The 2006 Formula 1 championship passed the halfway mark on Sunday and although a distant second, neither Ferrari nor driver Michael Schumacher are ready to throw in the towel.
Schumacher collected an unexpected second place at Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix behind reigning world champion Fernando Alonso, who picked up his sixth season win for Renault and fourth in a row.
This allowed Alonso to extend his lead in the drivers' standings to 25 points, 84 compared to 59 points for Schumacher, while Renault now has 121 points in the constructors' championship, 34 more than Ferrari.
The Formula 1 circus moves to Indianapolis for this weekend's United States Grand Prix, giving Ferrari only a week to try and resolve its problems starting with its Bridgestone tires. Schumacher in Canada had problems with his tires from
the start and their lack of grip compromise his qualifying session, relegating him to the third row and fifth place in the grid.
Although no one at Ferrari would come out and blame the tires, everyone placed emphasis on the importance of tires in
Indianapolis. All things considered, a second place finish was more than what Schumacher and Ferrari could have hoped for and the seven times world champion driver did not hesitate to admit that "this was was all about damage limitation".
Speaking at the post-race press conference, Schumacher said "second place was the best we could do in a race that was already complicated by my grid position and was made even harder by my far from perfect start". "All we can do now is attack, because we have no other option. And you can be sure we will," he added.
Ferrari team principal Jean Todt also remained optimistic over the rest of the season and said that in Indianapolis "we won't need much to come out in front, both in qualifying and the race". Despite being so far behind, Todt said he was convinced
that the 90 points still up for grabs meant that "anything can still happen. The fact that the gap widened in Canada only means that the situation is a little more complicated".
"But we can win and we will do everything we can to make sure this happens," Todt said.
Ferrari chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo was on the same wavelength and observed "Ferrari will fight right on down to the last race". "We need to make some improvements, in regards to both the car and its tires, in order to become truly competitive, from the first qualifying laps to the final lap of the race,"the Fiat chief added.
