Schumacher Not Ready to Give Up

Schumacher retired from the race following a double puncture and, with current Championship leader Fernando Alonso grabbing second place, it means the German is now 34 points off the lead.

But despite that deficit, Schumacher is trying to keep a brave face on the situation - even though no driver has ever come back from such a bad points situation to win the title.

When asked how he would rate his Championship chances, Schumacher said: "There's no question it's moving further and further away from me. But it's not that far away that we are already giving up. We will keep on working and we will keep on fighting. It's not over yet."

Schumacher claims that Ferrari's programme ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix is 'work and work', and he believes that the pressure within the team to perform is actually decreasing because of their Championship situation.

"The pressure is going away because we have less and less to lose," he said. "We can be more free now.

"It's clear everyone is disappointed. It's a pity we had that problem because in the race, finally, we were able to go fast and there were six points up for grabs."

Schumacher is still baffled by the cause of the double tyre failure, which he believes cost him an almost certain third place behind Raikkonen and Alonso.

"I think I went over some debris, because I don't think there was a problem from the tyres, as the other ones were okay," said Schumacher. "It was an unusual problem, especially because it happened to both left tyres.

"But we'll have to analyse what went wrong. It's a pity, because like that I couldn't finish the race, as third place was easily within our grasp.

"I was able to stay out longer than Alonso even for the second pit stop. But I don't think that would have been enough to pass him for second, although I would have tried my best to pass him."