Todt, di Montezemolo Pleased with Ferrari's Progress

Ferrari's president, Luca di Montezemolo, and the team's sporting director, Jean Todt, both expressed satisfaction with the team's strong performance in Malaysia, where World Champion Michael Schumacher has taken the second win in a row.

"I'm not only happy about the victory at Sepang, I'm delighted," exclaimed di Montezemolo. "Sepang did not turn out to be hell, because we scrupulously prepared to face the situation. It's true that it was a little less hot than expected, but I felt that the perfection displayed by Schumacher and the performance of the team stood above any weather condition."

Todt echoed di Montezemolo's impression. "It would not be fair to be unhappy when you bring home 15 points out of 18 in the race, and 33 out of 36 in the championship so far," the Frenchman said. "We can be very pleased about the whole situation so far." He added that "Bridgestone has done an outstanding job. They are silent, efficient and great people."

Both men, however, remained cautious in regards to the team's chances of winning a consecutive sixth Constructors' Championship and fifth World Drivers' Championship.

"I am always very cautious about predictions," Todt said. "[The Championship] will be close but hopefully we can maintain our advantage. The spirit of the team is to try and look forwards and to see how we can progress, where we did not do well enough, where we can be better, rather than focusing on the success we are having. We are more focused about what we have to do to improve the situation."

"We must not think everything comes easy, because things can change," di Montezemolo added. "We do our best; reacting is for the others. When you see a Mercedes and a BMW engine go up in smoke while Ferrari win and take two cars to the finish for two races, well, then I think the task of making the Championship interesting is for the others. These problems aren't for us to face.

"So, we are ready for another week of work: this time it's Schumacher's turn in testing, to prepare the car for Bahrain. It's a mysterious Grand Prix for everyone, with torrid heat and sand on the track."

Asked whether Michelin would be gaining an advantage in Bahrain due to the fact that Williams has been the only team to run a car at the track - when Marc Gene ran several laps at a ceremony last week - Todt replied: "I am not going to get into that, [but] guess what our competitors would have said if we had done the same..."