Grapevine: RoC Press Conference with Schumacher

Below is the transcript of Race of Champions press conference with Michael Schumacher, held at the Stade de France today, before the on-track action

Q: Michael, first of all welcome. You've only just joined us here at the Stade de France. You've already taken full advantage of your test time around the track. Talk us through it. What were the various cars like?

Michael Schumacher:

"First of all, what we are doing here is quite interesting for us drivers. I have never competed before with rally drivers and my competitors in the same car. It's a very much fun event and I am looking forward to. It's quite a lot of fun out there. The circuit is nice to drive. Quite entertaining jumps to see, I believe. I mean all of us have a big smile on our face. That's the good thing about it."

Q: What was the different technique with the different cars you are driving? Talk us through the practical problems you had to overcome to take in the track so quickly with different cars…

Schumacher:

"Well, I only did two laps in the Ferrari. I don't think I have the hang of it yet. I need a bit of practice to get on that one because it's far trickier to drive; it's heavy and not made for this type of track. The buggy [ROC Car] is obviously a fun car for here, the right car for this type of circuit. The other point was that on the Ferrari the tyres were cold. So I think that when the tyres are warm, these cars can be driven differently, and then they should be fun too."

Q: You seemed to be a popular choice yesterday when we asked the other drivers who they would be keen to compete against this weekend. Do you feel under any pressure?

Schumacher:

"As I said, it's a fun event and I just arrived this morning from America . I am therefore less interested being perfectly prepared for this one because I don't see it as so serious, although when I'm out there I will obviously give it my best and we will see whether that's good enough. I'm pretty sure that those rally guys are going to kick our… back parts."

Q: Will you try and win though?

Schumacher:

"Have you seen a race driver when you give him a steering wheel he doesn't give his best. I haven't. I think I'm a race driver too….!"

Q: It's a nice treat for us to see you outside Formula 1. Give us the real reasons for coming and doing this…

Schumacher:

"There are several reasons. The main thing is to have fun and enjoy myself. But there is another very important reason which is called ICM. That's why I am here because we have been able to achieve quite a lot of publicity and we should be able to receive quite a lot of money for the ICM institution project. They are the two main reasons that brought me here."

Q: Would you like to just explain exactly what the ICM is?

Schumacher:

"ICM is about research into brain and spinal cord disorders. It has been calculated that one person in ten is affected. We're creating an institution to research the reasons for the disorder and then to look at finding a possibility to cure it. We have three doctors involved in this project who are all highly knowledgeable in this domain and we expect a lot of success for the future. We are very close to doing all this but it obviously needs a certain amount of financing and that's what we're here looking for."

Q: David Coulthard said yesterday that he thought events like this were definitely the future that motor sport, that the sport should perhaps try a little bit harder to bring itself to the people. Like other sports. Like football, basketball... Do you agree we should have more events like this in the middle of cities?

Schumacher:

"I think we should have, as you said, a certain number of events. That's quite fair to say. If you do too many, they don't become special anymore. You also can't do too many because most of us are quite busy and couldn't accept too many of them. So I think the way we do it, to do it in a limited number, would attract a lot of people. They're going to be able to get very close, they are going to see us from a different angle because when you do a race weekend in F1 you're always so serious and so concentrated. That doesn't leave much space to see who is the person behind. In these events, everything is a bit easier and you should see a little bit more about the personal side.

Q: We're expecting close to 60,000 people tonight. You're going to be more like a rock star than a racing driver in terms of atmosphere…

Schumacher:

"For sure, it's going to be a great atmosphere. The stadium atmosphere is not exactly what we have [in F1] but we're obviously pretty used to the numbers of people. Here is a completely different event, I'm pretty sure they'll find some good ways to ensure a great atmosphere with the public in addition to our driving part. The experience here should be very different for all of us."