No let-up from Schumacher

WORLD champion Michael Schumacher has warned Ferrari they cannot afford to be complacent despite a perfect start to the season.

The German has won three races from pole position going into this weekend’s San Marino Grand Prix on Ferrari’s home ground at Imola, a track named after team founder Enzo.

But the six-time champion is refusing to sit back and enjoy Ferrari’s dominance, urging his team to continue their endless testing programme in a bid to squeeze out extra performance.

He told his personal website: “We are traditionally very strong at Imola and I naturally hope we can keep that up.

“Testing is not Ferrari’s secret to success, it is the secret of Formula One itself.

“The European season begins here and that is the natural place for the largest phase of developments to come in. We will not rest yet.”

Schumacher is keen to play down any suggestion that his superb start to the season will put extra pressure on his shoulders.

With Ferrari’s notoriously fanatical supporters set to descend on Imola in their tens of thousands, anything other than a Ferrari one-two will be a disappointment.

But Schumacher, a veteran of 14 seasons in grand prix racing, insists he can handle their expectations.

“Primarily it means more motivation for all the team,” he added. “With pressure, I have no problem. I have had to live with it for a long time.”

World motorcycle champion Valentino Rossi has driven a Ferrari Formula One car at the team’s Fiorano test track.

The 25-year-old Italian completed about 20 laps in one of last year’s F2003 cars on Tuesday, the website of Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper said.

It was the first time Rossi, who has often spoken of his desire to race in F1, had driven a Grand Prix car.

According to unofficial timing, Rossi set a best lap of 59.9, about three seconds slower than the lap record.

Meanwhile Eddie Jordan will mark the tenth anniversary of Ayrton Senna’s death by carrying the ‘Ayrton Senna Foundation’ logo on his team’s EJ14s.

Speaking about Senna, Jordan said the triple World Champion was “a great friend and supporter of the team until his untimely death at Imola.