Schumi fighting for victory in Germany - 2nd May 18:26pm GMT

A new week has begun and Michael is enthusiastic as it should be a week in which a home race will result in a win. Michael regards Imola as his first race. It was there that Michael took his first win in a long time; the previous one came at Nuerburgring. The German circuit is his real home race and the record-breaking driver is keen to add to his tally.

His hopes of realising this have naturally increased after the performance at Imola and the test sessions at Le Castellet and Fiorano.

What cannot be negated is that the team is now extremely motivated. "The win gave us that extra motivation", declared Michael. "To be honest, it was a plus after the races in Malaysia and Australia - ones that did not go as expected. It was great to see that everyone's hard work bore fruit and that we were right to believe we could be competitive at Imola. As we have often stated, I think that we can do just as well at Nuerburgring"

Michael's is convinced that this year's car offers him the chance to have in say in the destination of the title. However, there are some who cast doubt on this prospect given the so-so start to the season.

Michael's point is that: "it is true that once or twice we were not at our best. Once we got the tyre choice wrong. However, the Imola display proves that Ferrari is able to compete. I do not believe that things are as they were last year, where Imola was a ray of light, or like the year before that in which we dominated. I believe that we are able to perform like we did at Imola for the whole season, though this will naturally be influenced by the various types of circuit".

The seven-time champion stated that he hoped to achieve much at Nuerburgring: "we should be competitive once again. I will obviously do my best. I hope to get a good result for our fans". As Michael has always stated that the team is very important, he invited the squad to have fun with him at the kartodrome tomorrow evening.