Michael Schumacher believes he is in a strong position to take his sixth world title, despite only having a seven-point lead over Kimi Raikkonen with five races remaining. But will he have it all his own way?
Michael Schumacher believes he is in a strong position to take his sixth world title, despite only having a seven-point lead over Kimi Raikkonen with five races remaining.
“The fight for the title is still open and that is the important thing,” said Schumacher. “I’ll admit I would have preferred to extend my lead over Kimi, but looking at the race with hindsight, I cannot complain.
“The race itself had moments of real madness and was action-packed. I spent much of it far down the field, so I can be completely satisfied with fourth place.
“Above all, I am happy to see that we have made a consistent step forward in terms of performance. This is reassuring because, with the testing ban, we won’t be testing again until the end of August.
“I can take heart from the knowledge we are prepared for the next few races. Rubens (Barrichello) drove a great race and won on merit. It was a well-deserved victory.”
Ferrari team principal Jean Todt said the British Grand Prix victory was vital for the team. “It was very important to score a good result because in a few races, the tendency was going against us, so it was important to stop this tendency.
“I think in the past five races Williams has scored 73 points – 40 for Montoya, 33 for Ralf – and I think the others (McLaren) scored 32 points. So our biggest rival is probably Williams. But what is very important is not what we lose, but the potential of what we can see for the next races. I think it will be tough, but we have a good potential,” said Todt.
Meanwhile, Barrichello has asked the British Grand Prix organisers for another trophy after dropping the first one. The Brazilian said the trophy fell at Heathrow airport on Tuesday.
“Somebody bumped into the trophy and it fell and broke. I’m upset, but I hope I can get another one,” said the Brazilian.