Michael Schumacher has quashed rumours he'll leave Formula One at the end of this year by saying he is targeting his eighth title in 2011.
The Mercedes driver has performed poorly in 2010 and there was speculation over whether he would call time on his three year contract at the end of the year.
The 41-year-old returned to F1 this year after three seasons in retirement but has so far struggled to match team mate Nico Rosberg.
Schumacher said: "When I came back [the target] was to win another title. That's what I'm here for, very clearly. I know the final target, where I want to go. I'm confident I can achieve it."
Although Schumacher said he is not happy with his performance so far this year, he has not lost the motivation which helped him to win a record seven F1 titles and claims to be enjoying the challenge.
Schumacher said: "Perfectly happy with my own performance is probably wrong to say. But put it this way: yes, there is an expectation out there which, I think you have to be realistic, is impossible to meet.
"I am away three years and just to come back and start exactly where I finished with maybe a car that doesn't allow me to right now is probably unrealistic. I am not a magician either. It just needs time. I take that time. I enjoy most of all this process."See all the latest Ford reviews, news and video
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Re: Schuey targets 2011 title
And i'll point out that Schumacher apart from Germany he qualifies well, for the first ten laps of a race he's like the Schumacher of old, then he gradually fades away like he's doing just enough to hold onto tenth,he's only good enough to beat the probationers, an 8th world title?, i just can't see it, sorry.
Re: Schuey targets 2011 title
Someone pointed out during the German GP coverage that what's really hurting Schumi is the testing ban. When he was THE outstanding driver in F1 , it wasn't so much that God had given him much more talent than anyone else , but that he worked bloody hard at improving the car and his driving. Now he is not allowed to do that.Re: Schuey targets 2011 title
Dear me, not exactly living up to your nom de plume tonight, are you? I think Schumi is in with a chance. He's not being humiliated, he's learning. Pedro de la Rosa has acknowledged that he too, even halfway through the season, is still scrubbing off the rust - and that Mercedes quite simply isn't as fast as it needs to be. Rosberg has managed a third-place finish on I think three occasions out of pure luck and determination, not because his car is up to the job. He also does better with the new-format qualifying (with which it seems Schumi still struggles a bit). It's when it comes to that flat-out qualifying, where the Red Bulls have been so dominant, with Hamilton and Alonso especially doing very well too, and the Force Indias doing pretty well overall (a dismal German GP notwithstanding), that the Mercedes simply doesn't have the pace necessary. The Force India and the McLaren are both much quicker - which goes to show it's down to the design of the car, not the engine. Put Schumacher in the McLaren and I reckon he'd be up about third, fourth.