IMOLA, Italy - Defending champions Michael Schumacher and Ferrari will seek their first win after a disappointing start to the Formula One season when they race on home soil in this weekend's San Marino Grand Prix.
The Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari at Imola will be awash with red flags and painted faces as supporters of the struggling world champions flock to the high-speed circuit hoping a long run of testing will put the team back on the pace.
"The F2005 (car) was very good right from the start, but now we understand it much better and know how to deal with any problems that may arise," said Schumacher.
"We perfected it and also improved the aerodynamics.
"I think our winning potential is very high with this car, and we're not worried anymore about the problems regarding reliability that came up in Bahrain."
Ferrari have been testing every week since the last race in Bahrain after scoring just 10 points in the first three races.
"I must say we made some really good progress," said Schumacher.
Renault roared away at the start of this season with Italian Giancarlo Fisichella winning the opening race in Australia before Spaniard Fernando Alonso took control and won the next two in Malaysia and Bahrain.
Ferrari struggled with a modified version of their 2004 car in the first two races, with the only points scoring finishes a second place for Brazilian Rubens Barrichello in Australia and a seventh for Schumacher in Malaysia.
They rushed through their F2005 model for the third race in Bahrain but the debut failed to provide the quick fix they needed as Barrichello finished out of the points after tyre problems and Schumacher retired from the race.
The recent tests have taken place in Barcelona, in the week after Bahrain, behind closed doors at the team's Mugello and Fiorano test tracks last week and at Monza this week.
"The three weeks between these two races have been a help and allowed us to test more," said Schumacher.
"We can strike back and I am absolutely convinced we can win some races this year.
"Reliability is one of our strongest areas of expertise and the technical failure in Bahrain was my first since 2001, so that's not really something we're overly concerned about, I think we've solved that problem.
"In general, I think that we're going to be doing quite well at Imola because we have a good track record there. After all, our main goal is very clear: we want to start winning again."
But Renault will be difficult to beat after dominating the early races and championship leader Alonso is chasing a hat-trick of victories after cruising to easy wins in the last two races.
"The challenge now is to maintain the level we showed in the first three races and stay on top," said Alonso.
"I am enjoying the moment and have the best opportunity of my career to be in a winning car.
"Imola is a very tough circuit for the suspension because we hit the kerbs hard and the car needs to be able to cope with that. The drivers must be aggressive through the corners, which I like, and it is impossible to relax. "So far, the Renault car has been competitive on all the types of circuit we have visited so I expect it will continue in San Marino and it is good to take the points now and build a strong position from the start."
Toyota will be looking to continue their strong start and Italian Jarno Trulli, who became a father after the Bahrain Grand Prix, is hoping to improve on the second places he scored at the last two races.
But there is likely to be more competition at the front as the championship moves to Europe for its first non fly-away race of the season and, like Ferrari, BAR-Honda are looking to come back from an early season disaster.
BAR finished runners-up to Ferrari last year but so far neither of their drivers, Briton Jenson Button and Japanese driver Takuma Sato, have actually made it to the finish of a race this season.
The team arrives at Imola with a new engine upgrade and aerodynamics package after tests in Paul Ricard and Barcelona and technical director Geoff Willis is confident they have turned the corner.
Button, who finished just behind winner Schumacher last year, said: "I am looking forward to Imola. I have great memories of last year as I qualified on pole and finished in second place and I always enjoy racing there."
Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi is also looking forward to the weekend after being given the chance to step up from his third driver role at Red Bull Racing and make his Grand Prix debut at Imola.
Liuzzi replaces Austrian Christian Klien as part of a cockpit-sharing plan.
"I am very excited," said Liuzzi.
"It will be unbelievable and it will be good to have the support of the crowd, as my hometown is only a couple of hours drive away.
"I don't feel stressed or under pressure. I won here in F3000 last year but the biggest challenge will be the race itself, which is much longer than I was used to in F3000."
The San Marino race will also be an important one for Italian backmarker team Minardi as they debut their new PS05 car after a successful shakedown test last week and team chief Paul Stoddart is looking forward to moving up the grid.
"This marks the true beginning of our 2005 season," said Stoddart. "The engine, gearbox and entire chassis are new and the fact the car ran faultlessly in the shakedown really sums up the efforts of the whole team - fantastic."
04/20/2005 12:31 GMT