Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher believes his Ferrari team as well as title holders Renault, Honda and McLaren will be locked in a four way fight for the Formula One crown this season.

"I think we'll see a very close fight between three or four teams," Schumacher told Autosport magazine on Thursday.

"I am pretty optimistic we'll be one of them along with Renault and Honda I think. Whether we'll win it, we'll see, but we'll be in it, I think."

The 37-year-old German heads into the season, which starts in Bahrain on March 12, hoping to bury memories of a disappointing 2005, in which his Ferrari was rarely competitive.

He won just one race and that was the six-car farce at Indianapolis.

But he believes pre-season testing means that the new Ferrari car won't be far from the pace.

"If you look now, we're pretty competitive. We're there with our lap times and that's very promising for us," he said.

Despite many paddock rumours pushing him towards retirement this year, Schumacher insists he still has a burning passion for racing.

"I feel very different, simply because after you've had a story of success like we had, to then have a hard season... you sort of get tired by the end of a season like that," he said.

"After a season like that, to then be off the pace all winter would be very tough. It's very consuming on the energy side.

"Whereas now it's the opposite to last season. You feel so much more motivated and happy to run with this car, see you're there and that you can fight them maybe. It's great."

 

McLaren is the one team I doubt will be in the top 4, given the engine difficulties well late into the testing season this year. I think they will not have the reliability of the others at least early on.

Instead, I think Toyota might be in the mix to a greater degree than presently thought.

 

Right now I think it's Renault-McLaren at the top, then Honda-Ferrari a couple ticks back. Honda will pick up their maiden win this season, but it'll be because Renault and McLaren took each other out. Overall Honda and Ferrari will be fighting each other for "best of the rest".

McLaren has the best chassis, and two of the top 4 or 5 drivers; if they work out the engine...be afraid.

 

According to the media, every single team has had some kind of issue one way or another with these new V8s. These new engines are going to make for a very interesting year.

 

MS has said the same thing almost , every beginning of every season..

i remember him rattling off that same kinda junk when Williams hired this young French Cdn Jacques Villeneuve..

 

Actually Mclaren have looked quite good the last couple weeks of testing with their new engine. In all-out pace maybe just a hair behind the Renaults, though it's not clear whether their consistency is as good.

Right now it looks like:

1. Renault

2. Honda - Ferrari - Mclaren too close to call

5. Williams

 

KR said this today:

I don