Sunday March 3rd, 2002

Ferrari's technical director Ross Brawn is confident the Italian team will be competitive again at the upcoming Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang circuit.

The Maranello-based squad, World Champions in the last three seasons, won the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday in dominant fashion despite using last year's chassis. Briton Brawn admitted that he had been reasonably confident before coming to Melbourne, and said that he expected to be in front again in Malaysia in two weeks time.

"I did not want to say too much before," said Brawn, who did not reveal which chassis will Ferrari use in the next race. "But the car was so good in Suzuka and we have developed it a lot since then.

"But of course, we will continue to develop the new car, as we are testing next week. From what we have seen here this weekend, I would be surprised if we are not competitive in Malaysia."

Ferrari are the only team who have won at the Malaysian Grand Prix since the event took place for the first time in 1999, with Michael Schumacher winning there the past two years. Brawn praised his driver after his victory in Melbourne, but added that tyre manufacturer Bridgestone have been key to the team's success.

"Michael drove extremely well and the race itself, apart from the accident after the start, was also very entertaining," he added. "But it was not until Michael got past Montoya that we were able to see how well the new tyres performed.

"We won the race because of a combination of all the work we have done with the car over the winter and the development of the tyres. Bridgestone did a fantastic job".

Published at 09:59:45 GMT