Schumi146;s pretty much perfect

Michael Schumacher described his new Ferrari as "pretty much perfect" after driving it to victory on its race debut in Sunday8217;s Brazili...

Michael Schumacher described his new Ferrari as 8220;pretty much perfect8221; after driving it to victory on its race debut in Sunday8217;s Brazilian Grand Prix.

His win was impressive, his car a lone Bridgestone runner in the top eight at a circuit expected to favour Williams and French tyre supplier Michelin.

8220;Winning this race was not down to luck,8221; said Schumacher. 8220;We worked hard for it.

8220;Having won here with the new car, I am much more optimistic about our performance on circuits where we struggled last year, even if there is still room for improvement.8221;

But Schumacher8217;s Williams rivals were far from downhearted by what they witnessed, remaining confident that the battle would remain fierce between them.

8220;According to Ferrari comments, we were expecting a really big step forward from them and it has been a step forward but not as big as we were expecting,8221; said younger brother Ralf.

The Williams driver was runner-up on Sunday, just half a second slower than Michael after a tough battle between the Formula One brothers.

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8220;We were able to qualify beside them, with a better start maybe we would have been able to win the race8230;I8217;m full of hope that we can go to Imola and again have a very tight and close race with them,8221; said Ralf.

8220;The new Ferrari has proved to be better than the old, which helped them out a lot here.

8220;But we have another test and a few more bits to add on the car and we will see how it is. I am pretty confident it is going to be another close one.8221;

Ralf, winner in Malaysia when Michael still had the old F2001, also won last year8217;s San Marino Grand Prix at Imola.

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But that race, next up in two weeks8217; time, is in Ferrari8217;s backyard and the Italian team sounded confident that Sunday was the start of big things to come.

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello had to drive the old F2001 on Sunday and his race ended, as it had in Malaysia two weeks ago, with a mechanical failure.

But Barrichello, who has yet to score a point this season, can expect to have the new car at Imola as well after Schumacher8217;s positive experience.

Schumacher8217;s win was his fourth in Brazil, the 55th of his career and his 100th podium finish.

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But Brazil ended Ferrari8217;s run of four pole positions in a row, with Williams8217; Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya fastest in qualifying.

The Williams was also faster in the race, with Montoya setting the fastest lap late in the race and Michael admitting that Ralf was quite a bit faster than him after his pitstop.

8220;I could have gone a bit faster, but probably not as fast as he was going,8221; said the Ferrari driver.

Reuters