Schuey: I've no plans to miss Indy

The world champion showed that he was clearly shaken by last week's terrorist attack on America at the Italian GP and was uncomfortable about racing at Monza.

But there are no plans for him to miss the final two races of the Formula 1 season, he has claimed. "I was aware of these rumours," said Schumacher. "But at the moment, I have not the slightest thought of not driving in the USA and Japan."

If he changes his mind, the German is within his rights to miss any race, according to Max Mosley. The president of motorsport governing body, the FIA, said: "If Michael does not want to go to the US, that is between him and his team. You cannot make him drive if he does not want to. The team is allowed to change its number one driver once a season so he could step down if he so wanted without any repercussions."

But Mosley added that Schumacher should not try to convince other drivers to stay away from Indy too. "If by doing so, he brought the sport into disrepute, that's another matter," he said.

Other drivers have admitted that they are uneasy about racing in America. David Coulthard said: "If F1 goes to America I am going, but there is an uneasy feeling. The reality is the enormity of what has happened and the potential repurcussions make us nervous about flying to a country that does not know what its future holds."

There is still doubt that the race will take place, even if the FIA and the teams want it to go ahead. F1 faces a number of logistical problems in terms of getting team equipment over to the US. Freight boxes will have to be sent a day early in order to go via either Holland or Luxembourg to be checked by huge X-ray machines, before being flown to America.

American sporting events were cancelled over the weekend, but they are beginning to take place now, a week after the attack on New York and Washington. Baseball games were played on Monday and the New York Mets were in action, winning in Pittsburgh.