AUGUST 27, 2001
Wonderful, beautiful, fantastic... and still four races to go
Thereafter was a hectic whirl of media, sponsor and team appointments until he was working out in Parma and thought about what he had achieved. "I was off on my bike for my daily workout, I let the race and the presentation ceremony and all of the experiences in Budapest pass in review," he said. "and I have to say it was a wonderful day, quite fantastic in retrospect.
The newly-minted world championship was celebrated in Hungary's Hotel Kampinski until the wee small hours, and as a result a slightly secondhand Schumacher - who can attack the schnapps and cigar box with the best of them - almost forgot his passport on the way out. After that it was off to Maranello, via Parma, and then home with his family to Switzerland before returning to the cockpit Thursday at Mugello.
"It's exactly what one does after a strenuous weekend and a long night out," he said. "We mainly spent time with the children rather than bothering much about the race. We played around in the garden and, to be honest, went to bed quite early."