Schumacher Vows Support to Gislimberti's Widow

As the Grand Prix fraternity prepares for the first US GP at the new Indianapolis track, Michael Schumacher says he is hoping that lessons have been learned from the Monza tragedy.

"I can only say that we must not stop trying to improve the safety," he reflects. "I mean, we work constantly on improving the safety of the cars, the tracks and, of course, also the passive safety of the public. We have been quite successful with that in the past years, if you compare it with the last decades. But unfortunately there will be always a risk.

"To some degree our sport is dangerous - and we all know this. You can complain about this, but on the other side: what is not dangerous in life? When certain things come together and when it is a very unlucky time then we can all be part of a moment like this.

"I mean that when we race, to a certain degree we tend to think that if we have an accident we get out of the cars without being hurt. So, especially when it happens to a man who is concerned about our safety, it is shocking."

Schumacher also promised that Gislimberti's family will be looked after financially, but said he would prefer not to elaborate.

"Obviously now our strong feelings are with the wife - and what is even worse is that she is expecting a baby," Schumacher said. "We hope that all of us somehow can support her in this very difficult situation. For sure the GP Drivers' Association will do something for her, you can rely on that, but there is no point to speak about the details in public."

Schumacher also confirmed that time of the race, he himself knew nothing of Gislimberti's fatal injuries. However, having subsequently seen videos, he says it would be wrong for anyone to apportion blame. He says it was simply a racing accident.

"I think there was a lot of chaos. It is very difficult to see precisely what was going on. There are 22 cars going to the chicane and in each of them sits a driver who is thinking about what he is going to do without knowing what the others are planning to do. If one makes a mistake, automatically the others will be involved as it is a very tight situation.

"When I say mistake, don't misinterpret me: I mean, what exactly is a mistake? We are all humans, we all make mistakes. And I don't think it is fair to make one single person responsible for this. I for sure don't want to blame anyone. It's part of racing, unfortunately."