Schumacher bullish on title chances

Schumacher was 25 points behind Renault rival Fernando Alonso just four races ago, but the German is now only 10 behind the Spaniard with five races to go.

"The point is that the championship as you have seen was not in very good situation," said Schumacher in Turkey on Thursday.

"After Indianapolis and people thought it was basically over, but in three races we turned it around and made the championship very open and that shows how quick things can go.

"We are all human, we all make mistakes here and there, that is pretty normal I believe and we will see how we do until the end. We are optimistic and believe in our strengths."

Schumacher's chances of winning the title received a boost on Wednesday, when the FIA ruled Renault's mass damper system was illegal.

Although Alonso believes Renault will be more than a match for Ferrari despite being stripped of the device, Schumacher reckons the ban could hinder them.

"I think if they didn't believe in the system then they wouldn't have put him in," the German said.

"It certainly made them go quicker so maybe they will go slower. But then you know development is very quick, they will have adapted their car to the circumstance and I don't know what it means to them now."

Schumacher, however, is keeping a lid on expectations for the remaining part of the season.

"We will see," Schumacher added. "I think the last races clearly expressed that we were a bit stronger except for the wet weather conditions. We know how quick development can turn things around and we will see how it works for them or not.

"One thing in terms of that comment, I think Fernando was very optimistic before Indianapolis too and some other races, so it is sometimes a fine edge where it can go one or the other side and we will have to see where we will be."