Michael Schumacher on Tuesday exonerated younger brother Ralf from any blame for Sunday's collision at the Nurburgring which left the double Formula One world champion rueing the loss of vital title points.

"I am not angry with Ralf. I think it would be totally over the top to pin the blame on him," Michael insisted in a statement in which he labelled the collision "purely accidental".

Michael said his brother would not be professional if he did not look out for his own race hopes at all times. And he blasted what he called "unfair" press articles blaming Ralf for effectively putting a spoke in the wheel of his brother's title hopes, which he says are still alive.

"I'm not ready to throw in the towel yet. As long as there is a glimmer of hope. I will do everything I can to change the course of events," Michael said defiantly. But he added he now saw his title chances as having slipped from "50-50 to now perhaps 30-70".

Ralf Schumacher, who shunted his brother out of Sunday's Luxembourg Grand Prix and probably lost him the 1997 world championship in the process to Jacques Villeneuve of Canada, said earlier he does not believe he has to say sorry.

"It's doubly bitter for him but he doesn't blame me, and why should he," the younger Schumacher told the Bild daily.

The Jordan driver did not believe he should say sorry. "There's no reason to do so. There were three of us involved in that accident - (Giancarlo) Fisichella, Michael and me. It was just one of those things.

"I didn't have a chance. Fisichella nudged my rear wheel and I went over Michael. If everybody had been paying attention nothing would have happened."

Bild meanwhile reported that when Villeneuve bumped into Ralf after Sunday's win, which gave him a nine-point lead in the drivers' championship, he said: "Thanks for the points."

Elsewhere, Bernard Dudot, Renault's technical director, will join Alain Prost's Grand Prix team next season when the French car maker pulls out of formula one motor racing.

Dudot, 58, will co-ordinate all development work but Loic Bigois stays in charge of designing the new AP01 (Alain Prost 01) which will be powered by Peugeot next season, Prost said Tuesday. He was Prost's track engineer when the four-times world champion was at Renault in 1981-83.

Dudot, who helped bring the turbo-powered Renault into Formula One in 1977, was one of the main architects of Renault engine's 95 Grand Prix wins.