The statement made by German driver Ralf Schumacher has become a morale booster for the team. Ralf Schumacher said that Toyota's recent stronger form with its racing design convinces him that the team can really become more competitive in the remaining half of the season.
It can be remembered that the German driver has encountered problems with his Toyota race car. He was really trying to set the car up to his liking and was lagging far behind his teammate Jarno Trulli.
According to some rumors circulating Schumacher was on the edge of losing his drive as he repeatedly failed to get past the initial qualifying cut-off. Amazingly, the German driver has bounced back in the last two races and finally qualifying a season-best sixth at Silverstone and at last overtaking Trulli all weekend. He retired early in the grand prix and was sure convinced that this time Toyota has clearly made its point.
Schumacher said, "We clearly have the potential to turn it around. We have good people, the right facilities and we just need to do the job. Everyone is pushing hard so I am quite optimistic. Clearly a double retirement at Silverstone is not satisfactory but the positive element was the sixth place in qualifying. That was representative and I had good lap times while I was still in the race."
The German Toyota driver also admitted that despite the improvement and all Toyota still remains a little inconsistent. He said, "Under certain circumstances our car is very competitive. We have seen it in Barcelona and we looked good in terms of pace in Magny-Cours too, but we had problems so we didn't get the results we wanted. We just need to extend that window a bit. Over the last few races I've become increasingly comfortable with my set-up and the whole team is working hard as we chase a successful second half of the year."
After this week's test at Spa, the German driver is convinced that the Belgian track might just turned out to be one of the venues that would bring out the true strength of Toyota.
Schumacher said, "The car performed well overall so we can look forward to the race here with confidence. We were quick in Silverstone and this track has similar characteristics with a lot of high speed corners so it should suit us when we come here in September."
