MARCH 8, 1999
Schumacher says he is not quitting
MICHAEL SCHUMACHER says that he is not going to retire from Formula 1 at the end of his current Ferrari contract in 2002. Stories had been circulating about Michael's future as a result of an interview published in Germany in which his manager Willi Weber said that Michael was planning to quit.
"I have read the reports," Schumacher said in Australia, "but they are wrong. I will continue as long as I am having fun." Schumacher has a Ferrari contract until the end of 2002, although there is little doubt that there are clauses in the contract which would let him leave the Italian team if he wished to do so. There has been speculation that if he does not win this year with Ferrari he will switch to West McLaren Mercedes.
Schumacher also dismissed these suggestions. "If I am disappointed, I will try again and again," he said. "It will be the same for me in 2000 and 2001. I am here for four more years and I am going to make the team succeed in that time."