Schumacher

The Ferrari driver, who is preparing for Sunday's U.S. Grand Prix, drew parallels between his reaction to the tragedy and the trauma he experienced when Brazilian Ayrton Senna died.

Schumacher told reporters on Friday that while his emotions after the death of Formula One great Senna in 1994 had been more extreme, his awareness of tragedy intensified as he grew older.

"It took me at least a week to get over what happened (in the U.S.)," the German told reporters after arriving at the Indianapolis circuit on Thursday.

"The biggest thing was the family. When you are with the kids and your wife," he said. "They (the children) do not understand what has happened. They want to enjoy themselves, they want to play, they want to live and that's what shows you that life continues."

Schumacher's heart was clearly not in the last race at Monza in Italy two weeks ago and he finished fourth -- his lowest placing in more than a year.

Team boss Jean Todt revealed afterwards that Schumacher had been given the option of not racing but had decided to proceed despite being evidently distracted by the attacks in the U.S..

Tough period
"It was not as extreme as '94 when Senna died," said Schumacher, who had struggled to find words to express his emotions in the days after the attacks on New York and Washington. He was at a similar loss after Senna's death.

"That was a very tough period for me and for most of my rivals," he added, recalling how hard it was to get back in a car for the first time after the triple champion died at Imola.

But the 32-year-old said that in some ways his youth had protected him more then.

"If you are young, you have maybe less of a vision of what has really happened. You are too young to understand.

"When I was young, and various things have happened in the past, I didn't fully understand what was going on. But now, at my age, it touches me a lot deeper and so you suffer much more."

Schumacher said he had never thought seriously about not travelling to America for the race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, an event he won last year in its inaugural edition.

He said he had been deluged with e-mails from supporters urging him to race.

"I had the normal hesitations that we all had," he declared. "If war would have started, none off us would have liked to come here. None of us would have liked to drive a race car.

"That was the only question mark. But things move on rather quiet but actively. In a very sensible way, people feel life can go on."

Patriotism
Schumacher said he was now focused on bringing a smile back to the faces of his American fans in a race expected to be awash with patriotism.

"Our sport is a pure emotional sport where we give joy to the people. It's not for nothing."

He also criticized those team bosses who forced their drivers at Monza to break with an agreement not to overtake through the first two chicanes for safety reasons.