Full throttle for Schumacher

8220;And our aim now is to keep this strength obviously at the same pace and hopefully make enough points so that we8217;ll win both drivers8217; and constructors8217; championships,8221; added the 37-year-old German.

Schumacher was dogged by a run of mechanical hitches until the halfway point of the 18-race season. At the end of the Canadian Grand Prix in June, Schumacher trailed defending champion and Spaniard Fernando Alonso, the Renault ace, by 25 points.

But he has since stormed back with the gap cut to zero at 116 apiece after he won the rain-hit Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai lat Sunday for his 91st creer F1 victory.

It was his seventh triumph of the season and the fifth after Canada, which put him in the F1 drivers championship lead for the first time since he won his seventh title in 2004.

Schumacher finished third in the overall standing last year.

8220;Pretty clear and straightforward, we8217;d like to win with both cars sitting on the podium in the first two positions. That8217;s the most certain way to secure both championships,8221; Schumacher said.

8220;Particularly, here in Suzuka, it8217;s a home Grand Prix for Bridgestone. We8217;d like to achieve this particular result,8221; he said of the Japanese company which will become the sole F1 tyre maker next year after France8217;s Michelin quits at the end of the season.

Renault, which won their first ever constructors title last year, are going to the Japanese round in Suzuka with a hair-slim 179-178 lead over Ferrari in the constructors championship.

8220;This is last time I8217;m going to race in Japan and I look forward to this Grand Prix for many reasons,8221; Schumacher said, citing Ferrari8217;s strong tie-up with Bridgestone as one of them.

8220;Last year when it didn8217;t work out, we stuck together and tried to solve things,8221; he said. 8220;I8217;m proud to be back in this position in my last rounds of races, in the position fighting for the championship.8221;

Schumacher8217;s teammate Brazilian Felipe Massa, who won his first Grand Prix in his five F1 years when he triumphed in Turkey in late August, was also upbeat about steering his red Scuderia machine into the points.