Your winning streak is about to end, Schumacher tells brother

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER had told little brother Ralf to enjoy his winning streak — because it is not going to last. The German admitted he has been surprised by the sudden surge in form of Ralf’s Williams-BMW outfit.

But Schumacher is confident he can thwart his title rival's hopes of completing a hat-trick of victories in Sunday's British Grand Prix at Silverstone and put an end to his own slump.

"I didn't expect Williams to catch up so quickly," said Schumacher.

"If you look at their performances at the beginning of the season, you would not have expected them to be where they are. But I have been in F1 for many seasons and I feel if you analyse a season you have highs and lows.

"They are on a high and we are not but we can turn that around. I believe we have made a significant step forward for this weekend."

Schumacher admits he would revel in a title fight with his brother in the remaining six races. The Ferrari driver leads his brother Ralf by 11 points, though McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen is currently second in the drivers' standings, eight points adrift.

"It is a good situation to have my brother there," said Schumacher, who has finished fifth and third in the last two races as Ralf has triumphed in the European and French grands prix.

"I think Williams are very strong, but luckily they are still 11 points behind me. Imagine, if the two of us are fighting for the championship only a Schumacher can win.

"The new points situation has worked in my favour to some degree in the last two races, but overall I am not too sure because Ralf has only two victories and I have four."

Ralf Schumacher admits he faces a tough task triumphing in a race in which team chief Frank Williams will show whether he or team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya who is six points further adrift can challenge for the title.

"The last two races were great for us as a team finishing one and two, but we will have to wait and see what happens this weekend," said the 28-year-old, who has also started three of the last four races on pole.

"It will depend on the weather and looking back to the last test we had here, McLaren were really strong and so were Ferrari. It is going to be quite a tight battle."