Berlin, Feb 16: Ralf Schumacher needs a more positive attitude to have a chance of winning the world title, his team bosses say. Williams technical director Patrick Head said: "If the car is bad at the start of a race meeting, it can very hard work to turn it around for him.

"Ralf must get his head around limiting the damage if the car is not good.

"Ralf will know this year will be an opportunity to win the championship and he will be putting all his effort into trying to make that happen."

Head and team owner Frank Williams say they do not understand Schumacher's inconsistency over a season.

While he can drive like a champion, they admit there are also too many races when he looks ordinary.

Williams said: "Ralf's a funny guy. There were some races last year, notably Japan and Hungary, when he would pass people as if they were not there, which he normally doesn't do." "I guess he's not aggressive enough on those [other occasions].

"But it's easy to be critical of anybody if you want to be, and he's fearsomely quick in the right circumstances."

Williams backed up Head's view about Schumacher being at his best when the car is good from the start of a race meeting.

Talking about his victories at the San Marino Grand Prix in 2001 and in last year's European and French races, Williams said: "The car was dead right for those races, and he had a clear track and he drove truly to perfection.

"Where he's very good is that he understands his car very well. Good feel for tyres, good feel for changes."

Bureau Report