Schuey Questions Decision to Race

Ferrari's Michael Schumacher has made it clear that he is competing reluctantly at the Italian Grand Prix. The German World Champion slammed one of his fellow drivers for refusing to follow the rest in agreeing to new safety measures.

"Everybody is emotionally very down," Schumacher said during the drivers' parade before the race at Monza, Ferrari's home track. "It's a weekend when a lot of things are not right and you should question whether we should race here," added the German.

Schumacher said the drivers had agreed, with one exception, not to overtake through the first two chicanes where a local fire marshal was killed by flying debris in last year's race. He would not name the dissenting driver but merely described him as being "very small."

Initial reports suggested the driver in question was BAR driver, Jacques Villeneuve. A signed agreement by the drivers is expected soon, nonetheless.

Schumacher, one of three leaders of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, had earlier prepared for the race by setting the fastest lap in the morning warm-up. There are no titles to be decided at Monza, with Schumacher taking his fourth Championship in Hungary last month while Ferrari secured their third Consecutive Constructors' crown.

The warm-up session, used by teams to fine tune settings, was of little consequence on a day that was to have been a Ferrari celebration but which has been overshadowed by events elsewhere. The many thousands feared dead in terror attacks on America and the serious injuries suffered by Italian driver Alex Zanardi in a CART race in Germany on Saturday have cast a pall over the race.

Subdued Race

So too have the knock-on effects of the last Grand Prix in Belgium, where Brazilian Luciano Burti was lucky to escape alive from a huge crash. Burti is still recovering and is not at Monza. Schumacher, who has holidayed in America, struggled earlier in the week to find words to describe his feelings about the attacks.

He had previously refrained from expressing an opinion in public about the race at Monza going ahead and Indianapolis in America in two weeks' time. Sunday's race, at the normally raucous temple of Italian motorsport, is set to be a subdued affair with Ferrari cancelling all celebrations.

Fans, eager to celebrate the team's two titles at their home track and in the last European race of the season, have been urged to show respect. There will be no podium celebrations and a minute's silence was respected at the end of the drivers' parade.

Ferrari are running without sponsor branding on the cars, for the first time since the 1960s. The cars carry a black nose cone as a sign of mourning. Jordan sponsor Deutsche Post replaced its branding on the car's engine cover with an American flag as a mark of respect for the U.S. victims.

The team also issued a statement expressing shock at Zanardi's crash at the Lausitzring and the extent of his injuries. The Italian, who drove for the team in 1991, had both legs amputated.

Fans displayed a banner in the main grandstand, still full of empty seats during the warm-up, calling for peace, love and sport instead of terror.