( CNN ) -- Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher has told CNN that the Red Bull team should have already tied up the Formula One drivers ' title -- and can only blame themselves for not having done so . Fernando Alonso is in pole position to win his third crown , this time for Schumacher 's former team Ferrari , at the 2010 season finale in Abu Dhabi this weekend . The Spaniard has an eight-point lead from Mark Webber , with the Australian 's Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel another seven points off the pace . The Austrian outfit has already clinched the constructors ' title , but Schumacher claims the drivers ' battle should not have gone to the final race -- hinting at the widespread reports of tension between Vettel and Webber . `` I guess the main reason why the championship is still open is due to the fact that one particular team has made quite a few errors this year , '' he said . Blog : Vettel win ushers in new era . `` And if you think out of 18 races they took 15 pole positions and still only being second and third in the drivers ' championship -- they want to win the championship , yes . `` But that shows a little bit that something has gone wrong somewhere ... not wanting to go into the details . But it 's been exciting , and lots of happenings even from other teams -- so let 's see what the final race will bring to us . '' The F1 title race lowdown . Schumacher 's return to F1 may not have been quite as successful as he would have hoped , but the German believes his past success has helped his younger compatriots . The 23-year-old Vettel has impressed as the best of a new line of German talent including Williams ' Nico Hulkenberg and Schumacher 's Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg . Add Virgin 's Timo Glock and Force India 's Adrian Sutil to the mix -- both of whom are still under 30 -- along with Sauber 's comparative veteran Nick Heidfeld , and there will be seven Germans on the starting grid at Yas Marina . Latest F1 championship standings . Schumacher , who dominated motorsport 's elite class with Ferrari before retiring in late 2006 , said he deserved some credit for raising F1 's popularity in his home country . `` No doubt I did , yes -- I mean the reason me being successful initiated a lot of manufacturers that we do have in Germany , '' the 41-year-old said . `` I mean we are probably the biggest manufacturers of road cars in Germany , in terms of high-end cars , and having F1 to be so popular in Germany obviously triggered interest of all those manufacturers . Alonso ignores talk of Red Bull team orders . `` And on this principal they initiated young driver programs where Sebastian is a result out of this one , and I guess I can take some credit from that . '' Schumacher is ninth in the drivers ' standings , having been unable to add to his record 154 podium finishes this year , while Rosberg is seventh with three third-place finishes . He is looking forward to the second year of his contract with Mercedes , which has struggled to build on the success of last year 's world champion Brawn outfit since taking it over late last year . Is Ferrari 's Fernando the best on the grid ? `` Well the future is very clearly to make step by step the development that we really have initiated this year and take the fruits of it by starting [ well ] next year , '' Schumacher said . `` Who knows how quick we can recover from our slightly down performance this year ... whether we can immediately go back into the championship fight next year or it needs a little bit more build-up time and lead time until the year after . `` But I 'm pretty sure next year we 'll be much more competitive and we should be able to win races . ''
Michael Schumacher hints at problems in Red Bull camp ahead of title decider . Schumacher's team have been struggling to get the car up to speed since his accident last month and are now facing a race against time as they try to find out what went wrong with their car. Red Bull won constructors ' title in penultimate race of season in Brazil . Seven-time world champion Schumacher looking forward to a better 2011 season .