Schumacher apologizes over Monaco incident

Jun 8, 2006, 22:49 GMT

Silverstone - Michael Schumacher on Thursday publicly apologized for an incident in the Monaco Grand Prix which saw him stop his Ferrari in a tight curve during qualifying, denying others the chance to improve their times.

'For those who lost their lap, I'm very sorry,' the world record - holder said in Silverstone.

The Ferrari star said he expected heated discussions about the incident at a meeting of the drivers union GPDA on Friday.

'I know a few mates have something up their sleeve,' he said, while describing the decision of race stewards to strip him of the pole and order him to the back of the grid as 'unfair.'

The stewards said he intentionally stopped his Ferrari. Schumacher insisted he committed a mistake.

Former star Sterling Moss said earlier that Schumacher has 'ruined his fantastic image and done big damage to our sport.'

Schumacher heads the GPDA together with Briton David Coulthard and Italian Jarno Trulli. The next meeting is set for Friday.

'I am convinced that the issue will be on the agenda,' said Coulthard.

German youngster Rosberg said that Coulthard and/or Trulli must raise the issue because other drivers 'won't dare to confront Michael.'

'But I believe that he won't tell us the truth,' said Rosberg, the son of former world champion Keke Rosberg.

Another German driver, Nick Heidfeld, also expressed his belief that Schumacher acted intentionally but said that he has been punished for it.

Heidfeld questioned whether Schumacher would attend Friday's meeting at all, saying 'maybe he won't show up and rather watch football' in reference to the World Cup opening match between Germany and Costa Rica.