Montezemolo: Ferrari paying for poor start

The Italian squad have been in strong form recently, with Michael Schumacher winning the last two races in Indianapolis and Magny-Cours.

The German driver, however, remains 17 points behind Renault rival Fernando Alonso, while Ferrari are 21 points behind the French squad in the constructors' standings with seven races remaining.

Ferrari endured a shaky start to the season, scoring just 15 points in the first three rounds before Schumacher scored their first win of the year in San Marino.

Di Montezemolo believes that slow start hurt the team, but is bullish about their chances of returning to the top.

"If we hadn't lost some points for various reasons at the beginning of the season in Malaysia and Australia, now we wouldn't find ourselves in this situation: we would be leading," di Montezemolo told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"From Imola onwards we've been the team who's conquered the biggest amount of points. We are paying for Malaysia and Australia, and let's not forget Monaco, about which we'll talk at the end of the year.

"We would be leading the championship, so we'll do everything with great determination to be up there at the end."

He added: "We believe it's possible to recover and we'll carry on believing in it until the end. For six consecutive years we won world championships, then we went on vacation for one year but now we have again a great will to win and to do well."

Di Montezemolo is optimistic Ferrari will be able to keep their form in Germany this weekend and take their third consecutive win.

"Michael's success in Magny-Cours was a demonstration of strength, and we must show we have that strength in Hockenheim too," the Italian added. "I expect to win there as well. At that point the others might start to worry a bit."