Jean Todt: "Two races with an absolutely unpredictable
outcome"
Tyres, said Ferrari's Jean Todt, will decide this year's
World Championship, "as they have done in the past."
That was his verdict after Michael Schumacher and Scuderia
Ferrari Marlboro converted a worrying qualifying in wet conditions
into a stunning race-winning performance in variable conditions
at the Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai on Sunday.
"After qualifying yesterday and the weather forecast
today, we are more than delighted by the final result,"
admitted Todt after the race. "We know that wet conditions
are not the best for us at the moment and when Michael was
sixth after the fantastic qualifying, and due to Felipe Massa's
engine change, 20th on the grid, with our major competitors
in first and second positions, I was more calculating how
many points we would lose considering that Michael was two
points behind in the Drivers' series before the race and Ferrari
was three points ahead in the Manufacturers'.
"So finishing this race in China with Michael taking
the lead in the Drivers' championship - when I say taking
the lead, he's leading the championship with the same amount
of points but seven wins against six - and Ferrari being one
point behind in the Manufacturers', we can be very happy.
"There are two races to go, we know our races can be
unpredictable, but we must not forget where we were after
the Montreal Grand Prix in the Manufacturers' and the Drivers'
championships. We have very strong competitors to fight with,
but we have demonstrated that we are very tight and hard competitors
to fight with as well, so it will be interesting but I will
not allow myself to make predictions about the final result.
We will see."
Once again, Todt paid tribute to his team. "Michael
did a great race, the team did a fantastic job. Felipe drove
a very good race. Unfortunately he could not reap the benefit
of it because he damaged his suspension when he had the incident
with Coulthard but he had been doing a great job supporting
the team to help Michael to chose when to put dry tyres on,
so it has been very good teamwork as usual."
Todt rated Schumacher's victory simply an "important
one. It is a great win, but he has had other great wins. It
was a combination of strategy, teamwork, Michael's control
of the car in different conditions. He attacked when he had
to attack. He slowed down when he could slow down. It was
a perfectly controlled race from him, the team and the package
he was driving."
But Todt admitted he was concerned right up until the last
lap, as the drizzle began to fall again. "When Michael
crossed the line on lap 55 he was four seconds ahead and it
was rain conditions with slick tyres so you would be stupid
to think that it was going to be easy. We knew it could happen
and I was completely concerned that he could lose the car
on the last lap."
Asked if he thought that this year's championship battle
has been as tough as he has known over the past ten years,
Todt replied "I would not say so. We have had championships
'97, '98, '99, all the championships were lost at the last
race except the Manufacturers' championship in '99 which we
won at the last race. So, I would say we have been fighting
for the championship since '97 except 2005 when we had a bad
season. Some seasons were very tough, some seasons were a
bit more comfortable. Let's say this one is tough but we are
still fighting."
So did that experience maybe give Ferrari an advantage, considering
its current position? Todt dismissed the question. "What
gives you an advantage is to have the right tyres, the right
reliability, the right strategy, that's what makes the advantage."
He was similarly dismissive when it was suggested that Michael
could win the title in Japan next weekend, even though there
would still be one race to go. "And Ferrari can lose
the Manufacturers' championship as well," he interjected.
But did that fact relieve the team of a little pressure? "No.
It goes quickly. What remains is the title and the wins, so
let's work for that."
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