Michael Schumacher cautious about Melbourne

Although many think that Michael Schumacher and Ferrari are the favourites for the titles in 2002, the German champion is keeping expectations low for the first race of the season in Melbourne on March 3rd. Ferrari announced recently that they would be starting this season with a revised model of last year's car rather than the new F2002, which they had expressed concerns about the reliability of. Schumacher admits he would rather have been in the new car and also said he was only hoping to finish in the points.

"It would have been better to start the season with the F2002, as everyone else will start with their new cars, which are definitely faster, but maybe not more reliable," he explained. "At the first race there are often many retirements, but we have no doubts, our objective is to get three or four points, but also to be there to take advantage of any chance that might arise. It's a shame that we are running a bit late. In any case, I prefer not to make any prediction on the F2002. We won't be able to make proper performance comparisons with our competitors until Australia."

Schumacher is hedging his bets but no doubt many fans won't be so cautious: he has won the opening race of the season the last two years in a row.