Schumacher plans to keep right on racing
(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2004-09-23 14:55

Formula One juggernaut Michael Schumacher has no plans to bring down the curtain on his glittering career.

"I don't even want to talk about retirement," the 35-year-old German said yesterday in Shanghai.

Schumacher, attended a grand media gathering organized by Scuderia Ferrari team in Pudong's Grand Hyatt hotel, leading up to the inaugural Chinese Grand Prix at the weekend.

"I thought in 2002 that it was difficult to improve from there but we've managed to do even better this year," he said. "So why not keep going to see if we can make further improvements next season or beyond."

Schumacher has racked up 12 trophies out of the 15 Grand Prix races this season and secured the annual drivers' title - seventh in his career - in Belgium late last month with four races left on the 18-leg calendar.

The efforts by Schumacher and his teammate Rubens Barrichello - now a distant second in the drivers' standings - had already crowned the Ferrari team as the annual constructors' championship winner even one race earlier in Hungary.

In 2002, Schumacher snared 11 wins in 17 starts.

The seemingly invincible racer, undoubtedly the greatest of all time, displayed a laid-back approach to the Grand Prix this weekend.

"I don't have any idea of the circuit yet and have not had even a virtual tour on the simulator," said the German, clad in jeans and a pair of embroidered fashion boots. "I'll take a scooter around the circuit tomorrow just to see if the corners at the end of the straights turn left or right."

But even in a light mood, the German, affectionately known as Schumi, stands as the top favorite in the race scheduled at the suburban Shanghai International Circuit Sunday afternoon.

Schumacher has won at every circuit on the calendar, including Bahrain's first grand prix in the Middle East this year, in a career spanning more than a decade.

Even Barrichello, his teammate who uses the same machine as the German does, has to struggle to compete with him on equal terms.

"Second place is better than third but for the next three grands prix left on the calendar I'll be fighting to win," said the Brazilian, fresh off his first victory of the season at Monza two weeks ago. "That gives me more pleasure than fighting for second place in the championship."

And it's not only the current Ferrari success that appeals to the latest member in the Formula One world.

Covered in red - the signature color of the Italian team and the parent car-maker behind it - and accompanied by classic Italian music from Pagganini to Vivaldi, the mega press gathering impressed a lot of local reporters and fans with the heritage and spirit behind the Prancing Horse, which has been engaged in competitive racing for more than half a century.

"Ferrari is more than a team or a brand," said Liu Jin, a member of www.ourf1.com, a well-known online Formula One community. "You can either like or dislike it but the reverence and awe are always there."

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