Schumacher

"I'm not thinking at all about not driving in the U.S.A. and Japan," Schumacher said Monday in a statement issued by Ferrari.

The Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper reported Monday that Ferrari would allow Schumacher to skip the race if he wanted to.

Gazzetta said Ferrari would use test driver Luca Badoer for the Sept. 30 U.S. Grand Prix in Indianapolis if Schumacher doesn't drive. Schumacher clinched his fourth world title last month.

Before Sunday's Formula One race in Monza, Schumacher said: "After things which have happened in the United States and with one driver in hospital badly hurt, we have a question whether we should be racing."

Title not yet Schumacher's?
Schumacher clinched this season's title when he won the Hungarian Grand Prix in August, although Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone has warned the German the title is officially not his until all the grands prix are completed.

"Let's get one thing straight," Ecclestone was quoted as saying in the Daily Telegraph.

"Michael Schumacher is not yet the 2001 world champion. Anything could happen. Maybe he could lose his points over one of the next three races. I'm sure that won't be the case, but it could be ..."

The would-be champion also reflected on a controversy at Monza where some team chiefs told their drivers to ignore an unofficial drivers' safety accord.

Schumacher and Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello of Brazil had initiated the unofficial agreement not to overtake until after the second chicane on the opening lap.

"It's sad to see some drivers can be forced to go against their beliefs," Schumacher said on the Ferrari Web site.

"Unfortunately, some found themselves in that situation. I can't understand this sort of behavior. In Formula One, safety is a key issue.

"In these circumstances, it would have been better to have done what we wanted. That would have meant that we would at least have tried to avoid a further incident."

Last year, a marshal was killed in an accident at the second chicane on the opening lap.