Monday, May 20th, 2003  
 

Not even a lick of flames could melt the ice that is back-to-back Austrian Grand Prix winner Michael Schumacher.

'I didn't think it was an extremely dangerous situation,' said the German, whose Ferrari caught fire whilst it was being refuelled at the A1-Ring on Sunday.  Schumacher said he never once thought about jumping out of his rapidly heating-up F2003-GA and insists he is not a lucky man to escape unscathed.

'I think I was unlucky actually,' the 34-year-old added after spraying himself with champagne on the podium.

An hour earlier, his mechanics were dousing him and his racer with fire extinguisher fluid.

'How can I be lucky when I have problems?' he asked, genuinely confused. Schumacher added, 'Seeing the fire is not nice but I felt the guys reacted very well with the extinguishers.'

Michael said he kept his cool, calmly wiping his visor clear as he powered out of the pitstop melee, by taking solace in four layers of fire-proof gear.  'You have the overalls, you know you can survive for a little while,' he said. 'I didn't feel heavily concerned, honestly.'

The worst fire in F1's modern era engulfed Jos Verstappen's Benetton in 1994.  But Michael knew this kind of 20 foot inferno was not about to overwhelm his 2003 scarlet car.

'If I had seen fuel splashing around and the fire, then it would have been a different story. But that wasn't the case.'

Ferrari's technical director said his team would investigate the cause of the rig fire.

The win was Michael Schumacher's 67th, from title leader Kimi Raikkonen and team-mate Rubens Barrichello.