round in that they weren't so good in qualifying and were fantastic in the race. And [Michelin's] were fantastic in qualifying and didn't look so good in the race. It's only really in Monaco where you can get away with that."

As for next week's Canadian Grand Prix, Brawn indicated that he expects Ferrari to bounce back from its rare defeat, even if the Michelin-shod Williams and McLarens have an edge in qualifying.

"It should be OK," he said. "The good thing about Canada is at least you can overtake. We've obviously got to work on qualifying between now and Canada, but I think we have a good tyre for Canada. Even if we don't get it right in qualifying we can look forward to a slightly less frustrating race there."

For a full Q&A with Ross Brawn, click here.