Schumacher to fight for Rubens

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From F-1 Racing

Schumacher to fight for Rubens

Good teamwork at Ferrari

A good relationship between the two Ferrari drivers

World champion Michael Schumacher said here Thursday he is prepared to help his Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello fight to claim the runners-up spot in this year's world championship.

Schumacher won his seventh world title at the Belgian Grand Prix two weekends ago, one race after Ferrari sealed the constructors' title in Hungary, but the German driver will not be happy until Barrichello's second place is secure.

"I don't know if I can help him," said Schumacher. "I mean, first of all he is responsible for himself, but if there was a moment I could help, certainly I would. We have had a pretty much perfect year so far and to really make it perfect would be to have Rubens in the second position in the drivers' championship as well.

"That's the thing left to achieve. If you look at the points situation in the championship it's probably fair to say that there is a fair chance this will happen, so we will try."

Barrichello currently sits 23 points ahead of third-placed Jenson Button, of BAR-Honda, with four races remaining but could win the runners-up spot if he claims eight points more than Button in this weekend's Italian Grand Prix.

Schumacher crashed heavily in testing at Monza last week but insisted that he was fit to drive in front of the Italian team's adoring fans.

"The cause (of the crash) was leaking air in the tyre and the consequence was that the tyre blew up and the crash was a result of this," added Schumacher. "There is no consequence. I felt a bit stiff the next day but it was nothing of a drama. Any crash is too much and you don't want it but it's part of the game."

Source AFP