03/04/2006
NEWS STORY
On Sunday evening, before leaving the Albert Park paddock, Michael Schumacher stopped by the Ferrari garage to find the mechanics dismantling the wreck of his car. He shook their hands once more as a sign of encouragement after a weekend that no-one at Ferrari had expected. He then left for the hotel and headed that same evening for his home in Switzerland. "We miss our children. Corinna and I cannot wait to see them," he revealed.
Michael will now have a week to get used to the new time zone, while the week after he will be testing for three days in Barcelona. Ferrari will also be on the track this week with its test drivers. Following the disappointing race in Melbourne, more work is needed: "Performances like this weekend are not our objective," declared Schumacher. "We have to work hard and prove that we are competitive in all conditions and not only in specific ones."
In any case, Michael is conscious that comparisons with last year are not pertinent: "This year is completely different. This time we are much more competitive and our all-round package is much better than it appears. However, in the course of this weekend we did not show this. Thank God that in Formula 1 we base everything on figures and these show that if the tyres had maintained their temperature, we could have stayed in the lead."
It is no fluke that Michael set the third fastest lap time during the race. Only Alonso and Raikkonen were quicker and even then these times were set towards the end of the race when the cars were lighter. In the previous laps and those after his pit stop, Michael was ahead of all the others and matching Alonso. "This is what gives us hope, that we are on the right track. Now we just have to sustain it in races," stated the seven-time world champion.
For the European Grands Prix, that begin with Imola, Ferrari has many plans. "For Imola we will have improved aerodynamics and there will be modifications to the engine so things should go better", concluded the German. "So, we will be preparing intensively over the next few weeks in view of the event."