Friday March 22nd, 2002

German Ralf Schumacher is confident his Williams team will be able to beat rivals Ferrari again at next week's Brazilian Grand Prix.

The German driver won last weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix, and with Juan Pablo Montoya's second place, Williams completed their first one-two finish since the 1996 Portuguese Grand Prix. The Grove-based squad now lead the Constructors' Championship by eight points over Ferrari.

Montoya looked set for his first Formula One win at last year's Brazilian Grand Prix before Dutchman Jos Verstappen crashed into the back of his Williams while leading. Ralf, who is in third place in the Championship behind Montoya and his brother Michael, thinks Williams will be competitive again at Interlagos.

"I strongly believe that in Brazil we can beat Ferrari again," said Schumacher. "Last year Juan was going to win the race if Jos Verstappen hadn't run into him. And last week in Malaysia, we were even closer to Maranello's cars than the year before, therefore why shouldn't it work again in Brazil?

"We like the Interlagos track, even if it isn't easy to find a compromise between not being slow on the straights but quick enough through the infield. After testing in Barcelona, where we have tried out a couple of small aerodynamic changes, I am pretty confident about racing in Brazil."

Published at 18:32:46 GMT