Monday January 17th, 2000

Michael Schumacher will not be forced to share his number one status at Ferrari in the new Formula One season, its president Luca di Montezemolo said on Monday.

New driver Brazilian Rubens Barrichello said last week he would start the new season on an equal footing with Schumacher and was "racing to win."

But di Montezemolo told the website of the Italian sports newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport: "The top driver remains Schumacher. There is a number one and a number 1A.

"We got Barrichello because he is very fast and I am very happy to have him alongside the world's fastest driver," Montezemolo added.

In recent seasons Ferrari have named Schumacher as their number one driver and put a clause in his co-driver's contract forcing him to move aside to allow the German former world champion through.

But after Schumacher broke his leg in July and team mate Eddie Irvine emerged as a title contender, the team had to back-track.

Schumacher later returned to support Ferrari and Irvine's bid for the constructors' and drivers' titles. Ferrari won while Irvine ended runner-up to McLaren's Mika Hakkinen.

Montezemolo was cautious about the team's expectations for the new season.

"I think we already had a good (season) because in extremely difficult conditions we won a world title which, for (a team) like Ferrari that designs and builds real cars, is a very important fact," he said.