Ferrari mechanics, technicians and drivers will be hard at work this week to try and get more speed out of the Formula 1 racer before the next Grand Prix in Monaco in two weeks. "Our problem is simply that we are not fast enough. Our race lap time was a second slower than what we did in practice," driver Michael Schumacher said after Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix, where he came in second behind the Renault of reigning world champion Fernando Alonso.
Teammate Felipe Massa, who was fourth in Barcelona behind Alonso's teammate Giancarlo Fisichella, agreed and added "the car worked well and our pace was what we had expected. The problem was our rivals were simply a bit quicker than we were".
Looking at the big picture, Ferrari principal Jean Todt remarked that "of course we were all a bit disappointed the way things went. But I told the team that it's a good thing when you can be disappointed about coming in second and fourth".
"What this showed was that we remain competitive and we are the only team that can keep up with Renault. What we have to do now is make a major effort, along with our tire partner Bridgestone, to become even more competitive for the upcoming races," Todt explained.
In preparation for the next race, Ferrari this week will engage in three days of intense tests on two different tracks.
Massa will test at the Paul Ricard track in France from Tuesday through Thursday, while test driver Luca Badoer will test on Tuesday at Ferrari's home Fiorano track before Schumacher takes over for the last two days. One third of the 2006 season has already been completed and Ferrari is currently in second place in the constructors' championship, 19 points behind Renault.
Schumacher is also in second place in the race for the drives' title, 15 points back from Alonso, who last year dethroned him as world champion after five years straight.
