Schumacher: title not yet lost

The Renault driver has won the last three races to increase his lead in the title race to 23 points over Schumacher with 10 Grands Prix remaining.

At the British Grand Prix, Alonso dominated the race from start to finish and was never troubled by Schumacher, who finished a distant second.

But the Ferrari driver still believes that Alonso's gap can be reduced, just like the Spaniard has increased it.

"To be honest, after the good tests at Barcelona we had expected to be the quickest at Silverstone," said Schumacher on his website. "It always depends on how you look at things, and I like to be optimistic.

"Sure, it's fair to say that the fight for the championship will be extremely tough if things continue this way. We're aware of that. But you also have to take into consideration that the season is not even half over.

"So Fernando being able to secure such and advantage for himself in the first half means that it's also possible that he will lose it again. That's the way I look at it and so does everyone else on my team.

"Giving up is not an option, there's no reason to. There's too many races left to do that."

The seven-time champions reckons, however, that is vital to start closing the gap as soon as possible if he is to have any chances of fighting for the title.

"Of course we know that we have to start closing the gap now and the only way to do that will be to be quicker than Fernando and the Renaults," he said.

"That's going to be tough because they are doing a great job, but that's what makes it so exciting. There's nothing better than a tough and difficult fight, that's extremely inspiring.

"I like to think that anything is still possible for us and we are all determined to make it happen."