Joyful Schumacher out to Hit F1 for Six

Michael Schumacher has set his sights on a record sixth Formula One World Championship after matching Juan Manuel Fangio's famous five in France.

Asked on Sunday whether he had the hunger to race on and claim the outright record, Ferrari's most famous driver of modern times replied: "I have it, but not for the reason you just mentioned. It is simply the pleasure of racing and trying to achieve as many good races as we can.

"Ultimately you achieve, hopefully, a further Championship. We are in such good shape team-wise, performance-wise, we can keep that sort of performance for quite a bit longer and keep having races like we have had today or before.

"That is what we live for, why we love the sport and what we enjoy mostly."

The German might already have six titles under his belt had he not broken his leg in 1999, and some rivals believe that, with a Ferrari contract to the end of 2004, his tally could reach seven. Alain Prost, at last year's Hungarian Grand Prix, reflected on Schumacher's achievements as the German equalled the French quadruple champion's record of 51 wins.

"It is tough to be World Champion, it's very tough to be four times World Champion," said 'The Professor', whose team went out of business five months later.

"He can be it five times, six times. I don't know if he can win 60 or 70 races, I really don't know. It depends on him and the team and the motivation he will have."

On Sunday, in the rural tranquillity of Prost's homeland, Schumacher claimed his 61st win to secure his third straight Championship. Eight wins in 11 races made him the first driver to take the title with six rounds to spare.

If he wins the next round at Hockenheim, his home German Grand Prix, he will again match the record he already holds with Briton Nigel Mansell of nine wins in a single season.

The notion that 70 victories might be a feat too far now sounds like one of those quaint science fiction predictions from half a century ago when Fangio was risking his life in flimsy helmet and oil-streaked goggles.

Schumacher's appetite for victory is clearly still strong, even if he faces mounting challenges from younger rivals such as Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya and Finland's Kimi Raikkonen. When Montoya, his Williams on pole for the past five races, manages to translate his one lap domination into race success than Schumacher will have his hands full.

When McLaren can provide Raikkonen, who gave away what would have been his first career win in France when he skidded on oil with five laps remaining, a car to match the Ferrari then he too will be a big threat.

Until then Schumacher seems set to see out the last few years of his often controversial career with an enjoyment not always evident in the past when he was condemned for cynical tactics against his rivals.

Pressure Off

Since his first Championship for Ferrari in 2000, after two with Benetton in 1994 and 1995, the bulk of the pressure has been lifted. He has achieved his great mission, of reviving a slumbering giant by bringing home to Maranello Ferrari's first drivers' title in 21 years and keeping it there.

"After 2000, after the Championship, I said that we will race from now on, it's just the pleasure of racing," Schumacher said on Sunday.

"It is maybe not 100 percent true because the Championship is the sort of target you would like to achieve, certainly, and after we have achieved this we can now concentrate race by race and just enjoy it."

Schumacher refused to compare himself with the great Argentine, who died seven years ago and won his last title in 1957, focusing on the team spirit at Ferrari.

Ferrari boss Jean Todt, a Frenchman whose first race in charge of the team was the 1993 French Grand Prix, preferred instead to delve back into the recent past to show just how much the team had achieved.

"After Michael Schumacher's first six months at Ferrari in 1996, everyone was saying that he was already in negotiations to join other teams. Nowadays, nobody could imagine that he might want to drive anything other than a Ferrari. And for me, that is the biggest success of all," Todt said.