Schumacher satisfied with Ferrari progress

One of the big questions for this season is whether Ferrari will be back on form after the team's less than inspiring 2005 efforts and Michael Schumacher is confident they will be one of the front runners. After an extended stint of testing in Bahrain, Ferrari returned to Europe for more work at Mugello this week, despite interference from the weather.

Michael Schumacher.

Photo by xpb.cc.

"Once again we were a little unlucky with the weather (on Wednesday), it was too cold and too wet, so we haven't been able to do much," the German told his website. "But (Tuesday) it was very nice here at Mugello, so we had no problems completing a whole race-distance. We were happy with the car's speed before, and now we can be satisfied with the reliability as well."

Ferrari was one of three teams that opted to travel to Bahrain, although it was a rather problematic period for the new 248 F1. "Of course we would have liked to have driven more kilometres at Bahrain, but our solutions for the problems we incurred there have proven to be adequate, as the last couple of days have shown," Schumacher commented.

Some could not see the point of a long-distance trip but the former champion believes testing at Sakhir will be a slight advantage. "It was definitely helpful to test there, especially regarding the set-up and choice of tyres -- it is, after all, the track where the first race will take place. But the tests at Mugello helped us make progress as well."

So, with the first race just about a week away, how does Ferrari measure up to its rivals? "We should be well prepared for the start of the season, and we should be one of the leading four teams," is Schumacher's opinion. "Renault is still making the best impression so far, followed by Honda, Mercedes, and ourselves. But we'll have to wait until the season gets underway to find out if that's true."

Due to the poor weather at Mugello -- there has been rain and sleet that made the track temperature too low for much constructive running on Wednesday -- Ferrari is not certain it will continue at the circuit. "We have not decided yet, how much longer we will be testing here," Schumacher said. "I'm willing to do anything that's necessary."