10.09.2004 "On the track, we will be racing to win, but the opposition is getting closer and we will have a hard fight with them" Michael Schumacher looks forward to the Italian Grand Prix

The newly-crowned world champion faced the media in the official FIA press conference at Monza, keen to put everyone at rest about his condition, after the Ferrari man had an accident in testing at this circuit last week.

'The accident was caused when air leaked from the tyre and then the tyre blew up,' explained the German.

'I felt a bit sore the next day, but I am fine. There has been a lot of safety work done in the area of the seat surround and the head rest and that paid off. But of course, any crash is one too many!'

Michael went on to state that he was not concerned about this particular tyre failure as he was as certain as one can be in motor sport that it would not reproduce itself.

However, he admitted to being more concerned about the multiple failures experienced by various drivers in Spa a fortnight ago.

'Within the GPDA (Grand Prix Drivers Association) we have discussed the matter, but believe we should not discuss it publicly,' said the Ferrari man, when asked if the race should have been red-flagged rather than run under the Safety Car when there was debris on the track: 'It is in the hands of the FIA to do something and we have a very good dialogue with them, based on trust and belief.'

Finishing second is not something Schumacher has done very much recently. 'It is true that to a certain extent I was thinking about what Rubens was doing as he was the only one who could affect my title chances,' he said. 'But nevertheless, I was trying to drive my race and I was happy with my race, if not my result.'

Finally, what does it mean to race at Monza? 'Of course it is great to have arrived here with both titles already won, which means we can celebrate with all our fans who have stuck with us through the bad times and now the good ones. On the track, we will be racing to win, but the opposition is getting closer and we will have a hard fight with them.'