Schumacher: I'll be here next year.

Ralf Schumacher shows no signs of being concerned about his Formula One future, claiming that he'll still be involved in the sport in 2008.

The German has endured a lacklustre start to his 2007 campaign, out-qualified 4-0 by Toyota team-mate Jarno Trulli so far and with just a single point to his name, but insists that he will have a ride next season - whether or not Toyota decides to take up its option on his services.

Schumacher's comments - made to Reuters on the eve of qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix - tie in with remarks made by his manager Hans Mahr made at the end of last month, when Nick Heidfeld was being touted as a possible Toyota driver in 2008.

"I just concentrate on what I'm doing, I am here next year so no worries," Schumacher said, "I kind of like [the conjecture]. People seem to care - otherwise they wouldn't think that much about me. I still enjoy what I'm doing and I don't see any reason to stop it yet."

Admitting that the TF107 still does not favour his driving style, Schumacher knows that there is still work to do before he can begin to think of regular points finishes, but admits that he also has to raise his game a little.

"At the moment, we have so much work to do," he confirmed, "Our target at the beginning of the year was to win races, and we are pretty far away from that. I think a lot of development has to be done on this car - it's good, but there's a lot of things to improve. It is possible with this current car and we know some areas where we can improve it massively.

"In Barcelona, my speed was okay and I was just a bit unlucky. The two [races] before that, weren't very good, I know that, but things like that don't change eleven years [in F1]."

Toyota has an option on Schumacher for another two years, but is unlikely to make a decision on its 2008 line-up until later in the year. In particular, the team will want to wait and see what team-mate Trulli's plans are, amid rumours that the Italian may decide to retire in the near future. The Japanese marque has development drivers in GP2 and F3, but has also been linked to a number of possible targets, including Heidfeld, who continues to impress for BMW Sauber this season.