SEPTEMBER 20, 2001
Ralf will race in the USGP
It is believed that Michael Schumacher was given the option to race at Indianapolis, but that the sport's governing body would have moved to keep him on the sidelines in Japan as a result. "The team is allowed to change the No 1 driver once in a season," said FIA president Max Mosley, hinting that if Schumacher opted out of Indy he was opting out of the rest of the season.
Younger brother Ralf has received no such official encouragement to race, but has also evidently had a change of heart. "I'll drive. There's no question about that at all," he said. This means that all the Formula 1 community is on course for Indianapolis in a race that many believe will be an important show of solidarity with America.
Said Jordan driver Jarno Trulli: "We have to show to everybody that we are together with the USA, that we are all together in the whole world. Formula One is a sport and all sport is also a way to show somehow that the whole world doesn't have to stop. We still have to carry on, we have to take care of what is happening but we can't stop otherwise the people that attacked the USA will have won their battle and we cannot let this happen."