Schumacher: I'm staying on track

Michael Schumacher has warned the rest of Formula One not to expect him to retire any time soon.

Schumacher is on the verge of winning a record seventh world championship at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.

He can seal the crown with victory or by taking two points more than Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello, the only man who can mathematically stand in his way.

But Schumacher today banished any thoughts of retirement once the formality of his seventh title is completed.

The German has already rewritten Formula One’s record book but despite being by far the sport’s most successful driver, he has set his sights on even more victories.

Schumacher said: “I’d rather look forward to what I can maybe further achieve than look backwards to what I have.

“I don’t think I ever raced for what is left to do. I just race for the pleasure of racing, competing and winning.

“Formula One will exist quite a bit longer so as long as I am competitive and I enjoy racing, I will do it.”

Schumacher insists he will not drive differently even though the title can be secured on Sunday in what will be Ferrari’s 700th grand prix.

“I just honestly want to win. That’s the main goal,” he said. “It’s not a secret that I’m pretty close to winning the championship and in this way I can be quite relaxed and do what I like most to do and that’s trying to win races.

“Usually I have been pretty lucky when good numbers come together so I hopefully I’m lucky again.”

Schumacher has a special relationship with Spa, having started his Formula One career in Belgium 13 years ago.

Since then he has driven – and won – on the most advanced circuits in the world, but the rustic charm of Spa still holds a special place in his heart.

Schumacher sees the track as a blast from a past when Formula One raced on dangerously long.

“The attraction results from the characteristics and the design of the circuit which is very unique and very special,” he said.

“It’s a big challenge due to the very great mixture of high and low speed corners you have, of corner combinations you have such as Eau Rouge, Stavelot and Pouhon.

“They are all corners that are difficult to drive but difficult to find a set-up for as you have the low-speed corners to worry about as well.

“It’s easy to get the high-speed balance if you don’t have to worry about the low-speed balance.

"Here you have to make sure you have both.

“Spa has always been special because of a lot of special things that have happened but much more because of the circuit and the history of the circuit.

“It’s just one of those circuits which is left over from the past, which has all this charisma which we like.”

Spa’s most daunting corner is the fearsome Eau Rouge, which pitches drivers downhill to the left before climbing steeply through a right-left kink with steel barriers all too close.

Schumacher’s technique through the complex is to “just close the eyes and go through” and he revealed he has never forgotten the challenge of driving Eau Rouge as a rookie on his first trip to Spa.

“First time I was here, being in the Jordan, it was fabulous to be out there and put the car around the circuit” he said.

“I was familiar with the circuit and the car rather quickly, quicker than I thought, but the biggest emotion was to go through Eau Rouge because the car was set up in a way it stuck to the ground.

“It was an incredible feeling and that was the biggest emotion I had.”