AUGUST 7, 2001

Montezemolo seeks the coup de grace

FERRARI president Luca Montezemolo, expects his man Michael Schumacher to seal the 2001 drivers' title as soon as the sport's August break comes to an end in Hungary on August 17-19.

The former team manager under Enzo Ferrari in the halcyon days of the mid-1970s is used to success, having run the Italia 90 soccer World Cup before returning to Maranello to take up the reins of the luxury end of the Agnelli family empire and its illustrious Ferrari team.

The lack of success which continued to plague Scuderia Ferrari through the 1990s has finally come to an end, and Montezemolo is keen to reel in the team's second consecutive drivers' title and complete a hat-trick of manufacturers' titles as soon as possible, with the Williams and McLaren threat doubtless aiming to give Ferrari a much harder time in 2002.

"I want to wrap up the world championship Hungary," said Montezemolo. "One saw the recent heavy accident that Schumacher had at the test in Monza to see how quickly something can occur.".

Schumacher has signaled his own intentions to wrap things up swiftly once the Formula 1 circus reconvenes in Hungary. The tight Hungaroring circuit is more suited to the Ferrari than either of the recent pace-setters McLaren or Williams, and victory would put the title beyond his nearest competitor David Coulthard.