Ralf Looking for Points in Australia - Sun 20th Feb 2005
Toyota driver Ralf Schumacher is expecting a points scoring finish in the Formula One season's opening race in Australia.
The German, who made the switch from Williams to Toyota at the end of last season, completed a four-day test in Barcelona last week as the team continues to prepare for the first race of the year in Melbourne, which is now just under two weeks away.
New safety regulations brought in for 2005 have meant alterations to the aerodynamics of the car and tyres to cut their performance.
But Schumacher is satisfied with the way Toyota's new car is shaping up after working in testing with a new and updated aerodynamic package that they will be using for the first race.
"The new aerodynamic package obviously improves the car massively. We can't give an exact figure of how much it has improved because the conditions in Barcelona have been difficult and people's lap times have been all over the place," he said.
"It is also hard to compare lap times with the last time we were in Barcelona because the circuit was brand new.
"But it always helps to have more downforce and this is quite an improvement.
"We still have work to do but we are reasonably happy with the package so far."
Teams were struggling to find speed on their opening laps during the test in Spain because of the changes made to the cars but Schumacher is confident that it will not be a problem once racing gets underway.
"With the new harder tyres and less downforce it seems to be more difficult to generate the heat in the tyres for the first lap," he continued.
"But it was exceptionally cold in Barcelona, so I would imagine that should not be such a problem when we start running at more normal temperatures.
"We'll be going to Melbourne doing our very best to start the season with a solid points finish."
