Schumacher's Debut Q & A

Q: We spoke at the Nurburgring [WSC] race about Spa you said it's not possible, it would be too quick if it happened, because you had no experience in F1...

Schumacher: "That's right, it wasn't fixed at Nurburgring. We just heard that there's a chance to do it, but they don't involve me really in what's going on, because then I would have a clear head for the race. But after the race anyway I had to go to England, because I had a meeting with Jackie Oliver. I just saw him and we talked together, and after this meeting I went directly to Eddie [Jordan], and then I heard that I can do the race."

Q: So you were going to England to talk about driving the Arrows or testing it?

Schumacher: "We were just talking. The time before we were in contact, and we wanted to keep the contact. I hadn't met him before, and it was the first time we could meet up. We just would like to know him."

Q: There was talk earlier that at the end of the year you might drive...

Schumacher: "Yeah, that's right, but it was never really... He would like that I should do Mexico or Montreal, I don't know where, he wanted that I drive for them and I said no, there's no way to do them."

Q: So Willi [Weber] was doing the dealing with Eddie?

Schumacher: "It was Sauber Mercedes and also Willi together, yeah."

Q: And you found out on Monday that you could go to Silverstone?

Schumacher: "Yeah. They made all the things ready, and when I came on Monday they said OK, sit down and make a seat, and you can drive some laps and then you do the weekend."

Q: So Silverstone, the first day, what did you think?

Schumacher: "Well, the first three laps was quite impressive, and then it was really normal. Surely it is something special, but it is not over special. You can get used to it, and I did."

Q: Could you believe that it happened so quickly, and in two or three days suddenly you're driving a very good F1 car?

Schumacher: "No, I never expected that I could be so quickly used to a car. That I never expected. For me the thing was to qualify the car, and not more. And now in seventh position... That's the best!"

Q: At Silverstone you adapted to the car very easily, but it's a very easy circuit. Then you came here. It's a very, very difficult circuit. It's a drivers' circuit, so there's more input from you. And you've never been here before. How come you are so good at learning circuits?

Schumacher: "Yeah, but without a good car you can't really learn the circuit, but we have a quite good basic with this car, and that's one of the reasons why I can learn the circuit as quick. That's the reason."

Q: You went round once by bicycle...

Schumacher: "Yeah, right."

Q: You haven't been round in a hire car or something?

Schumacher: "No, never."

Q: Did you speak to other people about what you should do, gear changes and things like that?

Schumacher: "Yeah, I talked with Andrea [de Cesaris] and he told me which gear you have to use in which corners, and that's it."

Q: And off you went...

Schumacher: "Yeah..."

Q: In that first session you were straight away in the top 10. Did you get the impression that suddenly the team thought 'he's good', and more photographers and so on came to see you?

Schumacher: "What I can say for the team is that the relationship between me and the team is quite fantastic. They accept me, and that's quite important for me. Also the work together is quite nice, there's not so many political things in this team, because it's really small. The working is quite good, there are a lot of good people there."

Q: Good engineers?

Schumacher: "Yeah..."

Q: I was watching yesterday and I saw straight away that you were working really well with them...

Schumacher: "Yeah, right."

Q: Yesterday in qualifying in the afternoon did you have two good runs?

Schumacher: "No, I didn't. Because with the first set of qualifiers I had traffic on my first lap, and then it happened with Eric van de Poele, he went off, and practice broke down. The second time I tried with the same set of tyres and Prost blocked my lap. He started his quick lap and broke down my lap."

Q: You went through the chicane - what was the story there?

Schumacher: "Yeah, I braked at the limit for me. And he was 10 metres in front of me, and he accelerated in front of me, and I thought OK, he's starting his qualifying lap, and he's going really quickly. But he braked a little bit too early for me. There were only two possibilities, crash to him or use the other way, and I thought it was better to use the other way."

Q: And there was a problem with FISA [the FIA]?

Schumacher: "Normally if you drive through the chicane you have to stop and wait for the marshals, and if they give you a little green flag you can continue. But there was no marshal who stopped me. Normally there should be a marshal who stops you, but there wasn't and I went directly to the pits. They said next time you have to look."

Q: Then you had another set of tyres, which was your last set...

Schumacher: "Yeah, that was my last set. The time was not at the limit, not with 100 percent, but maybe with 98 percent, nearly good. But I would like to take it easy, because I wanted to qualify the car and not more, I didn't want to take any risks."

Q: Today in the morning you did a fantastic job, you were first for a long time. You did a quick time on race tyres...

Schumacher: "Yeah, a 1:52."

Q: Then a 1:51.017?

Schumacher: "That was qualifiers."

Q: And you went out again and there was a red flag. So how much did you have in hand for that final set of tyres?

Schumacher: "I only can say in the qualifying if I could finish my second lap, then I could do a time that was 50 middle (his actual best was 1:51.212). That's what I think."

Q: You had two sets this afternoon. We saw on TV the one with traffic at the chicane - I don't know if you've seen it, but Alesi was behind you with a camera...

Schumacher: "Yeah, I heard about it but I haven't seen it."

Q: So that lap would have been 1:50.5. And the one before was OK?

Schumacher: "It was not really. It was OK, but not quite good. It was also a lap where I was taking it easy, safely, to have a time, and then with the other one you can give a little bit more risk."

Q: Through the hill up here [Eau Rouge], what is the car like? Just watching, it looked fantastic...

Schumacher: "Yeah, it is fantastic! I can do it flat without problem. Fantastic."

Q: How does the car feel compared with the sportscar? You say the carbon brakes are similar but it must be different because this is lighter and more nimble...

Schumacher: "Yes, it's not really the same. The first bite is nearly the same, the delay is a little bit less than in sportscars, but I expected that the F1 brakes are a little bit better than they are. Michael Bartels [who had just driven a Lotus] said they are so crazy and it's quite hard to get used to the brakes. I don't think so. But I have another step. It's not the same for Bartels and me, because I have Group C experience of carbon brakes, and that makes it a lot easier for me."

Q: And handling wise?

Schumacher: "Handling wise you can't compare these two kinds of car. In sportscars every time you drive with understeer, and in a formula car you have also a little understeer, but in some fast corners you have a really good set up, how do you call it, in the middle with no understeer and no oversteer..."

Q: Neutral...

Schumacher: "Yeah, a neutral set-up, yeah, right. That's why you can't compare these two kinds of cars."

Q: What about the whole atmosphere here? You must have followed F1 when you were a kid, and watch it on TV. Can believe that you can come in and everybody talks about you?

Schumacher: "No, I can't believe it. It's just crazy and I have no idea how can I explain it."

Q: It's all happened so quickly. Have you spoken with many drivers?

Schumacher: "Not so many. Just with Mika Hakkinen and Johnny Herbert, who I know from times before, Japan and Mika in F3. And also with Andrea, and that's it."

Q: You must have dreamed about getting into a good F1 car at a good circuit and just having a fantastic result first time...

Schumacher: "I dreamed something like this, but I never expected that it could be like this, you know! Even though I dreamed, I never dreamed of the situation like now. Maybe I dreamed of a situation where I qualified the car, I can do the race, and finish the race, and that would also be a really great success."

Q: If you'd done a race with a Footwork you could be a hero and qualify 20th, and nobody notices. How much did you learn from the F3000 race - was it a good experience?

Schumacher: "Sure, it was a good experience, because I used qualifiers there, and also it was a quite quick formula car, nearly to Formula One, the corner speed and all this. It's not so far, and it helped me a lot, because the whole time I have only done sportscars, and it's another feeling, and you need another style. The F3000 brought me back to the formula style, you know."

Q: And like I said last night [in the restaurant] it was a race where you had to drive carefully, and think about the tyres...

Schumacher: "Yeah. Also in the sportscars you have to do like this, you have to look for the tyre situation. You can't drive like crazy the whole race. You'll f**k your tyres."

Q: What did you think of Japanese F3000?

Schumacher: "I think that it's a quite good championship. There are so many people, they drive such a long time, they know the car so well, they know the situation so well, the tyres. And also they drive there with qualifiers. There are many points that would bring the level of Japanese F3000 really high. I would never expect that the F3000 level is as high as it is. It impressed me a lot, yes."

Q: Do you think drivers can learn a lot out there? It seems to me that most guys who go there get forgotten about...

Schumacher: "Yes, that's the problem, because nobody expects F3000 has a level like this. Everybody who goes there lost the press and everything, and nobody knows him after a time. And that's a little problem."

Q: You say that the qualifiers in Japan are much more difficult than in F1?

Schumacher: "Yes, the difference between race and qualifying tyres is a little bit more than here, you know. The qualifying tyre here is also really good, but in F3000 you need a lot more power from yourself to hold the steering. The tyres are so well and have so much grip, it's unbelievable. You feel the grip, which you don't feel really here. You feel the grip, but not as much as in Japan."

Q: Going back to sportscars, would you recommend that route to any young driver?

Schumacher: "Yes, if you're in a team like Mercedes. Because you work with a team, with a big team, together, and you get a lot of experience, you get a lot of miles. And also with the racing situations you learn also. In F3000 in Europe, if you have the wrong car you are nowhere. The situation is so dangerous in F3000 in Europe that you should leave it."

Q: Are you glad you avoided that? It's so easy for someone like Frentzen or whoever to get into a bad car...

Schumacher: "Yeah right. Frentzen is also a really good guy, he's really quick. Where I mean he's also really quick and he could do the same job. But he's in the wrong car."

Q: We were talking last night and I said so far everything's gone right for you. You've been in the right car in F3, in sportscars, and here. One day if it goes the other way...

Schumacher: "Yes, it will happen. You will every time have the highest point, and then you came down to a point, but you have to handle the situation and then you have to come up to the same point, or maybe a higher point. It will happen, that I maybe don't qualify the car or something like this.

"That would be a situation where it would be really fantastic from the press side to don't push too hard for me, don't bring me to a level where I'm not. Keep it at the earth, and hold it there, and if there comes a time where it's not so good, then make it not so bad for me. In Germany the press is like this. They push so hard, and if you lose then you fall down so quick and so deep."

Q: They've had no one to push for so long. They've had one or two guys who never made it...

Schumacher: "Yeah, but that's a bad situation for me. You're right."

Q: Is this all going to change your personal life now, Formula One? More money...

Schumacher: "More money! I get the chance to do the drive, but I haven't any money now. Maybe in the future I will get some money, but not now."

Q: But once the TV starts happening and they see you every week in Germany, you'll be like Boris Becker or something...

Schumacher: "I don't think so..."

Q: You seem to be able to get in a car and go fast straight away, the same as Johnny Herbert when he did his first F1 test. It just seemed very easy for him. Do you feel your style is like that?

Schumacher: "I have no real problems with new situations. Every new situation I don't need a lot of time to get used to this situation. But you can't compare with somebody else."

Q: But you do accept that you have this ability to go fast straight away, and it comes easy to you?

Schumacher: "I think that maybe it's a talent. I don't know. I can only explain it like this - because I got so many experiences in Group C, so many miles with a car with a lot of power. That's the only explanation I have."

Q: Your ambition must be the World Championship. Do you think about that?

Schumacher: "The future is to do F1. Nothing more."

Q: You're happy to forget sportscar racing next year?

Schumacher: "I think that I can't do next year sportscars and F1. I hope I can concentrate only on F1, but we have to see the situation. If I can do F1 I will do, if I can't do, I will continue in sportscars."

Q: If you do F1 then obviously Mercedes will want you back in two or three years...

Schumacher: "I don't think so. We will see. It would be really fantastic, but you can't ask me this question yet."

Q: But in a few years' time you could be driving a Mercedes F1 car. Is that a dream of yours?

Schumacher: "Yeah. For me it would be really fantastic to do it. If it happens..."

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