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'The Best Team Will Still Be the Best'
	World Champion Michael Schumacher talked to TIME about rules, domination and motivation

In 2002 Michael Schumacher almost literally couldn't lose. He tied up the drivers' championship in superfast time at the French Grand Prix in July. But he also drew criticism, winning the Austrian Grand Prix in May at the expense of teammate Rubens Barrichello, who had led for 71 laps until team managers in the pits told him to move over and let Michael win. As Schumacher walked out on to the podium, boos and catcalls from the crowd drowned out the national anthems. TIME spoke to Schumacher during preseason testing at Barcelona.

TIME: How did you view the reaction to what happened in Austria?
Schumacher: It was not nice and we didn't like it. I am not so sure whether we have to accept the reaction. Nothing is different for us in Formula One. Team strategies have been in place for the whole history of Formula One, but suddenly they weren't accepted any more. In life, you have certain experiences and I think we reacted in a way that we think was the right one.

TIME: How do you view the rule changes?
Schumacher: For sure, the qualifying sessions will be more interesting; that is something that will improve the show. But for the rest, whether we have or we don't have electronic aids, it won't change anything. The best team will still be the best team. It will just make the sport a little bit more critical. It may even make it more dangerous in difficult conditions, in the rain, because control of the car will be much more difficult. It has been a great satisfaction for me, to work hard with the engineers to achieve the creation of the so-called perfect car. The area of challenge will now move in a different direction.

TIME: And the additional changes coming next year?
Schumacher: I think they will be a very good thing, because we have to create more chances for overtaking, and for that we need the cars running closer to each other. These changes will shift the importance of the relationship from aerodynamics to mechanical aids to grip. I think this is a step in the right direction.

TIME: Will Ferrari be as dominant this year?
Schumacher: For sure not. The challenge I see mainly from McLaren. Williams will be there. How far or how close is going to be the question.

TIME: Is it hard to motivate yourself after all these years, all these wins?
Schumacher: When you love something, and I truly do, it is pure enjoyment to be out there, racing, competing, challenging yourself and being challenged. You improve all the time. What has happened in the past is a good achievement, but for the next race, it doesn't count, because the other guys don't care what I have achieved; they simply want to beat me and I want to beat them. It is the fun of driving.

TIME: Are you ever scared on the racetrack?
Schumacher: I would not call it scared. After that terrible weekend in 1994 when Ayrton [Senna] and Roland [Ratzenberger] died [at the San Marino Grand Prix], things like that tend to stick in your head. But racing has nothing to do with overcoming fear. It has to do with feeling the limit of the car.

TIME: Do you think you are the best driver?
Schumacher: I never feel I am the best. It is not my attitude to think that way. I feel I am still improving. Formula One is developing so fast that there is always something new. There will come a time, as I get older, when I will not be able to follow the improvements and the speed, and that is obviously the time to stop.

TIME: What will you do when you stop?
Schumacher: I cannot even imagine myself stopping racing at the moment. But I know that first of all I will try to get away totally, just be with my family [wife Corinna and children Gina and Mick] for six months. The other thing I am quite sure about is that I absolutely don't see myself running a team or getting involved in the FIA. I am not born for politics.

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