June News 2003     Monday June 23, 2003 European GP - Preview The European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring has special significance for Michael, given that the “Ring” is not far from his home town of Kerpen. Michael said  "In fact,  I can only repeat what I usually say, that  of  course  coming  to   the  Nurburgring  is   something special for  me.  It is  not  so  far  from my home and usually a lot  of  my  fans  turn  out  to  support me.  That in itself is already  a help  and  it  is  a great  feeling  when  you arrive to find this tremendous  atmosphere.  It’s  good  to  have this support  and  also  I have many good memories of this place." How  good  is  it to come to the Nurburgring as championship leader?   "Obviously,  it  is  great  but  even  more  important is  knowing  that,  with  the  F2003-GA,  I  have  a car which is  simply  amazing,  with  a very  good performance level. In general, it is a fantastic  feeling  coming to the Nurburgring, but it is even better knowing that I can expect to be fighting for the win.  Indeed, our car’s main advantage is that it goes well  on  all  the  circuits  and  we are always in the hunt for the  win.  And,  in  the  past  few  races  at  the Nurburgring, Ferrari  has  usually  gone  very  well.” He added "I think that trend will continue in the second half of the season.  We  will  continue  to  win races,  but  so will McLaren-Mercedes and BMW-Williams. As I’ve said  before, I think it will be a tough fight for the title, which is likely to go down  to the wire. The competition is close and there will be  more  changes  in the order. However, I think it’s natural that   we   have   taken   the  lead   in   both   classifications. My results up to the mid-point of the season are pretty good, especially if we ignore  the first three races… Ok,  we  can’t do that, but it’s good all the same.  At the moment,  we are in a strong  position  with  the prospect  of  doing  better.” If  Schumacher  finishes  in the top eight on Sunday, he will reach the 1000-point milestone of his career.  Should he win, it will be his 50th victory for the Ferrari team. “It sounds good,  but I prefer to talk about things only when they have become reality…”