DECEMBER 31, 2001

Schumacher wants new car as Ferrari sells his old ones

REIGNING champion Michael Schumacher has sent a clear signal that he will not be best pleased to begin next season in the much-revised Ferrari F2001 with which he took victory in the Japanese Grand Prix last October. The new car for 2002 is expected to feature revolutionary technology and as such Ferrari has hinted that it will start the year conservatively in order to get the new car bedded in - but Schumacher clearly wants to get his hands on the new car ASAP.

"I see us with the new car in Australia. It will be faster than the old one," he said. "It will be a new car, a new chassis and a new engine. At the start of the autumn, Ferrari knew that the aerodynamics of the car and the engine would be better - as things stand at the moment we are better prepared than we were before the start of the 2001 season."

Meanwhile plans are said to be afoot at Maranello to sell off several of Schumacher's chassis from his preceding six years of service at Ferrari. From the ungainly F310 of 1996 to the title-winning F1-2000 and F2001 the Scuderia's cars - and colors - have evolved into the benchmark of modern F1 courtesy of designer Rory Byrne, technical director Ross Brawn and team boss Jean Todt.

If they come up for sale, potential purchasers can expect that an ex-Schumacher Ferrari with a victory will sell at upwards of $3 million.