Business as usual for dominant Ferrari

FORMULA ONE: Michael Schmacher yesterday said a decision on whether his Ferrari team will introduce its new F12002 car at the Brazilian Grand Prix will be taken at a test next week following this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix.

Rumours had suggested that Ferrari's new challenger would appear at Interlagos in Sao Paolo in two weeks' time, but Schumacher admitted that the team would not race the car before it was fully happy with its performance.

"You must be patient," he smiled. "Obviously our wish is to have it sooner rather than later but we want it to be 100 per cent reliable. We have an important test happening next week and we'll make a decision based on what we learn at that test." The absence of Ferrari's new machinery is unlikely to cause the Italian marque problems before Brazil or even until the return to Europe and the real meat of mid-season testing before and after the San Marino Grand Prix in April.

Schumacher and the F12001 proved to be virtually flawless in the season opener in Melbourne a fortnight ago and there's little to suggest that this weekend in Kuala Lumpur will be any different.

The Sepang circuit has been dyed a very visible shade of red since the inaugural race in 1999, when Schumacher handed victory to then team-mate Eddie Irvine when the Irishman was running head-to-head with McLaren's Mika Hakkinen in that year's championship showdown. Since then, Schumacher has reigned imperiously at the Malaysian circuit, taking comprehensive victories in 2001, where he capped his own championship win by handing Ferrari that season's constructors' championship, and last year, where despite a massive spin in the downpours that struck on race day the world champion ran away with the race.

In unhindered competition this weekend little is likely to change. The F12001 raced in Melbourne two weeks ago is a modification of the car raced at last year's season closer in Suzuka and, armed with the electronic aids which were banned until last year's Spanish Grand Prix, Schumacher's passage to victory, even before a wheel has turned in anger, looks comfortable.

The one challenge to Schumacher's dominance in Melbourne came from Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya, but even his wresting of the lead in Australia was shortlived as his Michelin tyres faded and he was chewed up and spat out by the much faster Schumacher within five laps. The Colombian later conceded that he had been seriously short on pace compared with Schumacher and had quickly realised that he was in a fight he had no hope of winning. Schumacher, though, admitted that he expected the competition to be stiffer in Kuala Lumpur though the compliment was decidedly backhanded. "I don't think they (McLaren) will be competitive. I think it's more consistent rather than competitive but if you look at Kimi Raikkonen's race time it wasn't really uncompetitive."

In Formula One the difference between 'not really uncompetitive' and 'challenging' is measured in country miles though and just beyond the picket fences of Ferrari's hospitality suite, the imagined sound of furious rain dances is almost audible. The tropical downpours that threw open last year's race are the only real hope of advancement. Last year's torrents allowed David Coulthard to bounce his uncompetitive McLaren MP4/16 from eighth to third and Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen from ninth to fourth.

For Jordan a result in the rain would be like manna from the heavens. The team has attracted more negative publicity since a double non-finish in Australia, parting company with technical director Eghbal Hamidy just a year after trumpeting the Iranian's arrival as the solution to the team's aerodynamic problems. Those aerodynamic problems have surfaced to a lesser extent in the EJ12 and Jordan have brought Gary Anderson back from exile to turn the team's fortunes around.

The EJ12 though was not the complete disappointment many expected. Giancarlo Fisichella, aided by the Melbourne rain, qualified eighth, and early in the race team-mate Takuma Sato kept pace with the front runners.

Fisichella admitted that the EJ12's early weekend performance in Australia left him hopeful of good things to come in Malaysia. "I can't wait to get back in the car, as the Melbourne incident robbed me and many other drivers out of a race," said the Italian. "I like this circuit though, although it is very demanding in terms of fitness and physical stress due to the very high humidity levels and temperature."

Phoenix, the organisation that bought the assets of the defunct Prost team in the run-up to the Australian GP, have been told categorically that they will not be racing in Malaysia.