Schumacher: Greatest respect for my rivals
Mar.11 (YF1) It was just like old times! Michael Schumacher sharing a press conference with rivals ahead of a Grand Prix. The seven times world champion was part of the FIA driver’s press conference at the Sakhir circuit. We publsih the highlights:
After a three season absence from Formula 1 what are you looking forward to?
Michael: The green light or the red light going off.
What are your thoughts on the new section of the Bahrain circuit?
Michael: The first part looks quite exciting. The later part a little less exciting, but then you have to drive it and feel it in reality.
What’s it like to be back at a race meeting when you are a driver and fully involved after an absence of three years?
Michael: Well, naturally it is a bit more intense. From the morning to the evening with lots more details than you want and naturally you have to pay attention.
How much are you still team building? People have spoken how you built a team at Ferrari. What is happening at Mercedes now?
Michael: I think it is difficult to say right now what is going to be the development. Naturally you have to adapt, you have to evolve developing into the team. It is probably the thing that you will find some potential, you still can improve, to understand how at certain moments the team will work, why it will work, how you can combine the two things. But so far I have to say that the guys are good guys. It is good harmony, particularly due to knowing the boss quite well and he knows me too. It makes things a lot easier, a lot smoother, but otherwise I am sure there is some potential we will have to develop.
You are a two-time winner here. What are your feelings about this circuit?
Michael: Making it three.
What do you make of the new Formula 1 regulations for 2010?
Michael: Naturally, as a race driver you want to drive the fastest car and if you have full tanks to half full tanks it naturally makes a big difference.
Do you remember how you felt coming into the sport for the first time, up against champions who you had watched, the likes of Senna and Prost and so on? With your record and reputation, you’re very much the man to beat; is it going to be everyone else’s aim to attack you and challenge you on the track?
Michael: Yes. Basically when I arrived, I wasn’t that full of confidence to be on the same playing field but being with them the first time, I noticed that I could be (competitive) and I do feel pretty much the same now. There’s no reason why somebody should not feel in the position to fight me because all those guys who will be on the grid on Sunday have good reasons to be there because they’re highly talented. I have the greatest respect for each of them; for me, each one is a big competitor that I have to look at.
You always said you don’t like understeer in your cars, and this year, due to the weight of the car, the tyres, the nature of the cars, you have understeer. Do you think that because of that we may not see the best of you?
Michael: I think it varies very much from car to car, it’s a characteristic which is given to a car. Sometimes, you’re right, it may be given by the tyres, then it’s up to you and your team to get the balance that you want, because in the past, don’t forget a car suited me because I like oversteer, I like a neutral car, the fastest car, whatever that is!
Will the new distribution of points with 25 for the first, 18 to the second, change your approach and maybe your strategy for the race?
Michael: You still want to score the 25, so that’s the main strategy. It’s certainly a little bit fairer, I think, in a way that if you have somebody who wins most of the races, naturally you will most likely say that he is going to be the champion by the end of the year, rather than somebody there just sitting, waiting and taking second and third places and suddenly being World Champion. I don’t think that makes much sense, as it has been in past years. Actually I think I was the reason why it was implemented, the small gaps, because I was winning so much and nobody could find a way to stop that. I think it’s absolutely correct, the way it is now.
