Get in early: Schu throws down gauntlet to championship rivals
The 36-year-old German, who statistically is the most successful driver in Formula One history with 83 wins from 212 GPs, is after eight world titles, six of them in succession with Ferrari after landing two with Benetton in 1994-95.
Few, if any, in the sport are predicting anything other than another season triumph for Schumacher, whose relentless domination has raised criticism of the sport's predictability.
But Schumacher is unperturbed about the possibility that Ferrari may not be quite up to the mark in tomorrow's season-opening Grand Prix.
Ferrari have decided that they will use their championship-winning 2004 car with some modifications in the opening three Grands Prix of the season in Australia, Malaysia (March 20) and Bahrain (April 3) while they develop their new season car in Europe for its first race showing at Imola on April 24.
"I might still win that's what we're here for but our chances are less compared to if we had the new car," Schumacher said. "It's a matter of fact that having the old car will move us backwards compared to if we had the new car.
"Having more time to develop the new car will mean it will arrive at a higher level than if we had it here and then we might never achieve that level.
"You don't win a championship by just winning the first race. You have to go the whole season, and you have to put the strategy in place for what you want to achieve. We want to achieve the world championship title for constructors and drivers and that takes the whole season."
Yet despite Schumacher's public cautiousness, Ferrari usually run their previous years' cars in the season-opening races in Melbourne without any discernible problems and the same outcome is likely again this weekend.
Schumacher has won four of the last Australian GPs, with only David Coulthard breaking the stranglehold for McLaren in 2003. Ferrari are bidding for their fifth straight pole position here, even behind the wheel of previous season cars.
Yet again, Schumacher's ever-reliable Brazilian team-mate Rubens Barrichello looks his main championship threat.
"I could be sitting down earning my money and go home happy, but I'm not made like that," Barrichello said. "I'm sick of losing and I try to keep getting better and better."
Ferrari's outside threat appears to come from Renault and McLaren.
Young Spaniard Fernando Alonso made giant strides with Renault last year and McLaren appear to have a potential combustible mix with Kimi Raikkonen and Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya.
Another with title aspirations is exciting young Englishman Jenson Button with BAR-Honda.
Meanwhile, minnows Minardi were granted a court injunction to compete in qualifying sessions for the season-opener after race officials had ordered them to comply with new regulations.
A judge in the Victorian Supreme Court ruled Minardi could participate in qualifying given the matter was considered urgent. Minardi team principal Paul Stoddart sought the court injunction after FIA stewards told his team they had to comply with the 2005 safety regulations to participate in the Australian GP.
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