FOR anybody wondering how Ferrari maintain their relentless drive when their overwhelming superiority puts them so far ahead of the field that they could afford to take their foot off the gas, here’s an insight: working for the team from Maranello is like being in a vicious vortex, a circle of individuals constantly pushing the next man on to greater things.

That was the description used by Ross Brawn, the team’s English technical director, in a moment of reflection last week. It was that same self-inflicted pressure, he said, that had sometimes resulted in the team taking action which caused it to be pilloried as well as praised.

“I think there’s a certain character to the team, to the group of people, which sometimes shows itself in a way the media doesn’t like,” said the bearded Mancunian.

“Things like during the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix (when Rubens Barrichello was told to allow Michael Schumacher to pass on the last lap) and Hungary last year (when Ferrari protested that their rivals’ tyres might be illegal are simply a reflection of our competitiveness, a reflection of the little bit of paranoia within the team, which means we don’t relax for a moment, no matter how strongly we’re performing.”

Brawn made it clear that there is no immediate prospect of that changing. A Manchester United supporter — at least one of the televisions in the Ferrari motorhome was tuned to yesterday’s FA Cup final — he drew a loose parallel between the team of which he is part and the team he regularly flies home to watch.

“Both create strong opinions,” he said. “Here at Ferrari we realise that there are those who love us and those who hate us, but you’re either in the club or out of it, and if you’re in, there are certain standards you are expected to meet.

“What is unusual, though, is to have a group who can push each other so hard without resulting in too much friction. I’m still here because I want to have the benefit of it as long as possible.”

One of the strongest driving factors is Michael Schumacher, and Brawn insisted that the German’s cold-fish image is at odds with his true personality.

“Everyone has a different profile, but you couldn’t meet a more popular man among people who’ve worked with him,” he said. “Maybe his persona isn’t quite the same as someone like Ayrton Senna, but within the team everyone adores him because of his commitment and work ethic.

“Michael doesn’t attempt to break records as a primary objective. He’s happy when they come, of course, but his only objective is to win the next race.

“Whatever evolves from that, he’s happy to accept, but he’s never said to me, ‘Come on, pull your finger out, because if we win the next race, it’s six in a row’, or whatever. That sort of thing never seems to enter his train of thought.”

That Schumacher has achieved what he has without major opposition from a teammate in the manner of Senna and Alain Prost at McLaren should, said Brawn, add to rather than detract from his achievements.

Had Senna not died at Imola in 1994, suggested Brawn, perhaps the brilliant Brazilian would have driven Schumacher to even greater heights. “We had it (the competitiveness) with Mika Hakkinen for a couple of years. Michael had great respect for him, and there is probably nobody at the moment who fills that gap. It’s a credit to him that he’s pushing himself so hard when there’s no Prost or someone like that forcing him on.”

Manchester United have, of course, been toppled by Arsenal this season. Ferrari appear to have no such potential rival, a situation that Brawn admitted came as a pleasant surprise.

“It’s a little difficult to know what goes on with the other teams,” he said. “Perhaps it’s that when you’re behind, you have to do twice as much to catch up, and when you do that, sometimes you trip over.

“I understand that, because we’ve done it ourselves in the past: you try to do extra things to make the gap up, and it all falls over. Perhaps that’s why other teams are a little inconsistent.

“But I’m impressed with the progress of some teams. BAR and Renault are doing a very good job, and BAR in particular have made as much progress as we have since last year — maybe more.”

The unnerving implication is that if and when a challenge does finally emerge, it may spur Ferrari and Schumacher on to greater efforts. It could be that we ain’t seen nothing yet.