F1 new boy 'scared of nobody'

Rookie Cristiano da Matta is ready for a track battle with Michael Schumacher - but only after some words of wisdom from the world champion’s team-mate.

The Brazilian will be tapping into his friend and fellow countryman Rubens Barrichello’s fountain of Formula One knowledge before he makes his debut in Melbourne next March.

But da Matta insists five-time world beater Schumacher will hold no fears for him when he faces the Ferrari ace.

“I am scared of nobody on the track,” said the 29-year-old who has signed a two-year deal to race for Toyota after winning the CART (Champ Car) title in the United States.

“When I started racing my father Toninho said to me: 'Cristiano, nobody has three balls. Some have two good ones, but they cannot do magic.'.

“There are maybe eight guys in F1 who do a very good job, but in CART there were six on the same level.

“For me, Schumacher is the best but it is difficult to compare how much better he is because how do you judge when there is a difference of equipment?”

Da Matta, testing for Toyota for the first time on Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya, added: “I’m very good friends with Rubens.

“I have known him for a long time. I even lived in the same house as him in Cambridge one time when he was at Jordan and I was driving European Formula 3000.

“For sure, I will be asking Rubens for advice. The thing I have the most right now is questions, after only a few days in the car I have a lot of them.

“I have to talk to everybody I can and of course Rubens is the most experienced and the guy who understands most about the sport so he is the best guy to ask. He is going to give me honest answers for sure.”

Da Matta insists he no longer has any doubts that he has made the right move having romped to the Champ Car title last season with seven wins for the Newman-Hass team.

“I did have some doubts about coming into F1 because I was in a very good situation in CART,” admitted da Matta, who is conducting his first test since joining Toyota in Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya this week.

“I was with a team that would allow me to win races and fight for championships every year so it was a big decision. I could have stayed in America and been a hero.

“I was getting more money in America than I will in F1 but I do not care about the money.

“This was a good opportunity for me to get into F1 but it was not an easy decision as I know with Toyota next year I probably won’t be able to win any races.”

The Belo Horizonte-born driver added: “It won’t be frustrating because in my first year I am not expecting to fight for victories. If I came and I was expecting to fight for sure it would be very frustrating.

“I am expecting to start the work and build up on it and maybe score some points next year and build on what the team did this year, improve the performance.

“Then in 2004 improve even more and who knows fight for more points and podiums and race wins. It all depends on next year so it won’t be frustrating because my mindset coming in is not I am going to fight for wins.

“After I made my choice, I didn’t have any doubts. It was just difficult at the beginning because when the opportunity first came I was still fighting for the CART championship.

“After I won it, I felt okay. Now that I have got what I wanted out of here it is time to shift gears and go for some new challengeso I’m 100% into this now – there is not even 0.0001% of a doubt!”