| Happy and
relaxed at his favourite circuit, a short
distance from his home town of
Kerpen, Michael Schumacher faced the press
in a meeting at the Ferrari
media motorhome this afternoon. |
| _ On
the Belgian track, which the German has
made his own with five wins at Spa, he was asked to
recall his first ever F1 win, here at this track
back in 1992, when he was driving for Benetton. |
| “I
clearly remember that the reason
I won was partly due to my team - mate
Martin Brundle, I had made a mistake at
Stavelot and he passed me. I saw his tyres were
in bad shape so I decided to pit for
new ones. Then, on new tyres, I was able to
build up a lead and win. It was one of my best
days. It was the start of something,
but at the time I
had no idea where it would end. As for
Spa, it is fair to say
my relationship with this track is a love
story. Along with Suzuka it is the best in the world.
In fact, I call it my “living room!” |
| _
The Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver was
only 23 years old when he took
that win. With the current grid featuring many very
young drivers, he was asked if recent decisions
by Sauber and Toyota to employ Heinz-Harald Frentzen
and Olivier Panis for next season, meant
that teams were moving away from the trend to use youngsters.
|
| “First
of all I don’t think these two guys are so
old,” laughed Michael. “They won’t
race for ever, but maybe for the next two or
three years. They have the experience.
But Massa (who has lost his Sauber drive to Frentzen)
might come back anyway and there
are many other young drivers on the grid. Usually however,
if a team can chose
between two quick drivers, one young and one old,
they will take the younger." |
| _ Just
like his team-mate Rubens Barrichello,
Schumacher was also asked about the possible use
of team orders to help the Brazilian take second
place in the Drivers’ Championship. “Of
course it is frustrating to
be behind, when you think you are
quicker,” admitted the German, in reference
to the Hungarian GP where he followed Barrichello
home. |
| “But
tell me where I could
have passed him on that track. There was
no chance to overtake. Anyway, he supported me in Zeltweg
and I am happy to help him in return. The same
could happen here, but I hope
not as I would like to win. We must wait and see what
happens.” |
| _ It
was pointed out
to Schumacher that despite
his successful record at
Spa, he had never started this
race from pole. |
| “Wow!
Is that the case?” was his surprised
reply. “I did not know that. Let’s try and
get it this year then.” |
| _ Finally,
the world champion was asked how long
he felt the current period of Ferrari dominance in F1
could last. |
| “It
is impossible to say,” he reckoned. “It
is not just down to me. It is a matter of team effort.
F1 is unpredictable and can change very quickly.
I remember in ’98 no one thought
we could catch McLaren, but we did it quite quickly.
Others will try and beat us. They might succeed and
they might not.” |
| |
