Fatalistic Schumacher has no time for angst

Michael Schumacher has said he is not worried about the possibility of dying in a motor racing accident some day.

"If it happens, it happens. You can't protect yourself from it. That's my view. My life has been pre-determined," the German double world champion told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper yesterday. "When it is supposed to end, it will end - wherever that may be. I love sports that offer a certain element of fascination, where the risk can be calculated," he said.

Schumacher said individuals should find out what was important in their lives and weigh up the dangers for themselves.

"Actually, you would have to ask yourself, is not everyone who takes part in extreme sports without earning a single penny a little insane," Schumacher said.

"As far as I am concerned, what is at stake is sport that offers a challenge. What would life be like without challenge? It would be dull. I earn a lot of money, but that is really secondary.

"I have been riding go-karts since I was 15 and didn't earn anything then, yet I still had just as much fun as I now do."

Schumacher starts the new Formula One season in Melbourne on Sunday as favourite to win the title for Ferrari after recovering from breaking his leg in a crash at the British Grand Prix last year.

One team that is unlikely to be challenging for overall honours this year is British American Racing, and they admit they must produce results in this season to keep top driver Jacques Villeneuve.

Bar was the only outfit not to score a point last year, and team boss Craig Pollock concedes there must be a giant leap in performance to entice the former world champion to stay.

"The technical side of the team has to produce results on the track," Pollock said. "All Jacques wants to do is go forward and win races, and I would say as a championship winning driver already he doesn't mind which team he's with as long as he can win."

The French-Canadian, son of the great Gilles Villeneuve, had a disastrous 1999, retiring on 11 successive occasions - a massive comedown after taking the championship driving a Williams-Renault in 1997.

But BAR has been boosted by a partnership with Japanese motor giant Honda which will supply the team's engine in its comeback to F1 after an absence of eight years.

Pollock said he was confident Villeneuve would wait to see what BAR had to offer this year before making any decision to leave.

"If he feels that he is going to win with the British American Racing Honda package I think he'll stay," Pollock said.

"If we put together the right package there's no reason at all why we would lose Jacques Villeneuve.

"I know him better than anyone else, I know what makes him tick and it's up to us to actually listen to his feelings and try to do something about it.

"The main thing is if he feels the performance is coming and he feels the team is working in the right direction towards getting the performance for 2001, he'll probably make a very logical decision." Pollock said the team could realistically aim to finish somewhere in the top six this year but would not know its proper potential until after the first five or six races.

Pre-season testing in South Africa and Spain has been encouraging but is generally not a good guide.