Schumacher admits that title is far away

By Claas Hennig Jul 11, 2005, 17:40 GMT

Sliverstone, England - Michael Schumacher has finally admitted what everybody else seemed to have known for a long time already: A successful title defence is far away.

Speaking after finishing sixth at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone on Sunday, the German said he realised that the "world championship is currently far away from me."

However, it is not just the 34 points that he trails championship leader Fernando Alonso that trouble him, it is Ferrari's lack of competitiveness.

"If you look at the lap times we were doing in the race, it doesn't look very good for us. We have been moving backwards in the last few races not forwards. We have to admit we are not good enough."

He said that he did not know why the team, which had been dominant for so long, was now suddenly chasing other teams. "If I knew why that was the case, I would get out of the car and tell the team and then they would fix it."

The seven-time world champion said that even though he was looking forward to the German Grand Prix in two weeks, he was not overtly optimistic.

"I wish I could promise the fans there a bit more than this."

Schumacher, who has been written off by most other teams, said that he was not too worried about the situation. "I'm calm. This is just a period that you have to go through. I can live with it."

Ferrari has spent millions in tests attempting to find reasons why the car is not as fast as last year. "We are actually testing all the time," Schumacher said.

"We are working to our limits and have to admit that we are just not good enough when compared to our opponents."

Although he is currently third in the drivers' standings, Schumacher will no longer be able to challenge for the title, which seems to be a clear fight between Renault's Fernando Alonso (77 points) and McLaren-Mercedes' Kimi Raikkonen (51).

Raikkonen probably has the better car at the moment, but has twice had to start ten places back on the grid after being fitted with a new engine.

Many now believe that Raikkonen and Alonso are not only involved in a battle for the title - they are also fighting to take over Schumacher's mantle.