Asked if he thought whether he thought that McLaren would become major contenders for the championship, Todt said “I must smile, because two weeks ago, McLaren were worth nothing, the championship was over, they were already focused on 2003. I’m talking about what I hear. And now they become the new God. The reality is always in the middle. They are strong and I always have big respect for what they have done, even if they are not successful at the moment, because I know that they have the potential to be successful. It’s so easy to criticise when things are not going well and to admire them when things go well. That’s not my style.”

In fact Todt went on to say that he felt they were Ferrari had been quicker anyway. “I would be worried if we had been struggling during the whole race but we were better, we were quicker. Just look at the lap times during the race. If you have a car that is three seconds slower than you, you cannot overtake. You saw Coulthard was setting the pace. Sometimes he was dropping the pace by three or four seconds. He was driving 24s and 25s and we had the potential to be in the 20s.”

Asked if he thought that it would be just two teams contesting the championship, Todt emphasised “No no, I think it’s three teams. Every track, it all depends what McLaren are able to achieve in the meantime. Here they were very good, the car was very balanced, they have a very good car.”

Michelin were judged to be a big factor in McLaren’s form, and Jean Todt admits that they shouldn’t be underestimated. “Michelin is very good. I am worried about what they are able to achieve, because if they really find a compound or construction of tyre which is outstanding, maybe we cannot catch them and then race by race you would end up with a minimum of four cars in front of us. That’s why we have to be very cautious.”