Ferrari team principal Jean Todt said that the team would be making every effort to try and reverse the performance trend after the Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello finished third and seventh on last weekend’s French Grand Prix.

After being beaten by Williams in the last two races, Todt admitted that he didn’t like being beaten into third. “I would not like to use the word satisfied,” said Todt, who this weekend celebrated his tenth anniversary with the team. “You know I’m satisfied if I would be in the situation of our colleagues on the other side of the paddock.

“On the other hand, saying that, they did a good job and they deserve what they get, so it’s up to up to do a good job. But as we saw after the first pit stop, the situation was looking not so good for us, because Michael was fourth with two cars pushing him and Rubens was out of the points. “So, it the end, we have very important points, so I am happy to have minimised the loss of points. Saying that, everything will depend how competitive we will be in the next races. If we are competitive and things turn around, then it’s no problem. If the trend is going against us, as it has for a few races, then it will be more difficult.”

Todt acknowledged that Williams have been on top for several races. “They’ve had a superior package since a few races but I don’t think we should think that it cannot change. We should think that we can change this trend, and we are going to put all the effort together with our partners to try to change the trend knowing that the others will try their best to try to keep the trend, but you know that’s racing.”
Ferrari have a big testing programme during the coming week, the last before a six week test ban. “We have a programme in Barcelona, we have a programme in Mugello, we have a programme in Fiorano, programmes testing the car, testing tyres and the engine. So we are going to test all the various components of the car.”

Todt said that both new constructions and compounds of Bridgestone tyres would be tested. “If we find something we want to use at Silverstone we can use it, but we have already tested at Silverstone and we are quite happy about this testing, but saying that, we may see some different things which make us more happy.”
But he refused to acknowledge that much of his rivals’ advantage had come from their tyre company. “I would not say that,” said Todt. “It’s a question of the whole package, and at the moment, on the whole package we are behind and they are in front.”

He was, however, encouraged that Juan Pablo Montoya, Ralf Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen were quite closely matched, could take points off one another. “It all depends. If they are in front of us, it is bad for us. If we are in the middle of them, then it can be good for us. It all depends where they are. Today, if we had two Williams and two McLarens in front of us, it was good for Williams and for McLaren. Fortunately we were in the middle, so we minimised the damage towards Williams.”
But this week’s testing could be crucial as it could establish the hierarchy for the next three races, said Todt. “We have one more week of testing. We do a lot of testing, simulation, test bed, wind tunnel testing, but having said that, those who have the best car and the best package at Silverstone will definitely be in a strong position for the next two races which are Germany and Hungary.”