As has been the case for the past few years, Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello’s first official function of the season was a press conference organised by Shell, in their Melbourne headquarters.

The main talking point was the potential effect of the many changes to the sporting and technical regulations which will be seen in action for the first time this weekend. Schumacher was asked if he felt that some of the rule changes had been specifically introduced to make life more difficult for Ferrari. 'Absolutely not,' said the world champion. 'The rules are the same for everyone and we can expect the best teams to make the best job of dealing with them. We will have to wait and see if the changes achieve what they set out to do.'

On the subject of Friday qualifying, Schumacher felt it was unlikely that drivers would chose to set a slow time to go earlier in the order on Saturday. 'It might be a useful tactic if the weather forecast predicts rain for the second session,' he admitted. 'However, I have never known a weather service which can be so precise in predicting the exact time rain will fall. So I think this strategy is unlikely to happen.'

Asked about the new F2003-GA which is not being used here in Australia, Schumacher reckoned it was too early to say how good it is. 'But it has been impressive in testing,' he added. 'Everyone in the team has worked flat out, using last year’s car as the base reference point. It feels good so far.'

The German then defended himself against suggestions he has had an easy ride on his way to his five world titles. 'Last year might have looked easy,' he said. 'But it was just one year in my 12 year career. I am sure this year will be much harder as the competition gets closer and Rubens will make my job tough, especially when you consider he had some reliability problems last season.'

Finally a word from Michael about Melbourne: 'I love coming to this city and this country, especially after a winter in Europe. But I also enjoy the fact it is the first race with plenty of speculation about what all the teams will do. Now we will finally find out who is the best, after all the winter testing.'