Schumacher sure of keeping momentum

Although some of Ferrari's rivals believe that Schumacher's charge to victory at Imola was a one-off and that the team lack the consistency needed to fight for the title, the seven-times champion believes that work carried out in tests at Paul Ricard and Fiorano last week gives him every reason to feel confident.

"Having won gave us all a bit of extra-motivation," said Schumacher. "And, to be honest, it was much needed following the races in Malaysia and Australia, which weren't all that great for us.

"It was nice to see all the hard work paying off and that we were right when we were convinced that we would be competitive at Imola. And so we think that we'll do quite well at the Nurburgring as well.

"We should be competitive again, and naturally I will do my very best there. We're hoping to get a good result for our fans once again at the Nurburgring."

Although Schumacher accepts that Ferrari have made mistakes this year, especially the engine problems in Malaysia and the tyre choice in Australia, he is adamant that the form showed at Imola was more representative of where he believes the team are at the moment.

"We weren't up to the mark a couple of times, that's true, and we were wrong about our choice of tyres once. But in general, the performance we showed at Imola is what Ferrari is capable of now.

"I don't think it will be like last year, when Imola was just a brief ray of light - nor like the year before that, when we were the dominant force.

"I think we will be able to show a performance close to that at Imola all year, even though it may vary depending which circuit the race is at."