01.06.2004 "But the car was good, the tyres were good, Michael was very good, he did a good start, so it was a good race" Jean Todt reflects on the European Grand Prix

Ferrari’s Managing Director Jean Todt played down suggestions that Michael Schumacher might have had a tougher fight on his hands if the field in Sunday’s European Grand Prix hadn’t been bottled up behind Kimi Raikkonen.

While his rivals queued up behind the McLaren driver, Schumacher was able to open up a 17 second lead in just seven laps.

Todt admitted, that 'it helped him but saying that, he was really very quick and we were not expecting that he would be so far ahead after the first pit stop. He ended it just behind the group after having refuelled.

'But the car was good, the tyres were good, Michael was very good; he did a good start, so it was a good race. But we have to be very careful of using the word success, because it’s very fragile. I would never allow myself to take that for granted, because it’s never for granted.'

Todt also explained the special relationship that the team had with Umberto Agnelli, the Fiat president who died last week, and to whom the race victory was dedicated. He described his death as 'a big loss. He was a great person, a great gentleman and he died unexpectedly. He was always a very big supporter of the team, so that was the reason why we were very honoured to be able to dedicate this win to him.'

Todt went on to explain that his team started the race with unknown factors. He said that the team didn’t have all the information they would have liked on the tyres, after suffering a mechanical problem on Friday before they could try both types of tyre. For that reason they chose different strategies for Michael and teammate Rubens Barrichello.

'We didn’t know how the tyres were going to behave during the race,' he explained, 'so it was certainly an interesting choice to split the strategies. Rubens didn’t do a perfect race in Monte Carlo and he needed to be more confident and to know that he could have a chance to do a very good result, even though he wasn’t on the front row.'

Todt defended his second driver – who finished in second place behind his teammate – for the problems that he’s had and his reasons for not being on a par with Schumacher. 'We feel he is quite fast,' said Todt. 'It’s difficult to be quicker than Michael, and Michael is in great shape. He’s happy with the car, he’s happy with the tyres, so he’s able to get the best out of it. So in this condition, I think it’s become very difficult for anyone to be quicker than Michael. Rubens is very strong.'

Asked if it was a relief that the championship now goes into back-to-back Transatlantic races and Ferrari seem to have a healthy cushion in the championship over the rest of its rivals, Todt said pointed out that 'you never know what can happen. Eleven races is still a long way to go. Saying that, as I said before, I prefer to be in our position rather than in the others' position.

'We will have new specifications, hopefully new developments on the car, on the aero, tyre development, engine development, so we will have some improvements during the season.'