It will get harder, says Schumi

Schumacher's Ferrari team celebrate as he wins

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Ferrari's rivals will provide much stiffer opposition for the reigning champions at the next Grand Prix in Malaysia in two weeks' time, according to Michael Schumacher.

The world champion dominated the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday to claim the first race of the season and the 54th of his career.

But Schumacher said he does not expect Ferrari to hold on to the advantage they showed throughout the weekend in Melbourne.

Schumacher said: "We were very competitive here last year and I would assume it would be a much closer battle from now on.

I was quietly confident, but I didn't want to say too much

Ross Brawn
Ferrari technical director

"Things can change around very quickly. I wouldn't see today necessarily as an indication of the future."

Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn said he had expected the team's modified 2001 car to be good enough to win in Melbourne.

The team decided to leave the new F2002 at home in Italy because they could not be sure about its reliability.

"I was quietly confident, but I didn't want to say too much," Brawn said.

"The car was so good in Suzuka (for the last race of 2001), and we have made some progress since then. It is a high standard we need to reach with the new car.

"It wasn't too many years ago that this approach was standard."

Coulthard led briefly but then hit trouble

Ferrari benefited in Australia because they knew their old car so well, while other teams were still struggling to find a good set-up for their new cars.

They were also helped by the unusually cool temperatures in Melbourne, which favoured Ferrari's Bridgestone tyres over the Michelin's used by McLaren and Williams.

And McLaren, one of Ferrari's toughest rivals, shot itself in the foot for the third year in a row with another showing of poor reliability at the first race of the season.

Their chances of victory were dashed when David Coulthard experienced gearbox problems while leading the race.

Nevertheless, Ferrari's rivals will be concerned that the F2001 showed itself to be so quick compared to the other cars.

'Work needed'

But Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya also believes that the competition will grow tighter in Malaysia.

"Ferrari definitely had the edge on us here. From the Friday they were clearly the quickest car," Montoya said.

"I think the conditions were not the best for the tyres. Hopefully, Malaysia (on 17 March) will be hotter and play into our hands a little bit."

But he added that Williams still "needed to do quite a bit of work... when the car is good, it's as fast as Michael".

'No positives'

Coulthard was even less optimistic.

"We weren't quick in qualifying, we weren't quick in the wet and we didn't finish the race.

"I wish there was a test that I could go to now before Malaysia to really do some work. But the thing is that we have to wait now until Malaysia and see whether the tyre combination works there.

"It's difficult to find a positive on a day like today."