Schumacher ready for McLaren

Schumacher promised there will be no letting up from him or Ferrari as he looks forward to his home grand prix at Hockenheim next weekend. And, if things go Ferrari's way, the Italian team could wrap up the Constructors' Championship there.

"We know that the McLaren is strong," Schumacher said after an intensive tyre test at Jerez last week. "But you must not forget that Ferrari is strong too. Wait and see what happens but don't forget about us.

"I have never been so successful heading into my home grand prix at Hockenheim. So it should be good, and of course, it would be nice to do well in Germany."

Asked whether he thought Ferrari would win the teams' title at the German Grand Prix he replied: "Possibly. It's going to happen sooner or later to be honest. It's difficult to avoid winning the constructors' title, but if we do it next weekend, we are looking forward to a big party afterwards."

Schumacher has already amassed 100 points from 11 races in the drivers' standings, seven more than he needed to win last year's championship, and realistically his only threat now comes from team-mate Rubens Barrichello who is 26 points behind. The first non-Ferrari driver is Jenson Button, 47 points behind Schuamcher. It would seem unlikely that Barrichello can overhaul the deficit to his team-mate now, but the German is remaining cautious.

"This is something that I have been aware of for a couple of races now," he said. "Because Rubens is very strong, like you saw [at the US GP at] Indy and will always try very hard to beat me."

This could become the most one-sided world championship in the history of Formula 1, and with rule makers and teams alike looking for ways to spice up the action, it is notable that the points leader is so far ahead despite having to overtake very few people on the track.

"This has been the same in F1 for some time now," said Schumacher on the subject. "It's the same for everyone. Of course it's nice to beat other drivers on the track, but if not we have to beat them the way we have always done, with good strategy."