World champion Michael Schumacher said on Monday that the formula-one season has so far gone better than in his wildest dreams with eight wins in nine races and another milestone in the sport.
”Not in my wildest dreams had I expected such a season. Quite the contrary, I expected a head wind and a very tight season,” Schumacher said on his website.
Heading into the weekend’s French Grand Prix, which starts the second half of the 18-race season, Schumacher commands the standings with 80 points ahead of his Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello, who has 62. Briton Jenson Button from the BAR-Honda team is a distant third with 44 points.
Last year, by comparison, Schumacher won a historic sixth formula-one world title by just two points over McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen of Finland.
At the Canadian Grand Prix earlier this month Schumacher became the first driver to win one race seven times, a feat he can match at Magny Cours on Sunday and also at the Begian GP in Spa later in the season.
But Schumacher warned that a seventh title is not a foregone conclusion.
”Maybe things look good on first sight. But anything can happen in formula one. We have nine races ahead of us, nothing is decided yet,” Schumacher said.
He said he expects a strong challenge from BAR as well as Williams and Renault in the remaining races, possibly even from McLaren with their new car, which could debut in France. — Sapa-DPA