23/07/2007 14:44

Nurburgring - Ferrari chief Jean Todt said the Italian team remain confident they can deliver a resounding challenge for both Formula One world championship titles this season despite being beaten again in Sunday's dramatic rain-hit European Grand Prix.

Todt, who was disappointed at seeing Finn Kimi Raikkonen fail to complete a hat-trick of successive wins, said Ferrari have everything to play for with only seven races remaining this season.

Defending drivers' world champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso, in a McLaren Mercedes-Benz, won Sunday's stormy race ahead of Brazilian Felipe Massa in the leading Ferrari. Australian Mark Webber finished third for Red Bull.

Championship-leading Briton Lewis Hamilton finished ninth in the second McLaren, his first non-podium finish in nine F1 races.

"There are still seven races to go," said a defiant Todt. "You saw today that Hamilton did not score points, so immediately you can see the difference. He (Raikkonen) is 18 points behind the leader and there are seven races to go - and we have the potential to win every race.

"So if we are able to do a good job, it's still possible. I don't think this result changes anything. I don't think we can say that we have made an easy approach to all the races since the beginning of the championship.

"So we will keep trying to do the same job, we will try to improve the performance of the car and of course, try to resolve reliability problems when we know where to put the effort.

"As I have said before, we have to analyse what has happened. It was a hydraulic problem on Kimi's car that caused him to stop. It's definitely unfortunate, but it's our responsibility. We think that we had this kind of problem during free practice in Magny Cours."

The Italians, after winning the previous races in France and Britain, had started on Sunday from pole position - thanks to Raikkonen - and led most of the way in Sunday's extraordinary event.

But a mechanical problem and the wildly-changing weather conditions resulted in them falling away and allowing Alonso to storm through for victory.

Raikkonen retired from third place due to a hydraulics problem, but remained 18 points behind remarkable rookie Hamilton, 22, who failed to finish on the podium for the first time in his ninth Formula One race. He finished ninth.

Massa looked set for victory until a downpour, with fewer than 10 laps remaining, forced everyone to pit again. In dreadful conditions, Massa struggled and could not prevent Alonso forcing his way past him.

Massa, however, closed the gap to Hamilton to 11 points. "Second place leaves a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth," said Massa. "But the positive thing is that I have made up a lot of ground in the drivers' classification.

"There is still a long way to go this season and we have to be confident."

Raikkonen said: "This setback does not mean I feel like giving up the fight, even if there is now one less race in which to compete. The gap to the head of the classification remains the same and anything can happen in the seven remaining races.

"We have a very competitive car but clearly we have to improve on the reliability front."

To make things worse for Ferrari, their most famous ambassador and local hero Michael Schumacher was entrusted with the honour of handing victorious McLaren team chief Ron Dennis with a trophy for the winning constructor.

"Honestly, I would have preferred that he gave it to a Ferrari team member!" said Todt. "But he was asked by the organisers to give the trophy to the winning manufacturer so he did so."