Schumacher likely to stay with Ferrari

   Copyright c 1998 Nando Media
   Copyright c 1998 Reuters

SILVERSTONE, England (Jul 9, 1998 - 12:57 EDT) - Twice world champion
Michael Schumacher hopes to celebrate winning Sunday's British Grand Prix
by signing a new two-year contract with Ferrari.

The 29-year-old German, winner of the drivers' championship in 1994 and
1995, dropped the clearest hint of his intentions during a news conference
at the Silverstone track on Thursday.

Asked about his future, and the prospects of staying for two more years
with Ferrari, he said: "We have talked -- and there is no reason why I
should not."

Schumacher has been with Ferrari since winning the world title for the
second time with Benetton in 1995 and has been widely linked with a range
of other teams, most notably McLaren Mercedes-Benz.

However, his manager Willi Weber has said he has not represented Schumacher
in talks with McLaren and it seems unlikely that McLaren, with their
settled driver line-up of Briton David Coulthard and world
championship-leading Finn Mika Hakkinen, want to make any changes.

Schumacher, raising a young family in Switzerland, has been very happy with
Ferrari -- the only team likely to meet his pay demands of around 35
million dollars per year.

But while Schumacher hinted he is likely to stay put, one of his oldest
rivals, Briton Damon Hill, was being linked with a switch from struggling
Jordan to 1999's forthcoming new boys, British American Racing.

It is expected he will link up there with former Williams team mate Jacques
Villeneuve of Canada in a new and old "dream team" being
assembled by Villeneuve's former manager Craig Pollock, now managing
director of BAR.

Pollock said: "Damon is a hugely talented guy misunderstood and
underestimated in Britain -- of course we would love to have him."

Hill, 37, has frequently expressed his frustrations with Jordan this year
and is desperate for one final move to a competitive team to revive his
career.

Hill, still searching for his first point of the season, said: "The
car feels a lot better now and although we cannot challenge the McLarens or
the Ferrari, I think we have a chance of racing for points with the rest of
them."

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