Todt refuses to concede season.

'Very disappointing' was the way Ferrari team principal Jean Todt described the outcome of Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix, when Michael Schumacher scored just one point for the team and Rubens Barrichello retired with a suspension failure.

"We knew it was not going to be an easy race, but we were expecting better," the diminutive Frenchman said, "Rubens has now retired twice in a row, Michael scored two points being seventh [at Hockenheim] and one point being eighth, so we've scored just three points in the last two races. It's not very rewarding but, saying that, that's the job."

But Todt never forgets just how good things have been in the past.

"On the one hand, if we analyse the past four years, it's been a fantastic achievement - to take the last two races is a terrible disappointment - so you have to judge the whole thing," he reasoned.

"Even if you see that Michael did not score a lot of points for four or five races, he's still leading the drivers' championship by one point. It's unpleasant but, after 13 races - if you take 13 races all together - it's not so bad. But, still, we lost the lead in the manufacturers' championship today. The opposition is tough, we know, so we're not surprised by that. There are still three races to go."

Todt remains optimistic when it comes to the future, particularly as there is a big three-day test scheduled at Monza prior to the Italian Grand Prix in three weeks' time. Ferrari is taking three cars and will also be testing at Fiorano at the same time in order to get its season back on track.

"I think we will know quite well where we are [after the test]," Todt insisted, "We need to see how the development programme goes in Monza - we have a lot of tyres we are going to test with Bridgestone and then we will know where we are. But I think it will be a bit too early to say that the season is over.

"I think we will fight and still have good chances to succeed. If you look back at Silverstone, it was a big domination for Ferrari, so it can happen. I don't say it will happen - but it can happen."

When asked which of his rivals - Juan Montoya and Williams or Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren - would be easier to beat, Todt noted graphically the unpredictability of this year's championship.

"It depends on a lot of things, from one race to another," he explained, "If you take the trend of the last few races, Williams-BMW has definitely scored more points, but sometimes this year you have seen one car or team on another planet. That was the case with [Fernando] Alonso today, it happened with Montoya three weeks ago, it happened to Rubens in Silverstone, and I think Raikkonen had a very strong lead at the Nurburgring."

Todt revealed that Barrichello's crash was due to the failure of the left rear top wishbone in the suspension, and also said that Schumacher had been almost out of fuel when he pitted for the second time. Seeking only to underline the run of fortune that had gone against his team, Todt also refused to lay the blame for recent performances on the team's tyre company, Bridgestone.

"You know, it would be very unfair to give all credit to one tyre company, or to say that it's because of another tyre company that we don't do well," he insisted, "As I said earlier, we won so many races thanks to them, so you have to see the whole picture."

Indeed, Todt said that the new tyre rules were perhaps advantageous to Ferrari, even though they might be complicated for Bridgestone.

"I think Bridgestone have been focusing more on developing the tyres with us because we are probably more the point of reference for them, while the other tyre company has more points of reference," he said, referring to Michelin's work with Williams, McLaren and Renault, "But I don't want to say that that is an advantage or disadvantage, it's just like that."

Finally, Todt admitted that, in the face of this massive challenge, Michael Schumacher remained 'very focused', and determined to improve on his recent run of low scores.

"He's spending some time with his family, and doing a lot of training, but he doesn't like to come back home with only one point," Todt pointed out, "He has done that for many years, so he knows it can happen. That's why he has remained humble, with his feet on the ground, because he knows what it means.

"He was disappointed, we are all disappointed, but it doesn't help lap times to be disappointed. We have to digest that and work for the next one."