Germany, July 03: Michael Schumacher has insisted that most of the credit for Ferrari's recent domination of Formula One must go to team boss Jean Todt. Todt is celebrating 10 years as sporting director at Ferrari this week.
And Schumacher, who takes a seven-point lead into Sunday's French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours, says the Frenchman has been instrumental in transforming the team's fortunes.
"The way Jean works is absolutely incredible and I don't know where he finds the energy," said Schumacher. "I could never imagine spending 15 or 16 hours in the office every day.
"Jean dedicates all his energies to the team and gets involved in every single detail.
"He is never distracted and is always 100% motivated, ready to urge everyone on to reach our objectives."



Todt lured Schumacher to Ferrari in 1996 after he had won the drivers' crown with Benetton in 1994 and 1995, building a dream team of technical director Ross Brawn and chief designer Rory Byrne around him.



Schumacher repaid the faith when Ferrari won the manufacturers' championship for the first time in 16 years in 1999, a title they have held ever since.



The German then ended Ferrari's 21-year quest to regain the drivers' title in 2000 and took his third straight crown last season, when Ferrari won 15 out of the 17 races.



"There was a time when the Scuderia was seen as a team riddled with politics," said Schumacher. "Now, however, it is known as a model of internal harmony and that is one of the secrets of our success.



"This is mainly down to Jean and it is the mark he has made on the team, with the constant support of our president, Luca di Montezemolo."



Schumacher extended his championship lead over McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen despite finishing fifth in Germany last weekend in a race won by his brother Ralf.



"Given the circumstances, I can be more than satisfied," said Schumacher. "It could have been much worse. The seven-point gap in the championship is a good platform seeing as, under the new points system, it is more difficult to catch up.



"We experimented on our set-up until a few races ago and so this can be considered a good start to the second half of the season.



"Last year Magny-Cours was considered the home of Michelin, but it was at the French Grand Prix that I clinched the world title, thanks to Bridgestone.



"I am convinced that we can challenge for victory in France.



"Everyone in the team, and our partners too, are very motivated and want to defend the lead we have. We will work extremely hard until the end of the championship."


Bureau Report