March 4, 2006	Saturday	Safar 3, 1427

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LONDON, March 3: 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.”—Agencies