Ferrari Barcelona Preview Quotes

Jean Todt "The Montmelò circuit at Barcelona has never been on our list of favourites, however we have always gone well there in the race. Our competitors have done much of their testing on this track but for us it will be a tough circuit. I do not think we will be able to fight for outright victory, but we will do our utmost to reduce the gap to our main rivals ." Michael Schumacher

"I like the circuit at Catalunya a lot. It is one of my favourite circuits. Unfortunately, Spain is always a little difficult for me. In 1995 I was stuck in the fifth gear and could not shift anymore and in 1996 I won the race despite the fact that the engine was running only on eight or nine cylinders. But in 1997 I finished only fourth. Hopefully we can do better this year. The circuit is very challenging, it has a lot of high speed corners. Physically it is very demanding and there is only one straight to relax a little bit. It is not easy to find a good set-up of the car on this circuit. So our target has to be to collect as many points as possible."

Eddie Irvine

"Unlike many of the drivers, I have not tested here very much this year. I like the track except for the undulations in the track surface. Last year I did not have a very good race and had problems with blisters on my tyres, so I hope to do better this time. The circuit layout is interesting, with several long fast corners which I enjoy driving, but these corners will mean that tyre wear might be an issue. In terms of set-up, it is important to dial out any understeer as this causes problems in the long turns."