Irvine rates Ferrari a Schu-in

Eddie Irvine has told Michael Schumacher’s rivals to forget all thoughts about winning the World Championship this year.

He believes his former Ferrari team-mate is a racing certainty to claim a record-equalling fifth drivers’ crown.

‘‘The championship is a foregone conclusion but then it always was going to be unless Michelin could produce a tyre that is much better than Bridgestone, but Bridgestone have come back big-time,’’ said Irvine.

‘‘I still think Michelin have the overall advantage under dry conditions but it is not big enough to wipe out the Ferrari-Schumacher effect.’’

Schumacher leads the championship by 14 points after winning three of the first four races from his brother Ralf, whose Williams-BMW team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya is three points further back.

The German is expected to turn Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona into another Ferrari procession.

‘‘It won’t be good for the show if Schumacher keeps on winning but it will be great the day someone beats him,’’ added the Jaguar Racing driver.

‘‘That will be a bigger show than if he got beat every weekend. It is boring at the minute but he could screw up quite easily this weekend and storm through the grid and finish second. You never know with F1.

‘‘Normally Barcelona is a disaster of a race but we have to wait and see. It is going to be tough for anyone to beat Ferrari and Michael because Ferrari are not going to build a bad enough car for Michael to get beaten.’’

Irvine’s belief that Schumacher is heading for a hat-trick of drivers’ titles has been backed up by F1 rookie Allan McNish.

‘‘I did not think Ferrari would dominate like they have and you cannot see it changing,’’ said the Toyota Racing driver.

‘‘I think everybody is resigned to the fact that Schumacher is going to be world champion again and everybody is fighting to be second, third or fourth.’’

But Montoya believes he can still overcome Schumacher despite being comprehensively outpaced by his rival in Imola just a fortnight ago.

‘‘At the moment you have to say Ferrari have got the best car and with a good driver that’s a big advantage,’’ said the Colombian.

‘‘He will be difficult to beat but you cannot say he has won the championship already.

‘‘This is going to be a hard weekend for us. They will be quicker than us but hopefully we can win it, you never know.

‘‘If he goes out and breaks down in this race and Ralf or I win it then we are back in it again. We have got to try and keep on scoring points and take advantage when we can.

‘‘Our car has the potential to get back. Last year we were quicker than Ferrari in the last few races so I don’t see why we can’t do it this year. We are a lot more competitive now than we were last year.’’