10.05.2004 "Obviously we suffered from the ELEVENTH lap to the end when we realised that Michael had a problem due to an exhaust breakage" Jean Todt reflects on Barcelona

Jean Todt admitted that Michael Schumacher's historic 75th win in his 200th Grand Prix, the fifth win in succession this year and the fourth in succession at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona wasn't achieved without some stress.

Wearing a commemorative T-shirt, which announced "Michael Schumacher - 200 F1 races - pulse - passion" of which just 200 had been printed, Todt said "I don't think you ever win a race without some sweat.

"Obviously, we suffered from the eleventh lap to the end when we realised that Michael had a problem due to an exhaust breakage.

"When it first happened, we realised it would be difficult for him to finish the race, but as the race continued, we realised that he could still race and he wasn't going to be prevented from maintaining his pace, but it's true that up to the moment he crossed the finish line, there was a lot of worry, even if we could still count on Rubens who was in second place."

Todt again paid tribute to Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro. "I think what is outstanding is the fighting spirit of the team, the freshness of everybody in the team, the dedication to the team and to success. And you know it's something which is shared by Bridgestone, by all our partners like Shell etc. Everybody is really dedicated to the success and to try to get the best out of what we have."

Ferrari had suffered an exhaust leakage before in Monaco, with serious consequences. This was different, said Todt. "It all depends in which direction the exhaust is leaking and in Monte Carlo it was leaking in a bad direction. This time it was OK, because you know whatever the team did, if it would have been blowing on the suspension, there was little we could have done."

Ferrari's performance was incredibly dominant, on a circuit where so many rivals test, but Todt didn't feel relieved by their performance. "I'm not sure that relief is the right word after winning the first four races.

"We knew we were going to be competitive, but we cannot predict how competitive we will be; from one race to another, it's very difficult. It depends so much on the whole package: the car, engine, reliability, tyres and definitely we had the best tyres today.

"I cannot say that we were relieved after today's race because, anyway, we are expecting that we will fail, sooner or later , hopefully as late as possible, but still, I think, we are the reference for the others."

And Todt refuted suggestions that his new job, as managing director of Ferrari would mean he would spend less time on the pit wall. "I have the advantage of running an extraordinary team where everyone has a well defined role so it will be a new personal challenge to try to be managing director of Ferrari having been the director of the racing team.

"It's something very gratifying, and when you're a Frenchman, you certainly couldn't expect to become managing director of a company like Ferrari. I will try and justify the choice made by Luca di Montezemolo and by the directors.

"I will run the company, not just Formula One. I will run all Ferrari. I think we're very well organised, and everybody has a position and we're not going to change anything on the sporting side. I will still come to the races."

But he would not comment on the suggestion that he perhaps has too much to do, a point levelled at Ron Dennis, CEO of McLaren Mercedes, and that his team is suffering in consequence. "Time will tell," said Todt.

Finally, Todt explained his T-shirt. "We simply we want to express that we are very happy for Michael to celebrate his 200th Grand Prix. His manager, Willi Weber decided to print the T-shirts, and it was a team decision to wear them, today, on the Sunday afternoon after the Spanish Grand Prix."