Schumacher Wary of Williams Threat

Michael Schumacher said today he was worried about the threat from Williams after Juan Pablo Montoya drove away from his Ferrari and the rest of the field at the German Grand Prix.

Watching his lead in the Formula One World Championship melt down to six points on a scorching hot day, Schumacher dismissed suggestions that Ferrari had been eclipsed by Williams.

"I have said all along that we have more to be afraid about Williams than anyone else," Schumacher said. "That was true here at Hockenheim. But on the other hand I'm still ahead and will fight for every point."

Schumacher, who suffered all weekend and started from sixth place on Sunday's grid, had advanced to second before suffering a puncture to his left rear tyre with three laps remaining. After an emergency pitstop he ended seventh.

"There is that famous word that starts 'sh..' that came to mind," he said. "I looked in the rear-view mirror to see if anything else was damaged and hoped to be able to finish the race. The only thing you can do in a situation like that is stay calm and reasoned. That's racing. Things like that happen."

Williams drivers Montoya and Ralf Schumacher had dominated the qualifying sessions on Friday and Saturday though Ralf went out of Sunday's race after a first-corner crash for which he was blamed by stewards.

Michael Schumacher has not won a race since early June in Montreal.

Asked if he feared Ferrari, who use Bridgestone tyres, were slipping behind Williams, who use Michelin, Schumacher said: "I think that diagnosis is overly simplistic."

But Schumacher conceded he was not optimistic about Ferrari's chances of regaining the upper hand in the next Grand Prix, on August 24 in Hungary, where conditions were also likely to be hot.

"At this point I'm not very optimistic," he said. "We are always hopeful but we have to be realistic. We will most likely have the same problems in Hungary that we have now but there are some courses like Canada's further down the schedule that are better suited to us."