Schumacher Will Win in Austria, Says Berger

Michael Schumacher will complete his Formula One silverware set in Austria next week, according to the country's former Ferrari favourites Gerhard Berger and Niki Lauda.

Austria's A1 Ring is the only circuit on the 17-race calendar that has yet to witness a victory by Ferrari's four times World Champion.

But the German is in such dominant form this season, with four wins in five races so far, that Berger and Lauda both expect another Schumacher win on May 12.

"Despite the fact that Michael Schumacher has never won on the A1 Ring, this year will be his first time," Berger, motorsport director for Williams's engine partners BMW, told Austrian weekly magazine News.

"The Ferrari-Schumacher package is functioning so well this year that nobody can even get close to keeping up with them," added Jaguar team principal Niki Lauda, the only Austrian driver to have won his home Grand Prix.

"Schumacher is currently a driver from another planet."

Austria has had just five Grands Prix since Schumacher entered the sport in 1992, the first at the modern A1 Ring coming in 1997 after the German had won world titles with Benetton in 1994 and 1995.

He was sixth for Ferrari in 1997 and third in 1998 before missing the 1999 race as he recovered from a broken leg. In 2000 he went out at the first corner after colliding with Brazilian Ricardo Zonta.

Last year, he finished second after being forced on to the grass by Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya trying to overtake the Colombian's Williams at a corner on lap 16.