Schumi - total safety impossible

Commenting on the deaths of British IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon and Italian MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli, Schumacher said motorsport safety had been "hugely improved."

But the seven-time F1 champion insisted all competitors accepted the inherent risk of serious accidents.

"If something has to happen, that is something I would call fate, and fate is something we are all faced with."
Michael Schumacher Quotes of the week

"If something has to happen, that is something I would call fate, and fate is something we are all faced with," Schumacher said.

"I am touched by what happened to both drivers but unfortunately we have to say that is life."

Wheldon was killed in a multiple-car collision in an IndyCar race in Las Vegas, while Simoncelli was killed in the MotoGP race in Malaysia last weekend when he lost control of his bike and slid into the path of two fellow riders.

Limit

"To have total safety that is impossible," Schumacher added. "I don't think when we drive we are thinking about putting ourselves in danger. When we push our cars to the limit, that is what we feel comfortable with."

Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso, a two-time world champion, said: "When you are driving, when you close the visor, you don't think about the risk. The love and adrenaline you have when you are driving blocks out the risk.

"The Dan accident I saw the replay, on the news, and I was shocked for two or three days. For Marco, it was live, I was watching the race. I did not believe Sunday and Monday still that this had happened."

Red bull driver Mark Webber, who along with Jenson Button is planning to honour Wheldon this weekend, recognises that risk is inherent in all motorsport but insists he feels safe in a modern F1 car.

"I've had moments in my career where it's been close for me," the 35-year-old said.

"You know when you step into the car you are doing something where you are putting yourself at risk.

"It's always going to be there because you're competing at speed, against other people, and there might be an error of judgment or because of the weather, then you might get hurt.

"That's the way it is. But in driving the car tomorrow I will feel incredibly safe and comfortable to push it as hard as I can."