It was noticeable in the Magny-Cours paddock, that two races in the space of one week is tiring for the teams. Immediately after the race, the trucks and motorhomes were packed and ready to move and the Formula 1 circus seemed keen to head home. Michael and Corinna left the circuit around seven, keen to get back home to spend some time with their children before bedtime.

The five-times world champion has a packed schedule for the next few days: a bit of relaxation before getting back on track, testing at Mugello and Fiorano. This will be the final test session before the summer break which runs through to the end of August. It will be a very important session after Michael took a hard won third place in the French Grand Prix. Even on the journey home, Michael’s usual fighting spirit was evident from his comments. “We have a long and thorough test session planned this week and we will all be working hard, concentrating on our jobs,” he explained. “What we have to do now is knuckle down and work efficiently. That way we will improve the situation, as we have seen in the past. In 1998 for example, Mika Hakkinen had a twenty point lead in the summer, but we managed to catch up towards the end of the season. Then again in 2000, when Mika was always closing on me. We have to regard the last two years as the exception rather than the rule, because we have not seen any radical changes in the pecking order of the teams. It is pretty normal to go through phases when different teams are more or less competitive during the course of a season. There is no one element that can be considered to blame and it is always the whole package which needs to improve. We were ready for a tough season which would be fiercely contested, which is why we are not surprised.”

Magny-Cours demonstrated that BMW-Williams had the edge over Ferrari and this has inevitably led to talk of a crisis. “When Ferrari fails to win a race, the media immediately talk about a crisis,” commented Michael with a smile. “But there is no crisis at the moment. So far we have won four races and we still lead the classification. Of course, it’s clear that in the last two races, our package was not as good as that of our rivals, but only by a bit. This is what happens in sport and the situation can change very quickly. I am convinced that the Ferrari engineers and all our partners will now push to turn the situation round in our favour. I am really confident we will succeed in this.”

The fact that his brother Ralf is now definitely in the hunt for the title does not bother Michael. “On the contrary, I am happy for all his success. He deserves it and judging by his qualities as a driver, a similar situation should have arisen a while ago. I am really happy that he now has a car with which he can show what he can do.”