Highlights

Motor racing-Schumacher looks to home crowd for boost

(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-07-27 08:55

STUTTGART, Germany, July 26 - Ferrari's Michael Schumacher says his home crowd can make all the difference as he chases a hat-trick of wins in what could be his final German Grand Prix on Sunday.

The seven times world champion, who has yet to announce whether he is retiring or continuing in 2007, arrives at the Hockenheim circuit 17 points adrift of Renault's Fernando Alonso with seven races remaining.

Yet even if world champion Alonso has the advantage, Schumacher has the momentum -- his wins in the United States and France bringing back the familiar victory leap with a vengeance.

Alonso has said that a victory in Schumacher's backyard would be worth more than 10 points because of the psychological effect.

Schumacher, the most successful driver in the history of Formula One, knows all about mind games however.

He believes the Spaniard, who boasted before Magny-Cours that he and Renault would resume 'normal service' after being trounced at Indianapolis, will be the one nursing a headache.

If Schumacher wins again, for the fourth time at Hockenheim, it will begin to look as if the service being resumed is the Ferrari supremacy of 2004 rather than Alonso's run of four successive wins up to Indianapolis.

"This race is a little bit of an extra motivation for all German drivers," said Schumacher on his website this week. "Even if it's not visible with respect to the lap-times, the psychological effect is definitely there.

RED WAVE

"We always get so much support from the fantastic fans at Hockenheim, so your subconscious mind takes that along into the weekend.

"It's no secret that we're going to go for the hat-trick," he added. "We've got our minds set on making red the colour of the championship."