Williams will be 'more competitive'

The German beat his brother Ralf to victory in the Brazilian GP, his first race in the new F2002. But he reckons the Williams FW24 and its powerful BMW engine was still the best car. Added to that, the Imola circuit is where the team and manufacturer scored its first victory last year.

"The BMW-Williams will definitely be the most competitive team in Imola," said Schumacher. "Even last year they were very strong at this track. On the other hand we made mistakes at the time, while Williams simply performed better."

Despite saying that Williams has an advantage, Schumacher still expects to fight for victory and is gearing up for yet another close battle between the teams.

"I would say the BMW-Williams have more top speed, but we have other strong points," he said. "One is certainly our aerodynamics and actually, a lack of horsepower can be made up for in other ways such as in a better weight distribution.

"You have to look at the car as a complete package," he added. "For example, we were very close to the Williams in terms of top speed [in Brazil], making up the power difference through the rear wing, which is one of the strongest components on the new Ferrari. But we must remember that we only won the Interlagos race because the opposition did not get the most out of its machinery, whereas we did."

In testing last week, Schumacher said that Ferrari concentrated on its Bridgestone tyres and its braking capability. He said that the latter is particularly critical at Imola.