Talking at Madonna di Campiglio, on the second day of Ferrari's 2006 press get-together, seven-time World Champion, Michael Schumacher, refused to rule out the possibility of moving to another team next season, should he decide to remain in F1.

Ahead of his eleventh season with Ferrari, there is much speculation over the German's future. Having dominated the sport for so long, Schumacher was unable to fight back in 2005, when his car proved no match for the Renault and McLaren. That said, despite the podiums, many feel that the German gave some of his most spirited performances.

At 37, Schumacher is the oldest driver on the grid, and while some believe the German may choose to retire at the end of 2006, after seven titles and fifteen full seasons of F1, others are of the opinion that he could opt to switch to another team, possibly Toyota, a move hinted at by his manager, Willi Weber, at the weekend.

Speaking to reporters this morning, Schumacher was evasive regarding the speculation.

"If I continue after 2006 then it is 99 percent that it will be with Ferrari," he said. "I don't want to lie, I am just telling the truth, 99 percent is what it is.

"However," he added, "I think it is one percent for another possibility, should I decide to continue. This doesn't mean we have to win the championship but we have to be in a good position."

Referring to Weber's comment, Schumacher said: "You would have to ask Willi why he said that."

The German has rarely been critical of Ferrari, which is one of the reasons why the team, and its members, clearly adore him. However, recently he has expressed his frustration at last season, and today was no exception.

"We drove 90,000 kilometres last year," he said, referring to the Maranello outfit's massive test programme, "and with all that effort we didn't go forward. Now we seem to be on the right pace and are surprisingly quick, we have been doing good work for some time."

"The joy, of course, yes it comes with competitiveness," he admitted. "If all the effort is meaningless then it is quite frustrating.