Schumacher Hopes to 'Give Joy to the People'

Michael Schumacher dispelled any fears that he is not fully geared up to race this weekend, as he met the press at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway paddock this afternoon.

"I never had any intention not to come here," Schumacher said. "That is not true. There were rumors, press write things, but they don't necessarily need to be right." Nevertheless, Schumacher said he did have "hesitations" after the events of September 11th in New York and Washington.

"I had the normal hesitations that we all had (about coming to America)," The German explained. "If war would have started, none of us would have liked to come here and 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.

"It took me a week to get over and get back to my normal lifestyle. The thing of it was, obviously, the family, which when you are with kids and with your wife, they don't understand what has happened. They want to enjoy themselves. They want to play. They want to live. That is what shows you that life continues.

"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 confirmed he was out of focus in Monza, saying: "I don't think I was ever in it. What happens normally over a weekend is that you develop the car, and you work hard. You get into it. But I never really got into it at Monza." He added that the only time previously he felt similarly was in 1994, "when (Ayrton) Senna died. It was a very tough period for me and for most of my mates, as well."

Nevertheless, he said he hopes to turn the Grand Prix this weekend into a joyous event. "Our sport is purely emotional - we give joy to the people," he said. "So it is going to be a very good chance to give some laughs and smiles back to the people, here at the United States."