Schumacher eyes Silverstone fame after Monaco shame

By Volker Gundrum Jun 8, 2006, 17:34 GMT

German Formula One pilot Michael Schumacher watches the Italian Motorcycling Grand Prix race, at the Mugello circuit in central Italy, Sunday 04 June 2006. EPA/CLAUDIO ONORATI

Silverstone, Britain - Michael Schumacher hopes to shake off the latest controversy with a convincing victory at the British Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday.

The omens are good as Schumacher posted the fastest race lap two weeks ago in Monaco and then also drove his Ferrari in record-breaking time around the Barcelona circuit during tests last week.

'There's no question about what our goal is: we're going to Silverstone to win,' said Schumacher on his website.

'The tests last week went off well for us so we have every reason to be optimistic for the weekend.'

Victory is a must for the seven-time champion if he wants to close the gap on championship leader and title-holder Fernando Alonso of the Renault team.

'We've got a lot to achieve, especially because of the current world championship situation. There's no doubt about it: we need to close the gap and we're determined to start doing that at Silverstone,' he said.

Alonso leads Schumacher by 21 points after his win in Monaco, where Schumacher fought from last place on the grid to fifth at the checkered flag.

That comeback saved at least some pride for Schumacher, who was the target of massive criticism in Monaco for allegedly deliberately parking his car in a tight curve at the end of qualifying which denied many others, including Alonso, the chance to improve on the German's pole position time.

Race stewards stripped Schumacher of the pole and ordered him to start from the back of the grid. Several drivers, including Alonso, said the sanction was not harsh enough and Schumacher is expected to explain himself at a drivers' meeting in Silverstone.

But his manager Willi Weber insisted that Schumacher has no reason to apologise.

'What for? He said that he made a driving mistake. Michael has a lot of respect for his colleagues and that should be the case vice versa as well,' Weber told Germany's Bild daily.

While the Formula One world and the media swiftly dug out all of the controversial moments in Schumacher's career, Weber said he was upbeat that Monaco will soon be forgotten.

'Monaco will be forgotten when he gets his next win in Silverstone. Michael will be remembered as the greatest Formula One driver,' Weber insisted.

Schumacher has protested his innocence throughout the affair, saying 'I did not want to spoil Fernando's fast lap, that was not my intention and I am sorry that it ended up that way.

'I acknowledge the fact that certain situations in qualifying might have looked a little odd from the outside, but everyone needs to understand that you can't really judge what happened unless you were the one in the car and had all the information.'

Schumacher hopes to make amends at Silverstone, given the improvement Ferrari have made over the past months in the fierce duel with Renault.

The German so far has two season wins. At Silverstone, he has won three times, but also fractured his leg in a 1999 crash on the famous track.

'Silverstone is one of the circuits with the longest tradition for our sport. I've always enjoyed driving there, and I'm looking forward to the circuit this time as well.

'It's a great track that requires lots of fine-tuning for the set-up because you need a really well balanced car. I like tasks like this, and I'm sure that we'll be able to put together something good for our car,' said Schumacher.