Todt: Title Not Out of Reach

Todt's comments come after Michael Schumacher already conceded that his drivers' Championship hopes are over.

Schumacher's failure to make an impact at Hockenheim last weekend has left him a mammoth 40 points off leader Fernando Alonso, but Ferrari are just 39 points adrift in the constructors' battle.

Todt concedes, however, that if Ferrari cannot address their grip issues by this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix and close that gap then they can all but forget about any title success this year.

When asked about his hopes for winning either Championship, Todt said: "Drivers': very, very difficult. You have a clear guide, and particularly when you see the first 12 races. So mathematically we can (win it) but it seems very far from being easy.

"Manufacturers? It all depends if and when we are able to react to the present situation. If we would be able to react at the next race, then it's possible. If not, each race makes it more and more difficult."

Todt claims that Ferrari's main struggles at the moment appear to be related to how the grip of their tyres evolves over a race.

And, with a growing suspicion that the form of Bridgestone suffers as rubber is laid down by rivals Michelin, it is something that the team cannot address in testing.

"We need to identify how to improve the grip on the car so we may find a solution soon, (but) we may not find one," added Todt. "I'm sure we will find it, but I'm far from knowing when exactly we will find it.

"We just need to focus, to concentrate and to address the problem well and we will solve the situation. I would have preferred to solve it quicker and earlier but it's not the case.

"If you look at the evolution of the times, it's clear that we miss grip because of degradation of our tyres during the course of the race, or we don't have enough grip for qualifying, or we have an excess of degradation during the course of the race.

"But sometimes we don't see in private testing what we see during the race, because the temperatures are different, because the rubber on the tarmac is different, because there are so many elements."