Schumacher's San Marino problem identified

Maranello, 17th April - This morning at the offices of the Gestione Sportiva in Maranello, the usual post-race technical briefing took place. President Luca di Montezemolo was present das the engineers went through every aspect of the Imola weekend, based on the data accumulated and checks made after the race. In order to get further data, Luca Badoer did twenty laps at the wheel of the F2001 which Michael Schumacher had used at Imola. Particular attention was paid to analysing the reason for the failure which led to Schumacher's retirement on lap 25. The engineers isolated the problem, which confirmed the original diagnosis made on Sunday afternoon, namely that there had been a failure in the front left suspension group, which led to the rim being damaged and the consequent loss of air from the tyre.

The Scuderia is putting in a great deal of effort in preparation for the forthcoming Spanish Grand Prix and this fact is underlined by the presence of no less than three F2001 running at Fiorano today: chassis 208, 209 and 210.

-Ferrari