Football Claim Exposed Schumi.
An innocent comment by his young daughter meant that Michael Schumacher returned to Formula One action in Malaysia, according to Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo.
Speaking in an interview with the British Times newspaper, di Montezemolo revealed that a chance remark by Schumacher's daughter Gina-Maria led him to believe that the German was fit enough to play football and, allied to the fact that Schumacher was happy to test but not race, convinced him to press his driver back into action.
An innocent comment by his young daughter meant that Michael Schumacher returned to Formula One action in Malaysia, according to Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo.
Speaking in an interview with the British Times newspaper, di Montezemolo revealed that a chance remark by Schumacher's daughter Gina-Maria led him to believe that the German was fit enough to play football and, allied to the fact that Schumacher was happy to test but not race, convinced him to press his driver back into action.
"Schumacher is a very sensible person, but I got extremely angry with him," the president said, "I am extremely fond of him but, from time to time, he can be temperamental. If he wanted to test, why did he not want to [race]?"
di Montezemolo's hunch proved to be right, as Schumacher returned with a vengeance at Sepang, taking pole position and handing team-mate Eddie Irvine victory in a race he could have won comfortably. A slightly less impressive performance in Japan, however, was not enough to bring the Irishman and Ferrari the drivers' championship they craved.