Family releases Schumacher video
created more interest in the sport, with two Kiwis fighting up the front, which was really cool.
‘‘Then this week I’ve done more media and I also have my friends and family coming over.’’
But despite all of the extra attention, van Gisbergen says it’s imperative to treat this round like every other.
‘‘It’s not easy, but that’s the mindset that I’m taking,’’ he said.
‘‘The reason why we are where we are, is because we’ve Michael Schumacher’s thoughts on his career and life outside motorsport have been revealed in a previously unreleased video now published by his family.
The video was shot just weeks before the 2013 skiing accident that left him bedridden.
There has been scant news of the seven-time Formula
One champion since the accident but the latest video gives an insight into the think- ing of the 49-year-old who continues to be treated at home in Switzerland for head injuries.
In the video published on his official website, Schumacher revealed that the rival driver he had the most respect for was Mika Hakkinen.
They had endured ‘‘great fights’’ on the track and a ‘‘stable, private relationship’’ off it.
Interestingly, Schumacher said his sporting idol as a youngster growing up didn’t come from motorsport.
‘‘My real idol was Toni Schumacher because he was a great soccer player,’’ he said of his namesake who was goalkeeper for the national team.
He inspired a lifelong love of been taking it round by round with our preparation, so there’s no reason to do it any different now.’’
In the last round in Pukekohe, both McLaughlin and van Gisbergen had a win and a second place over the two races and it showed that there is nothing between the drivers.
‘‘It was awesome there [at Pukekohe] and that’s the reason we are up the front, because we have both been the fastest.
‘‘After such along year, to be so close is really cool. It’s also good for the championship that it’s coming down to the wire.’’
The Triple Eight team will be doing what they can to help van Gisbergen win the title, but they’ll also be looking to give Craig Lowndes a great send off as he bows out from being a full-time driver.
It would be fitting for the face of Supercars to win one of the races, but that could be problematic if it damages van Gisbergen’s chances of winning the championship.
‘‘He’ll be trying [to win],’’ van Gisbergen said of Lowndes.
‘‘There probably won’t be team orders there. Which you don’t want, you want him to go out on top.
‘‘This year for him, winning Bathurst and the Enduro Cup, it’s pretty impressive.
‘‘I’m sure he’ll be shooting for a good result and it’s been awesome over the last three years to be involved with him. To be a team-mate and a friend is really cool.’’ football that included Schumacher organising and playing an annual charity involving fellow F1 drivers and other leading athletes. Schumacher recommended gokarting as the ideal introduction to motorsport.
‘‘It gives you a lot of facilities that you can develop yourself, a lot of skills that you can develop and the fighting, the wheel-to-wheel racing, that’s one of the big learnings you get from karting.’’ Schumacher says F1 is still ‘‘one of the toughest sports that you can do’’ despite the increased aids introduced for drivers.
When asked to compare the emotions of winning his first world championship in 1994 with Benetton and the first of his five with Ferrari in 2000, Schumacher admits that the chance to end the long wait for success with the Scuderia meant that his third world title was ‘‘definitely my most emotional one’’.
‘‘21 years, no championships for Ferrari, four years for myself failing to achieve it and finally in 2000, Suzuka, winning the race – an exceptional race – and winning the great championship,’’ Schumacher said.