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Question :
Michael,
you caught Rubens and then had a spin. Was that
because you got too close to his wing? Do you think
that cost you the race?
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| M.Schumacher
:
In answer
to the first question, I think so, although Rubens
was saying that he had some
difficulties on the same lap at the same corner, so
he was suggesting that there might have
been some dust or oil or whatever.
I felt I was just too close but I knew I had to
be close because it was close to pit
stop time. I knew that I would stay out for one
lap longer, so I had to be close and then use the one
lap more to my advantage. I
just was a little bit too close and I lost control
of it.
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| Question :
After the
second stops you then caught up Rubens for the
second time. How much of a risk were you prepared
to take to try and get past Rubens?
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| M.Schumacher
: I was
giving it everything, obviously, but
after the pit stop I ran into
quite a group of backmarkers, which cost
me a little bit of time. I don't know whether this would
have been enough to catch
up, because by the time I went to
my pit stop I was behind by about
two seconds. I don't know how much
it really cost me at this moment. He did a superb
race, he didn't make a mistake, so he deserves to be
the winner and I deserve to be second.
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| Question :
Michael,
you were so confident of being on the right side
of the grid at the start,
and yet it didn't quite work in your favour?
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| M.Schumacher
: Basically
I chose the wrong side on which to brake at the
start. I didn't see an opportunity on the inside. When
you're very close it's
more difficult sometimes to chose
than when you're further
back when you can see what's
going to happen, you have a better
view. I sort of slipstreamed
Ralf, Montoya was inside, almost side by
side with Ralf so I thought I had better go to the outside
and see what these guys do, maybe I can outbrake them
or whatever. But then, unfortunately,
as it makes a sort of
kink, the outside got tighter and tighter and
I had to slow down early and then I saw Rubens
and Coulthard flying by, so I thought 'well, could be
the wrong choice' but luckily
I caught up Coulthard again
in the second corner and then it was quite
an eventful first couple of
laps to get by Juan, which was very close
actually. It was a nice battle with Ralf, very fair
and then it was my job
to get close to Rubens and finally everybody has seen
what I did.
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Question :
What are
your feelings about Rubens's win here?
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| M.Schumacher
:
Oh, very
good. He has done a supeRB: race, he hasn't made
a mistake like me and that's why he deserves to win.
I think if I could have
stayed close during the pit stop, because
we had one lap difference,
maybe we had a chance. We had
an open race, we tried
and I lost out because I got too close and spun off.
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Question :
During
the closing stages, the pace did slow
to 1m 36s whereas Kimi was doing 1m 33s, so obviously
the pace had been relaxed. When
was it decided what the strategy was going to
be?
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| M.Schumacher
:
Basically
after the second pit stop because then, as we
saw in the first stint, there wasn't any
chance to overtake on the circuit
because we were too similar,
and then the team came on the radio
and said 'you have enough gap
to the back so let's take it
in a safe way and drive to the finish,
because you guys can't do anything on the circuit
anyway.'
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Question :
Michael,
in Austria Jean decided to
switch positions, it wasn't the
case today. Why?
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| M.Schumacher
:
I think
the points situation was quite
a different one in these days
than it was in Austria because nobody sort of knew how
the season would develop and we are
obviously in a much more
comfortable situation now whereas in Austria
we weren't.
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| Question :
Michael,
what are your feelings
about Wednesday?
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| M.Schumacher
: We will
see on Wednesday.
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| Question :
And
about Tuesday, I think you said it
will be a very special day too for you?
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| M.Schumacher
: On
Tuesday I have two special
events. One is going to be
to go to open our exhibition in Kerpen, which
my father sort of opened up and worked on
for quite a while now. And afterwards,
or the other way around
probably, I will be at an FIA event to promote
the safety developments for road cars.
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Question :
Michael,
the team decided today that you did not need four
extra points. Is the championship
now almost in the bag for you?
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| M.Schumacher
:
Am I champion
now? I wish to say that, but it is not.
We go step by step closer to it, but until
it is the case there is no point thinking too much about
it.
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Question :
To Michael.
During the last part of the race on the pit
wall there was a lot of talks and
Jean Todt seemed more nervous than usual. Can you
explain why?
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| M.Schumacher
:
At one
stage we were having a bit high oil temperature while
I was following Rubens closely. Probably
that is why.
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|
Question :
Michael,
from the pits, did someone ask you
to remain in your position, do not attack for the
win?
|
| M.Schumacher
:
The point
is that if we both pushed 100 percent,
and we have seen this in the first stint,
there is no chance to overtake, because as I said
before it is too equal. And after the second pit stop
the team said drive home the race, because
they knew on the circuit there
is no way to overtake, so
why push and why stress the material and
possibly risk stopping the race,
so that was the order for both of us to just drive
a safe race and drive it home. And
naturally, as much as he
had to slow down, I had to slow down, because
it would be very unfair
if he slowed down and I took the chance to overtake
him. That's not fair.
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| Question :
Was the
order already planned before the race or after
the stop?
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| M.Schumacher
: No, we
had a free race.
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| Question :
Michael,
considering you were in a free race,
if the team had asked you to let Rubens
overtake you, how would you react?
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| M.Schumacher
: There was
no sort of question about this. It
was never the idea.
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|
Question :
You said
at first that the situation is different to Austria
and after that you said: 'Am
I champion? Not yet.' The isn't the situation the
same?
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| M.Schumacher
:
We are
slightly different in that
the points difference is quite
substantial now although the
championship is not finished. I think in Austria it
was race number five (six), and now
we are in race number
nine. I think that justifies
the situation. People have sometimes certain
ideas, but I think that we are simply not, and at
the time, arrogant enough to think that it is so easy
to win this championship. I don't
want to say now we are arrogant, but we
now we have quite a substantially more points difference.
We saw what happened to Ralf, we saw
what happened to Montoya, we took all this into
consideration.
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Question :
Michael,
are you that confident
that on Wednesday they will
not take any points away from you?
|
| M.Schumacher
:
I don't
think it is right to get into this sort of story
at all because it is a
sort of court case and you have to understand that we
don't want to talk about it.
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Question :
How difficult
was it here in Germany not to fight for the win?
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| M.Schumacher
: I did fight,
very hard. I fought so hard that I went off.
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| Question :
Except
the order after the second pit stop.
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| M.Schumacher
: There is
no strong feeling about it because we could
not overtake on the circuit,
that's it, and after the second pit stop, when
he came out in front of me, I knew that's it.
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