At Melbourne this week-end Ferrari took up precisely where it left off in Japan last October, with Michael Schumacher taking a convinving victroy and giving Ferrari its 145th win.

As everyone else headed off to join in the celbrations at Minardi, pitpass' Bob Constanduros caught up with the man hoping to steer Ferrari to its fourth successive Constructors' Championship, Jean Todt.

Q: You actually came to Australia not expecting to win, didn't you?
Jean Todt: No, we were not expecting to win. I don't think anybody was expecting us to win. We were expecting to be competitive. When you make a comparison, back to back, between the new cars and cars from the previous year, there will never be a difference of two seconds, just a few tenths. We didn't know, we haven't tested with the others, we had no comparison.

But I was told that our competitors were also often quicker with last year's car than this year's. Saying that, the potential of development is probably higher with the new car than the one we had last year. That's the case with everybody's car I would think.

Q: Do you think the fact that you have dominated here with the old car will unsettle the opposition?
JT: It's not my problem. It's their problem. My problem is to make sure that my people are in the best situation to deliver what Ferrari is expecting. I don't care about the others I respect them, but I don't care. The only one I really care about is Peter Sauber, because he is using Ferrari engines.

Q: So what's the overall view of this win?
JT: It's a win that was pretty significant because it was with the F2001 which was a car that won the previous year and even if it has been modified, it was still a very encouraging result, encouraging also when one appreciates the tyres that we were supplied by Bridgestone.

Q: But it must also have been a disappointing race given Rubens's accident?
JT: It is a mixed weekend, given that we might also have finished first or second but we finished, even if Rubens's weekend didn't end so well. I'm sure that it augurs well for the rest of the season.

JT: What about Michael's race?
JT: You know how I rate, how I admire, how I love Michael. I only have superlatives for him. Saying that, Rubens was also very competitive. But Michael's experience means that he can wait before doing a manoeuvre, before making a decision. He's not impulsive. He thinks very carefully, which isn't easy when you're driving at these speeds. The way the race turned out, he could easily have made mistakes: when he was with Trulli, when he was with Montoya and he never made one. It's one of his strengths.

But he knew that his package was more competitive than that of the others, so he knew he could take his time. There's probably more pressure when you know that you have to take every opportunity.

It was a good race whose result speaks for itself. He drove a remarkable race, but he knows how to do that, with the support of the team, with an extraordinary car, with tyres which were ideal; it was the whole combination of things.

Q: Where you surprised by competition?
JT: It was amazing to see our position in comparison to everyone else's. Having said that, one mustn't draw definitive conclusions. I think that what might happen in Malaysia in two weeks time could be entirely different.

Q: What happens now with the F2002; when do you decide that you will race it? How does this win affect that decision?
JT: It definitely takes off some pressure, because if we had been two seconds off the pace, we would have been in a different situation. Being as competitive as we have been so far, lets us breath a little easier. But having said that, we know how important the tyres are. The weather conditions will be completely different in Malaysia because it was quite cool here, 18 or 19 degrees and in Malaysia it will be twice as much, 40 degrees. The track is different, so I don't know how the package will be and we must put in our minds the possibility that the package of the others will be much better. It gives us some more pressure, motivation to be successful and strong for the next race.

Q: Are you slightly wary about Malaysia for that reason; Michelin could have a slight advantage?
JT: No, honestly, I don't anything anybody can say that they have an advantage. What we have seen so far is that Bridgestone has an advantage.

Q: But are you considering taking the new car to Malaysia?
JT: We will decide once we have finished testing it. We are going to test the car in the coming week, Tuesday to Saturday, mainly in Mugello with Luca Badoer and also tyre tests with Luciano Burti and then, depending on those tests, we shall decide on the rest of the programme. If we want, we can decide at the end of those tests whether to take it to Malaysia.