Schumacher Still Focused, Says Todt
Five-time champion Michael Schumacher is staying focussed despite seeing his lead in the title race reduced to just one point, according to Ferrari team chief Jean Todt.
Five-time champion Michael Schumacher is staying focussed despite seeing his lead in the title race reduced to just one point, according to Ferrari team chief Jean Todt.
Schumacher completed a disappointing Hungarian Grand Prix weekend by coming home eighth to collect only one point as title rivals Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya finished second and third respectively at the Hungaroring.
Montoya is now one point behind the world champion and Raikkonen is one further back but Todt insisted that Schumacher remains unfazed by the problems as he seeks a record-breaking sixth title.
"It's unpleasant but, after 13 races, if you take 13 races altogether it's not so bad," Todt said. "Michael is still leading the Drivers' Championship by one point. Michael is just very focused. He is spending some time with his family, doing a lot of training but he doesn't like to come back with only one point.
"He knows it can happen, that's why he has remained humble, with his feet on the ground because he knows. It doesn't give time to be disappointed, so we have to digest that and work for the next one. Nothing's free, nothing's taken for granted, it's just something you had to understand and you must be strong in the head to be able to react.
"The opposition's tough, we're not surprised by that. We are not quick enough. Michael scored two points being seventh in Germany and one point being eighth here, Rubens has retired twice in a row so it's not very rewarding. But saying that, that's the job."
Ferrari will undertake an intensive run of testing next week when they run three cars for three days at Monza and one car for three or four days at their test track in Fiorano.
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