Schumacher upbeat for Silverstone

After breaking the testing lap record at Barcelona in Spain last week, Schumacher is bullish about his chances for the British Grand Prix - where he is in urgent need of a good result to close down the 21-point gap to Fernando Alonso in the title chase.

"We managed to sort out the car really well, we prepared our tyres for Silverstone and generally worked toward doing well at the Grand Prix this weekend," said Schumacher on Monday. "I must say things were looking really good.

"We've improved several areas and I think everyone will be able to see that at Silverstone. We should be able to do well and fight for the win there. That is of course our goal."

Schumacher remains convinced that the fight for the title will be dependent on the rate of development of the leading teams. It is an area that the seven-time champion feels Ferrari are more than able to excel in.

"It's going to be all about who manages to best push the development of their car," he said. "That's the decisive factor if you ask me, and Ferrari has traditionally always done well in terms of development.

"Our lads, everyone on the race-team and test-team, are staying with it and are always working with undeterred motivation. That makes you want to do your very best. We've got a lot that we want to achieve."