At the end of the briefing session following a long day testing at Mugello, Michael Schumacher paused to chat to journalists before leaving the Tuscan circuit and returning home. In little over a week the German star will be busy at the Suzuka circuit in Japan for the last race of the 2003 season, where he could become world champion for the sixth time. Notwithstanding the fact that his experiences on the Japanese track has not been that great, Michael is relaxed: ‘Sport is unpredictable, but this is just part of the game. As to the rest, this time the new points system seems make things easier: I only need one point so it is enough to finish eighth’, he explained.

What would it mean for Schumacher to win his sixth world title? ‘I repeat what I have always said: first I will try to win it and then I will speak about it’, commented Michael. ‘I don’t think that Williams and McLaren will work together against us as they have different objectives: Williams want the constructors’ title and McLaren the drivers’. ‘And we’, he grinned, ‘want both…’