MAY 25, 2010

Schumi Undeterred By Monaco Penalty

Michael Schumacher, refusing to feel hard done by his six place demotion in the Monaco GP for overtaking Fernando Alonso on the last lap under controversial Safety Car conditions, did not sit at home licking his wounds last weekend.

Michael Schumacher, refusing to feel hard done by his six place demotion in the Monaco GP for overtaking Fernando Alonso on the last lap under controversial Safety Car conditions, did not sit at home licking his wounds last weekend. Instead, the seven times champion was busy finishing second in a pair of DMV championship kart races at the Oppenrod circuit!

Schumacher, who has always said that his F1 return is more about the fact that he simply misses driving, told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, "The fun aspect of karting is the most important. You don't learn much to help you in F1 but you can do quite a lot of overtaking!" He might have added, without being penalised...

Pat Symonds, Schumacher's Benetton race engineer in the mid nineties, comes down firmly on Micheal's side over the Monaco incident. Symonds, currently absent from the paddock after his role in the '08 Singapore 'Crashgate' affair, is providing F1 race analysis for the British magazine, F1 Racing. In its latest issue Symonds says that his take is that the final lap at Monaco did not finish under the Safety Car but as a racing lap.

"I believe that Ross Brawn and Michael were, as usual, more aware of the regulations than the other teams," Symonds says. "Michael's overtaking manoeuvre was not only legal and justified, but actually what racing was all about."