| | Reuters
HOCKENHEIM, Germany -- World championship leader
Michael Schumacher hit back at criticism of his driving Thursday
and said he did not take the accusations seriously.
"Listen," said Schumacher, when asked about comments made
by Formula One rivals Eddie Irvine and Jacques Villeneuve.
"These two guys -- I don't take them (the comments)
seriously. I don't want to discuss these comments at all, this
is not the point for me. Let's talk about serious matters."
Irvine, Schumacher's former Ferrari teammate now with
Jaguar, said recently that the German used a bullying and
aggressive style.
BAR driver Villeneuve accused the two-time world champion of
being unethical in his approach to racing.
Former champion Villeneuve also supported David Coulthard's
claims that Schumacher's approach to racing was not sporting.
Faced by a series of questions on his style -- particularly
his habit of swerving across the track at the front of the field
at the start, Schumacher said he was not worried.
Clearly irritated by the furor which has followed him this
season, particularly over his tactics in trying to prevent a
rival overtaking, the German added: "What are we doing here?
Are we doing Formula One, or are we in a happy family situation
when we have coffee together?
"We're racing, in a very hard, but fair way, in my view.
Nothing else. It has always been like this. If we want to change
the rule, then we can discuss it. But don't suggest it is only
me that is doing it, which is completely untrue.
"If you look through the field, you see many people doing
it, the same guys who are now complaining.
"They have done it in the past as well. They have done it
at the start, in the race, under different circumstances -- so I
think we can discuss the matter, but don't try to create a
story.
"If the rules allow us to fight like this, we will fight
like this. It is part of the business."
Schumacher disagreed with Villeneuve and McLaren's
championship challenger Coulthard over interpretations of the
rules, which permit one 'change of line' when defending a
position in a race.
And he said that a meeting in Austria two weeks ago with
race director Charlie Whiting had cleared the situation.
"That's why we had that meeting in Austria, before the
race, and it was clarified quite clearly from Charlie that what
has happened at Imola and what has happened at Magny Cours was
totally OK."
Coulthard, sitting alongside Schumacher at a pre-German
Grand Prix news conference, said: "Every time you start a race
there is the potential for an accident, every time the car is
out on the track. So I don't think we need to make much more out
of just the first 100 meters than what can happen in a whole
grand prix.
"As long as we all know what the line is, then we can all
go racing. We just needed to know where we stand."
Schumacher, who leads Coulthard by six points in the
championship, suggested that other drivers agreed with him.
"Can I say that it's two drivers who have another opinion,
as I just mentioned before," he said.
"Jacques and David have a different opinion and the rest
don't and Charlie agrees with the rest of the opinions not with
the two."
Schumacher has failed to score a point in three of his last
four races after leading the championship by more than 20 points
earlier in the season.
With Coulthard and world champion Mika Hakkinen catching up
fast, he needs a podium finish at Hockenheim.
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