Austrian GP || June 30 || 15h00 (Local time)
27 June 2024
Schumacher primed for sensational ROC
He will partner Sebastian Vettel for Team Germany
— Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher is revved up and ready for the Race Of Champions on December 3-4
— The German motor sport legend declares race fans have ‘nowhere else to be’ but Düsseldorf’s ESPRIT arena this weekend
— Schumacher will partner Sebastian Vettel for Team Germany as they bid for a record fifth ROC Nations Cup win in front of their home crowd
Now that his day job in the Formula 1 world championship is out of the way for 2011, the world’s most successful racing driver Michael Schumacher is raring to go for the next date in his diary: the Race Of Champions.
Schumacher heads to Düsseldorf’s ESPRIT arena this weekend aiming for a record fifth consecutive ROC Nations Cup victory alongside countryman and fellow F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel. And now he is urging race fans to come along and pack out their home stadium as he can’t wait to provide yet more thrills…
“Indoor racing at the Race Of Champions is just sensational,” says Schumacher. “Its emotion intensified, it is hearing the fans, feeling them – it is just big fun. To me it always looks a bit like a toy racecourse which has become reality. The event is very entertaining so it’s a cool place to go out at the weekend. If you like cars, if you like music, if you like action, there is nowhere else to be this weekend.”}
{{{ {{Full Q&A with Michael Schumacher}} }}}
{{Can you describe the sensation of racing in an enclosed stadium in front of your home crowd last year – the noise, etc?}}
"Indoor racing is just sensational. Its emotion intensified, it is hearing the fans, feeling them – it is just big fun. For us it is so unusual that I really think every driver fully enjoys it. The whole atmosphere is just good."
How much are you looking forward to doing it again and what would you say to fans who are still undecided about whether to come?
"Well, to me it always looks a bit like a toy racecourse which has become reality. The event is very entertaining so it’s a cool place to go out at the weekend. If you like cars, if you like music, if you like action, there is nowhere else to be this weekend."
What part did your fine performances and enjoyment of competing at the Race Of Champions from 2007-2009 play in keeping your eye in and helping you decide to come back to F1?
"It is not so much the competition which makes me come back, it really is the fun, the time you spend with the other drivers. During the season, everybody just has to be so focused, and it is just nice to have time to, say, have a drink together in the evening. Of course, we are all professional drivers so the moment we close the visor we want to win, but that`s really only one part of it."
How much do you think you’ve changed as a driver in the course of your two seasons back in F1?
"I have certainly developed in the way that I know the team better, am involved more, stuff like this. And, yes, at the very beginning I was probably still a bit rusty. Things are smoother now. I am confident that Mercedes and me will get there."
If you had to choose just one, would you prefer to win the ROC Nations Cup again or finally to triumph in the individual Race Of Champions?
"Celebrating with Sebastian has become a very fun thing to do, so I am totally fine with us winning the ROC Nations Cup again – the problem then usually is the party afterwards which kind of compromises the next day a bit..."
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