Ferrari Can Still Win the Title, Says Todt

As Kimi Raikkonen roared to a dominant victory at Monte Carlo and World Championship leader Fernando Alonso scored more valuable points, Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello could only manage seventh and eighth to slip further behind in the title chase.

But rather than concede that it was now unlikely Ferrari could recover their lost ground in the Championship battle, sporting director Jean Todt still believes that a fightback is possible and that Schumacher can be crowned World Champion at the end of the year.

"Of course we have hope," he said on Monday. "There are still 13 Grands Prix to go and we are working hard to get back to where we were last year. Whether it will be enough or not remains to be seen.

"It's difficult, but so many things can happen. Let's say the others are quite well ahead, but if you go back two Grands Prix, everything was focused on one driver. Then you had Raikkonen who has won the last two Grands Prix and immediately things have changed, so let's hope we are the ones to win the next two Grands Prix."

Todt's defiance is based on his belief that Ferrari are capable of emulating the feats of their rivals and make a dramatic step forward in form.

"As I said very often, we have been through this sort of period [before], which was even more difficult, and we overcame it," he said.

"And our competitors as well. You take some of our competitors who are at the top of the classification now - they had a tough time for many, many years."