Interview With Michael - Geoff Hutchison

Broadcast on the Channel 9 telecast of the Australian Grand Prix, 10 March 1996. The interviewer is Geoff Hutchison.

GH : "Obviously, people are saying that there is the allure of the scarlet car, and also the allure of the money, which is being reported to be anywhere between 20 cents and 45 million dollars. How important is the money consideration to you?"

MS : "You have put some new numbers on I have to say, I have never heard these numbers before."

GH : "But they are extraordinary. Every newspaper report has a different figure, and if one newspaper says it's 30 million dollars then the next one says, well it's got to be 45 million."

MS : "Yes."

GH : "Is money very important to you?"

MS : "It's more newspaper competition than reality. Money is certainly important. I want to be paid for what I think the job I'm doing is in comparison to my mates is worth. And. I feel I am paid the right amount; I could've earnt more money, to be honest, in another team, I could've had the same money in a different team again, but I wanted to go for this kind of challenge, even with, as I said, having a bit less money, but I didn't care about this. I wanted to go to Ferrari, and join the team in the position where I believe they, together with myself, can do this last step and then in 97 go for the Championship."

GH : "Can you tell me what it was like to go the Ferrari factory, for the 1st time?"

MS : "I have spoken many, many times about this. I mean, it is certainly very emotional feeling once you come the first time there. You don't expect anything, and then you see this big kind-of factory, which is amazing. It was special, because it was in the night, with a little bit of fog, so it had a certain atmosphere together with it, and I got these little prickles, goosebumps, on my skin, and I felt yeah, it was the right decision."

GH : "Is there a different feel about Ferrari compared to Benetton. Is it almost a cultural thing, the Italian love of the car?"

MS : "Yeah, I mean, certainly this. Before you driven more or less for a team, now you have the feeling you drive for a country."

GH : "You're a methodical man. This year, do you think you'll learn to be a very patient man?"

MS : "I think I have to, yeah. It comes down to the point when you have the hope, and you see, as it has been said many times, the light at the end of the tunnel, it's alright. If the end of the tunnel is completely dark, then it gets maybe a problem, but I don't think we should be in that position and situation."

GH : "What happens midway through a season: there have been no wins, no pole positions, no fastest lap times, for a man who is very used to achieving those things?"

MS : "Depends the gap you have. If you talk of a gap which is half a second, or a couple of tenths, I don't worry about this. If you talk about a couple of seconds, I gotta be worried this."

GH : "Michael do you reckon, when the media talk to you, do we ever get close to your true personality do you think?"

MS : "If you don't ask always the same questions, yes."

GH : "The reason I ask that is, I collected a series of quotes from newspapers. I'm not sure if they're descriptions of you or some kind of Germanic stereotype. That you race with cold-blooded Teutonic efficiency; that you're arrogant and psychologically dominant; the hard man everyone fears. Now it's a good headline, but how much of that do you believe to be true?"

MS : "I mean, I know myself that it's not the case, and I've come from nothing, I started from nowhere and I've got up the stairs and finally got the Championship, but still with both feet on the ground. I hate if press and people start to try and draw picture out of myself after a 10 minute interview. It's just not possible. Most of the newspaper, even TV stations do that. They see me from outside, they see things, where quite a lot of times I'm quite shy, because if I have a free situation - I give you one example. Yesterday, I went out to see the dolphins, and I wanted it just private, I wanted to go there and wanna have fun. And suddenly I see a boat coming with a camera, photos and I'm getting upset about this. I don't want this, I want to be private, and I feel that people should accept this me to keep private. A lot of other drivers been in Formula 1 for a couple of years before they start to get their first success, so they will have this couple of years to develop themselves, and to become present to the media in a certain way where it develops slightly. For me from the 1st moment, I had to cope with a certain level already, and I didn't do this. I didn't quite do this, and therefore people have a certain picture which is not true, but I just can say, time will tell us what I'm really like and people will know me in future."

GH : "Well, we appreciate your candour and we'll try not to make too many snap assessments on the basis of 10 minutes. Thanks for talking to us."

MS : "OK. Pleasure."

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