Schumacher: tyres alone won't win title

With Ferrari and their tyre supplier Bridgestone having struggled to make their rubber last an entire race distance last season, the return of tyre changes in 2006 is viewed by many as being of huge benefit to the Italian team.

But Schumacher believes that Ferrari will still need to make major progress with their car if they are to have any hope of regaining the World Championship.

"Last year we were 1-1.5 seconds slow, and that was nothing to do with the tyre regulation," said the former World Champion during a break in testing at Jerez in Spain. "We have to improve the performance.

"Up to a certain level it (the new tyre rules) can help, but it cannot make us World Champions. In 2005, in some races, we hardly had any rubber left at the end of the race and therefore we were so slow. This will not happen anymore and we can only improve our competitiveness really."

Schumacher's decision to join testing before the Christmas break was fuelled by his desire to know exactly where Ferrari stand in relation to their opposition.

"There are many reasons (for testing early)," he added. "We had a very bad year and I felt I should be in the car earlier. Secondly I was hot to drive and thirdly, I wanted to look at everyone else to establish what is needed.

"It is a different situation to other years. I did not feel like having a long holiday, there was no reason to rest.

"It is good to have information already for the next season. Also it is pure joy to drive. In other years I deliberately held this joy back."