Formula 1

Malaysian GP: Ferrari race notes

Barrichello takes the second place, Schumacher is sixth Jean Todt: 'It was a very tough race, as indeed we had expected. The start was the critical moment, when Michael collided with Trulli and Rubens lost a few places. On lap 3, we called ...

Edited: Mar 24, 2003, 12:28 AM

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Barrichello takes the second place, Schumacher is sixth

Jean Todt:

'It was a very tough race, as indeed we had expected. The start was the critical moment, when Michael collided with Trulli and Rubens lost a few places. On lap 3, we called Michael into the pits to replace the front wing, damaged in the incident. This same incident also saw Michael given a penalty and he drove through the pit-lane on lap 9, losing ground even more. All things considered, Michael's sixth place is significant for the Drivers' championship. Rubens drove a good race to take second place. We have therefore picked up a total of eleven points, which are important for both championships.'

'We knew our competitors had made progress and this race only serves to confirm that. Now we have to work along with our technical partners Bridgestone and Shell to be as well prepared as possible for the next race in Brazil, where we will continue to race the F2002. In the meantime, we will continue with the development of the F2003-GA, which we know is more competitive than the current car.'

Rubens Barrichello:

'After the start I was running almost alongside Michael and then I noticed a car spinning towards me. I had to take avoiding action and then Trulli ran wide and I had to move back inside and that cost me a lot of time. There was a lot of debris from other cars and I was lucky not to hit everything. I found myself behind Heidfeld, but we had good straight line speed and I was able to pass cars. The car set-up was fantastic but having fallen back, I had to catch up and that compromised my race.'

'After that it was trouble free. When I was running with nothing ahead of me, I could tell that Kimi was managing to pull away a bit. After the second stop, I had a slight misfire, but I kept pushing until, with 15 laps to go, the team told me to hold position. I must thank the Stewards for allowing me to race without the HANS system. Sid Watkins checked me out and agreed that I should not use it, as I have got a small hernia which is quite painful. I tried all weekend to make the HANS work and for the next race, we will have a solution which should fix the problem.'

Michael Schumacher:

'It was a tough race with an unfortunate start. I made a mistake and hit Jarno and I have apologised to him. That was the decisive moment of my race. It came as a big surprise that I was still able to fight for points after I pitted for the drive-through penalty. So, I am happy enough in the circumstances. I have no complaints about my car, which worked very well, thanks to the team. Let's hope the next race will be better.'

Rubens Barrichello: 2nd
56 laps +39.286
F2002 chassis 222

Michael Schumacher 6th
+ 1 lap
F2002 chassis 225

-ferrari-

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