Ralf Schumacher blasts Ferrari "arrogance"
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-03-22 10:28

Ferrari's poor start to the Formula One season is down to the Italian team's arrogance, according to German driver Ralf Schumacher.

Toyota Formula One driver Ralf Schumacher of Germany walks outside the paddock of Malaysia's Sepang International Circuit March 17, 2005. [Reuters]

"Ferrari have brought this on themselves," Schumacher, brother of Ferrari driver and seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher, told Germany's mass circulation Bild newspaper.

"How can they be so arrogant as to start the season with the old car? On top of that, they're going it alone with their own tyre contract."

Michael Schumacher, driving the 2004 Ferrari that served him so well last season, finished a distant seventh in the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday, after failing to finish in the opening race in Melbourne.

After two races, the champion is in 11th place in the world championship standings with two points, 14 behind Spain's Fernando Alonso, the winner at Sepang.

Ferrari are also trailing in fourth place in the constructors championship with 10 points, 16 behind Renault.

Team bosses must now decide whether to introduce the new F2005 car at the third race of the season in Bahrain, after originally planning a debut for round five in Barcelona.

The decision will depend on testing in Mugello this week, with Michael Schumacher due to drive the new car for the first time on Wednesday.

"I've heard a lot about the car from our test driver Luca Badoer," Schumacher said at his personal website on Monday. "I'm looking forward to at last trying it out myself.

"The first drive is always exciting once again."

Schumacher was pictured as a snail in Monday's Bild newspaper, after finishing one minute 19 seconds behind Alonso in Malaysia, while Sueddeutsche Zeitung signalled the end of an era in the sport.

"There's a new colour-scheme in Formula One, with (Renault's) sky-blue the shade of the season," the newspaper wrote.

Schumacher accepted that things had not gone well in the opening two races but warned against writing off his chances.

"After two botched races you can say that the situation is tough," Schumacher said. "It's definitely not hopeless, though.

"I've often known it to happen that in one race I haven't had a chance and then in the next I've challenged for victory."

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