Schumacher 'praying for rain'

Michael Schumacher admits he needs a helping hand from the notoriously fickle Ardennes weather if he is to make an impact in this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver is suffering a slump in form with an uncompetitive car and has already written off his chances of another victory at Spa-Francorchamps, a track which has witnessed some of the German’s greatest moments.

Of all the circuits on the Formula One calendar, Spa is the most likely to throw up a wet race and Schumacher was cheered by a downpour this morning with the forecast for more later this weekend.

Schumacher is keeping his fingers crossed for more rain on Sunday afternoon to give him a chance of troubling the front-runners, saying: “I am praying for it.”

If the Belgian weather does not throw Ferrari a lifeline, Schumacher expects another difficult weekend as he seeks to avoid a third consecutive pointless race.

He added: “Just a few days after Monza, I cannot say I expect to see much improvement but I hope that there will be before the end of the season.

“The important thing and the reason we keep pushing is to put ourselves in the best possible position to be competitive again for next season.

“It will be tough but we know what it takes because we still have the same team of people who lost and had to push hard in 1997 and ‘98 before becoming very strong and winning.”

Schumacher’s team-mate Rubens Barrichello is also resigned to another frustrating weekend unless bad weather intervenes.

The Brazilian, in his last year with Ferrari, admits a victory in a dry Belgian Grand Prix would be nigh on impossible.

“That would make the race more open,” he said.

“At the moment we have to be somewhat conservative on the tyre front, so our only real hope of doing better than in Monza last weekend, rests with how our car-tyre package will suit this track.

“It is this that will decide our performance, but I do not think it will be enough for us to do really well.

“I tell you, if we won here on Sunday there would be a bigger party than when we celebrated winning the championship here.”