Schumacher vows to go on the attack

With nine races to go, the Ferrari driver is 25 points behind his Renault rival, who has won the last four races on his way to 15 consecutive podium finishes.

Alonso, victorious in six of the first nine races of the season, does not even need to win again in order to retain his crown.

The Spaniard was again dominant in Canada on Sunday, leading almost every lap as he romped to another triumph.

Schumacher, second in the race, claims he was more than satisfied with the result, and the German says he is not ready to give up on his hopes of taking the title.

"I only lost two points to Fernando. We can be more than satisfied with that considering these circumstances," said Schumacher on his website on Monday. "Starting off the second half of the season with 25 points less than him is anything but ideal, but it's not hopeless, either.

"We surely won't give up hope. Our strategy for the next races has to be attacking and we'll do just that. Anything is still possible."

Schumacher is also taking encouragement from Ferrari's improved form compared to last season, when the German was nowhere near the top of the field.

"People have apparently already forgotten where we were at last year: pretty far behind," said Schumacher. "Maybe we should take it as a compliment that they've forgotten so quickly, but I can't repeat often enough that this comeback is an incredible accomplishment made by the team.

"The boys are great, they didn't let last year's events grind them down, on the contrary, they were motivated by them. And now we're already fighting for the championship title again. That's why I enjoy it so immensely. What could be better?

"Okay, we could win more races than we've won so far this year, but that's exactly what we'll try to do now. We want to do an even better job in the remaining races."

The Ferrari driver admitted he was lucky to finish second in Montreal after running in third for a big part of the race.

But a late safety car, followed by a mistake by McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, allowed the German to clinch the runner-up spot and minimize the damage.

"In the end, it was a lucky second place - the safety car coming out helped us," he said. "But on the other hand, we continuously improved our performance all weekend. So now we'll have to wait and see what happens at Indianapolis. I was careful not to make any predictions before Montreal and I'll do the same before Indianapolis.

"There are just too many different factors which influence things and we cannot evaluate all this from a distance. And it was plain to see at Montreal that things often turn out differently than planned.

"So all I can promise is that we will do our best and won't give up the fight."