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Schumie blames Ferrari tyres
Monaco, Jun 02: Michael Schumacher blamed Ferrari`s tyres and an error on strategy for the end of his three-race winning streak at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Monaco, Jun 02: Michael Schumacher blamed Ferrari's tyres and an error on strategy for the end of his three-race winning streak at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Schumacher had been unbeaten since the debut of Ferrari's definitive 2003 car at the San Marino Grand Prix in April but he could not recover at Monaco from qualifying fifth.
He ended up third behind Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya and McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, who extended his championship lead over Schumacher to four points.
Schumacher failed to beat fourth-placed Renault driver Jarno Trulli off the grid and was stuck behind the Italian for 27 laps.
"If I hadn't been stuck behind Trulli, I guess I could have kept the situation closer with Kimi and I probably would have been able to get him," said Schumacher. "But our strategy was to go for a long first stint and that meant having more fuel, which is why I was behind him."
Schumacher made his first pit stop as many as 10 laps later than the other front-runners but was only able to do so because he had qualified with a lot of fuel on board.
Had he used a fuel load more comparable with Williams and McLaren, Schumacher would almost certainly have qualified ahead of Trulli, greatly enhancing his chances of victory. But that was not the only issue that prevented the German battling for the lead.
Once he was past Trulli and up to third place after the first pit stops, Schumacher had a poor middle stint in which he lost a lot of time to eventual Montoya and Raikkonen.
Schumacher said: "You always hope for better but actually it was quite reasonable to end up third... it is fair to say that on the tyre side we didn't look too good this weekend.
"We tried everything but we have to say that this weekend we probably were not strong enough."
Schumacher was able to close on eventual Montoya and Raikkonen in the last stint of the race. At that point, his Bridgestone tyres had an advantage because the weather had cooled as a result of gathering clouds. But until the second stops the race had been run in the sunshine that had been a feature of the weekend.
In the hotter conditions the Michelins used by Montoya's Williams team and Raikkonen's McLaren outfit seemed to have the edge.
"If you look at our pace we were not far off but we were not in front and I would put that down to the tyres," Schumacher said.
Ferrari sporting director Jean Todt added: "After the first pit stop we felt that Michael could have made up the other two places at his second stop.
"But as the gap grew bigger in the second part of the race, because the car-tyre package was not working at its best, this was not possible," he said.
"This result is further proof that this season is very closely fought," he said. "We will have to work very hard in the next few weeks, both on the development of the F2003-GA and with Bridgestone on the tyres."
Bureau Report
Schumacher had been unbeaten since the debut of Ferrari's definitive 2003 car at the San Marino Grand Prix in April but he could not recover at Monaco from qualifying fifth.
He ended up third behind Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya and McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, who extended his championship lead over Schumacher to four points.
Schumacher failed to beat fourth-placed Renault driver Jarno Trulli off the grid and was stuck behind the Italian for 27 laps.
"If I hadn't been stuck behind Trulli, I guess I could have kept the situation closer with Kimi and I probably would have been able to get him," said Schumacher. "But our strategy was to go for a long first stint and that meant having more fuel, which is why I was behind him."
Schumacher made his first pit stop as many as 10 laps later than the other front-runners but was only able to do so because he had qualified with a lot of fuel on board.
Had he used a fuel load more comparable with Williams and McLaren, Schumacher would almost certainly have qualified ahead of Trulli, greatly enhancing his chances of victory. But that was not the only issue that prevented the German battling for the lead.
Once he was past Trulli and up to third place after the first pit stops, Schumacher had a poor middle stint in which he lost a lot of time to eventual Montoya and Raikkonen.
Schumacher said: "You always hope for better but actually it was quite reasonable to end up third... it is fair to say that on the tyre side we didn't look too good this weekend.
"We tried everything but we have to say that this weekend we probably were not strong enough."
Schumacher was able to close on eventual Montoya and Raikkonen in the last stint of the race. At that point, his Bridgestone tyres had an advantage because the weather had cooled as a result of gathering clouds. But until the second stops the race had been run in the sunshine that had been a feature of the weekend.
In the hotter conditions the Michelins used by Montoya's Williams team and Raikkonen's McLaren outfit seemed to have the edge.
"If you look at our pace we were not far off but we were not in front and I would put that down to the tyres," Schumacher said.
Ferrari sporting director Jean Todt added: "After the first pit stop we felt that Michael could have made up the other two places at his second stop.
"But as the gap grew bigger in the second part of the race, because the car-tyre package was not working at its best, this was not possible," he said.
"This result is further proof that this season is very closely fought," he said. "We will have to work very hard in the next few weeks, both on the development of the F2003-GA and with Bridgestone on the tyres."
Bureau Report