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'No way will we settle for constructors alone' says Todt


Michael Schumacher's third straight win has revived Ferrari's hopes of returning to the pinnacle of Formula 1, team manager Jean Todt said Monday .


Speaking after Schumacher won the French Grand Prix, Todt fiercely denied suggestions that the Italian team was prepared to make do with the constructors' championship, where it is now just 21 points behind pace-setters Renault with seven races - representing a potential haul of 136 points - still to go.

"There's no way we're going to be happy with just the constructors' championship. All we'll settle for is Felipe Massa (Ferrari's No.2 driver) not getting second place,"

a combative Todt told reporters.


Todt said he was "convinced" Schumacher, 17 points behind Renault's world champion Fernando Alonso, had "a great chance" of adding to his seven world titles .

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For all the importance the event undoubtedly had at the time, surely nobody involved in the 1906 French Grand Prix expended much effort predicting that another race of the same name would be run a century later. Yet that inaugural competition was the true starting point from which evolved the globally popular sport of Formula 1.


In 1906, motorsport was a young phenomenon but by no means a brand new one. The biggest races up until then had been the city-to-city affairs (which were eventually banned as the loss of life soared beyond acceptable levels) and the annual Gordon Bennett Cup races.


A feature of the Gordon Bennett events was that no more than three cars manufactured in a single country could be entered. This was simply a case of giving nations other than France a sporting chance. The French, dominant in the industry at the time, could have produced an entire race entry all by themselves, and they objected to this rule rather strongly.

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Michael Schumacher won the French Grand Prix on Sunday for a record eighth time. He finished 10 seconds ahead of world champion Fernando Alonso. Felipe Massa, Schumacher's Ferrari teammate, was third.


The victory helps Schumacher close the gap on Alonso in the standings with seven races left. Alonso has 96 points and Schumacher has 79.


"We clearly have made up ground and it is far from being over," said Schumacher, who won his 88th career race.


The seven-time world champion became the first Formula One driver to win the same race eight times, and his win was a boost for a resurgent Ferrari. At the United States GP two weeks ago, Schumacher led a 1-2 finish for his team.


Toyota's Ralf Schumacher was fourth - 27.2 seconds behind his brother - and McLaren-Mercedes' Kimi Raikkonen came fifth in the 70-lap race.


Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella was sixth, followed by Pedro de la Rosa of Spain, McLaren-Mercedes's replacement for Juan Pablo Montoya, who has left for NASCAR.

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Race Classification from the Formula One Grand Prix of France at Magny-Cours (Nevers) on Sunday

(rank: r = retired, nc = not classified)
Fastest Lap: Michael Schumacher, 1:17.111



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