| Michael
Schumacher says he is ready to continue in Formula One
beyond the end of his current Ferrari contract in 2006.
|
| But the record
six-times World Champion said the time to quit would
come if his teammate, currently Brazilian Rubens Barrichello,
was quicker than him. |
| "I have never
excluded continuing after 2006," Schumacher told
a news conference at the team's winter retreat in the
Dolomites. "When we extended the contract to 2006,
the president (Ferrari's Luca di Montezemolo) told me:
'Stay as long as you like, as long as you are motivated
and quick'. |
| "There is
no reason to close doors for the future. If I feel then
as I do now then it is an open future," added the
35-year-old German. |
| "There is
no lack of motivation. I still enjoy it, we have a great
team morale, great atmosphere within the team. We had
a tough end to the year and it showed to all of us what
is needed to finally succeed and actually I think that
helped a lot with the motivation of the whole team.
|
| "For me it
is easy - I love what I am doing, I love the sport,
love preparing for races. For me there is no question
about not being motivated and it is important that everyone
around has the same motivation and from what I have
seen over the winter I am not concerned at all,"
he said. |
| Michael Schumacher
welcomed Ferrari's decision to extend Barrichello's
contract until 2006. |
| "Honestly,
there is no better choice than Rubens to be with us,"
said Schumacher who described the decision announced
this week as "natural and logical." |
| But the German
said that while he would carry on as long as he was
competitive, he would know the time to quit had arrived
when he was no longer the quickest man in the Ferrari
team. |
| "When I talk
about competitiveness then I am talking about straight
comparison," he said. "The only straight comparison
I can draw is when I fight against my teammate. |
| "Should there
be the day when I am doing my best and my best is not
good enough, to be quick enough, against my teammate
and I'm talking about being really too slow, then that
is the day to stop honestly because then it becomes
maybe dangerous." |
| The German said
a faster rival from another team would merely prompt
him and Ferrari to try harder. |
| "Whether
there is another competitor being for whatever reason
quicker, I'm talking about other teams, then that is
not a problem," he said. "That is our job
as a team to fight back and do it even better than they
do. If you look through my career I have had ups and
downs, and had those periods, good periods difficult
periods and usually the good period comes back. |
| "Our aim
is obviously to keep the good period we are in as long
as possible," he added. |
| Schumacher said
he expected the 2004 season to be another hard battle.
|
| "I think
it is going to be another interesting year," he
said. "As we all saw last year, it was tight and
I think it will be tight again this year. In which direction
and for whose favour is something we have to find out.
But I have no worries that Ferrari won't be there."
|
