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Wednesday, August 1
Schumacher has luckily escaped injuries
Associated Press
HOCKENHEIM, Germany -- Michael Schumacher can use a few
weeks off after escaping injury in two frightening wrecks.
The second, at the start of the German Grand Prix on Sunday, was
especially scary. Schumacher's Ferrari bogged down immediately, and
Luciano Burti slammed into it and vaulted just over the head of the
three-time Formula One champion.
|  | | Despite some recent incidents, Michael Schumacher is closing in on his fourth F1 title.
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But Schumacher, closing in on his fourth title, will try to
forget all about it as he relaxes during a rare three-week break in
the schedule. Earlier last month, he crashed hard while testing in
Monza, Italy.
"There were two unpleasant events at Monza and Hockenheim, but
unfortunately that's just part of motor racing," he said. "For
me, these two accidents have nothing to do with each other."
Schumacher said the sturdy construction of the cars helped
protect him. He said his main concern Sunday was for Burti, whose
Prost-Acer continued its flight, flipped, landed upside down on
another car and then slid into a tire barrier.
After jumping out of his car, the German ace went immediately to
Burti, and was relieved that the Brazilian also was unhurt after
his wild ride.
"In my case, the rear part of the car absorbed much of the
impact," Schumacher said.
Then, as so often is the case when Schumacher is involved, a
controversy arose over the decision to temporarily stop the race.
In criticism of race officials, some teams claimed this was done to
permit Schumacher to go to a backup car in his home country.
But F1 officials said they stopped the race to allow a thorough
cleanup of the Hockenheimring, strewn with debris from the crash.
The decision was irrelevant, however, because Schumacher's car
was out soon with a mechanical failure.
Case closed?
Hardly.
Not long thereafter, David Coulthard, the second-place driver in
the standings, also was out of the race.
Schumacher, stranded far from the pits and watching the race
with some course workers, was shown laughing and was accused of
enjoying the bad luck of Coulthard, whom he leads by 37 points with
five races remaining.
"I want to make it quite clear that I was not laughing because
David didn't finish," Schumacher said. "I was told later that it
must have looked like this on the television.
"But it was really that I was having a joke at the trackside
with the two friendly marshals."
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“ |
I really look forward to being able to spend time with my
family. We'll spend a few days together in peace and
quiet, and really take it easy. ” |
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— Schumacher |
Schumacher said it was virtually impossible to follow the race
from his vantage point behind a barrier, and that he learned later
that the Scot also was out.
Even though neither scored a point, the effect was nearly the
same as if Schumacher had won. A victory in any of the final races
-- starting Aug. 19 in the Hungarian Grand Prix -- would give
Schumacher the title and 51 wins, matching Alain Prost for the most
in F1 history.
So, Schumacher can afford to relax. Last year, that was hardly
the case.
He started 2000 with three straight victories, and held a
24-point lead over Mika Hakkinen after eight races. Then came a
midseason slump. But Schumacher recovered, won the last three races
and the championship.
He began this season with three wins and now has six after 12
races. At this point, nothing short of a season-ending injury
should stop him.
But next year, the Schumacher being toasted as the champion
might not be named Michael. Younger brother Ralf won Sunday for the
third time this season, and the Williams-BMWs he and rookie
teammate Juan Montoya drive are the fastest in F1.
"If we can keep on driving like this, then our goal next season
has to be the title," Ralf said.
But Michael isn't giving that much thought right now.
"I really look forward to being able to spend time with my
family," he said. "We'll spend a few days together in peace and
quiet, and really take it easy."
After what he's been through the last two weeks, that's not a
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