Michael Schumacher insists that it is still possible for him and the Mercedes GP team to fight for the world championship in 2010, despite a disappointing opening two races, though he concedes the team needs to start improving quickly.
Schumacher could only finish 10th in Australia last weekend after getting involved with Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso's accident at the first corner and pitting for a new nose cone, and now sits 8th in the championship with just 9 points to his name.
But Schumacher says that the team can still fight for the title this year.
"It's too early to write off the championship for now," Schumacher said ahead of the Malaysian GP this weekend, "We still can fight for the championship."
The seven-time champion, who was enjoying a more competitive weekend in Australia before the race, having outpaced team mate Nico Rosberg in two of the practice sessions and qualifying just a tenth of a second behind him despite being blocked by Alonso, admitted that the team did need to improve, saying that a podium finish in Malaysia "probably is the maximum we can look for at the moment."
He added that: "From our side we are not the most competitive car at the moment. We are here for the best. It is a little bit difficult to position ourselves right now."
Schumacher, who spent most of the Melbourne race stuck behind Jaime Alguersuari's Toro Rosso, said that the Mercedes W01 was struggling to follow other cars closely right now, admitting that overtaking in the car was "almost impossible unless someone makes a mistake."
The Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn also said that a podium in Malaysia was the target, adding that there was still enough time for them to get into the championship mix.
"We'd like to get on the podium this weekend... There is no reason why that shouldn't be possible," he said, "[It is] far too early to say how the championship is going to develop.
"There have been lots of seasons where the start is quiet and it gets stronger, and there are lots of seasons where it starts strong and then gets quiet."
The team's other driver, Nico Rosberg, was still fairly gloomy about the team's chances in Malaysia, saying that the team was still "quite a step behind" the pacesetting pair of Red Bull and Ferrari.
"We have to push very hard to catch them again," Rosberg, who has two 5th place finishes to his name in 2010 so far, admitted, "We have big steps coming so I look forward to it, and I hope that we can close the gap to the people in front."
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