Rumour mill at full throttle before Malaysian F1

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER yesterday rubbished claims that he had been asked by Ferrari to take a £5 million pay-cut when his contract runs out at the end of 2004.

The team is reported to have told the five-time world champion they would be willing to pay him around £20m to agree a new deal.

Schumacher is reputed to currently earn around £25m a season, though an even higher salary of about £30m has also been mentioned.