Testing at Fiorano in preparation for Imola.

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro will already be working at Fiorano today, to prepare for the San Marino Grand Prix, due to take place at the Imola circuit on the 15th April. Luca Badoer will drive for the first two days, at the wheel of an F1-2000, working on electronic solutions for the Spanish Grand Prix. From Thursday to Saturday it will be Michael Schumacher's turn, driving the F2001. The world champion will use chassis number 209, which was the spare car in Brazil.

The Sao Paulo race marked the end of a series of six consecutive wins for Ferrari and for Schumacher. The last defeat dates back to last year's Belgian Grand Prix, when Michael was passed by Mika Hakkinen. If one of the key moments in deciding the final outcome in Sao Paulo was Montoya's passing move on Michael after the Safety Car pulled in, as it compromised the chosen two stop strategy, it has to be said the lack of pace of the F2001 in the wet was somewhat surprising.

"This race was a bit disappointing for us, because our car had been very competitive all weekend," said Technical Director Ross Brawn. "Especially in the wet, we were not able to match our earlier pace and now we must try and work out why. It was a shame that Rubens' race ended so early, because although he started a bit far back, he could have got to the front, especially when the rain fell."

Second is a good result nevertheless and Schumacher still leads the Drivers' championship by six points from David Coulthard. The gap between Ferrari and McLaren in the Constructors' Championship is bigger as 15 points separate the two teams (36 to 21.)