MICHAEL SCHUMACHER looks set to be £50 million richer by the end of the millennium after signing an extended contract to drive for the Ferrari team in 1998 and 1999, even though his current deal with the team does not expire until the end of next season.
The German currently earns £16 million from his Ferrari contract, but that is expected to rise to around £30 million in 1999, and perhaps even more if he can deliver the famous Italian team's first drivers' world championship since Jody Scheckter in 1979.
Schumacher's decision to enter such a long-term commitment represents a major vote of confidence to Ferrari's management after a three-year struggle to re-establish its reputation as a consistent F1 front runner. This year, Schumacher won three races in the John Barnard-designed F310 challenger and finished third in the world championship behind Williams drivers Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve.
"I am very optimistic that we can win a world championship, and that is what I am pushing hard for," said Schumacher.
"That is precisely why I am extending my contract, because I see what we have been able to do up to now and I think I can foresee what we might be able to achieve in 1997. But the real potential, I think, will come in 1998, maybe even later.
"As I have said (previously), certain extra improvements need to be made, but then we should be on a level alongside the top British teams.
Schumacher's long-term presence at the wheel of a Ferrari will also offer comfort to the team's tyre supplier Goodyear who are facing a major challenge from the Japanese Bridgestone company next season. Among others, Damon Hill's TWR Arrows-Yamaha will run on the Japanese tyres and initial testing has shown them to be very competitive.
This intensified competition has prompted Schumacher to cut short his post-season holiday and he is expected to start tyre testing for Goodyear at the Estoril track, near Lisbon, tomorrow. He had originally intended to have a couple of months away from the cockpit of an F1 car and not test until the 1997 F1 Ferrari was ready just before Christmas.
Ferrari have also confirmed that Schumacher's team-mate Eddie Irvine has a contract for 1997 which includes an option for the following season. It is also expected that Ross Brawn, the technical director of the Benetton team with whom Schumacher forged such a close working relationship between 1991 and 1995, is poised to join the Ferrari design staff.
The Huntingdon-based Lola team confirmed yesterday that they will be entering the 1997 world championship with major sponsorship from Master Card International, using Cosworth Ford V8 engines to power their new cars.
The news ends months of speculation about whether the team, which has won the Indy Car championship five times, would return to top-level motor racing outside the United States.
Lola spokeswoman, Anne Hale, said that announcements on the team structure and driver line-up would be made "as and then necessary".
The car is to be unveiled early next year just two months before the first race of the new season, in Australia.
"The directors are confident that they can deliver the new car within the time-scale," said Hale.
"Some of the engineers are already employed in Formula One . . . but time is of the essence.
Among those linked with the team have been the Brazilian Ricardo Rosset, dropped by TWR-Arrows, and his compatriot Ricardo Zonta a double winner in this year's Formula 3000 series.
Dane Tom Kristensen, another leading Formula 3000 driver, has also been linked with the team.
