Saturday March 30th, 2002

McLaren boss Ron Dennis has revealed he is not happy with Ferrari's interpretation of the FIA's sporting rules, something that will allow the Italian team two allocations of tyres for Michael Schumacher at Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix.

Each Formula One driver is allowed to use four sets of tyres for the hour-long qualifying session, but the World Champion's Ferrari F2002 do not fit on the old F2001 he is using as a spare, and Ferrari have requested an extra allocation of four sets of tyres for the second machine.

Williams technical director Patrick Head already claimed on Friday that Ferrari's interpretation goes against the sporting regulations.

Dennis, who was explaining what he had previously talked about with FIA delegate Charlie Whiting, told Sky Digital that he was unhappy with his rival's interpretation and was hoping for an amicable solution to the controversial issue.

"Along with most of the other teams, we're not particularly happy with the interpretation of one particular article of the regulations, and that is the allocation of tyres for Michael [Schumacher]," Dennis said.

"Rather than going into a formal process [of protesting], we are trying to encourage Ferrari to select which car they run. I am hoping this will become a non-issue; we are trying to have a harmonious Championship and it's much better that this thing be resolved amicably."

Published at 14:26:42 GMT