Mugello, Sept 26: Michael Schumacher might win a record sixth Formula One title at Sunday's United States Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher knows more than any driver how to withstand the pressure of a knife-edge title battle. Ferrari's Formula One ace has been there, seen it and done it all before -- fighting Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve and Mika Hakkinen in dramatic duels before Ferrari acquired the winning habit. So when the German tries to do it all again at Indianapolis on Sunday (September 28), with a record sixth championship within his grasp, he will know what to expect. Talking about the challenge at Indianapolis oval circuit, the 34 year-old German said: "It's a all of opportunities for overataking, for a good show. So, we have the same situation that we have at some European grand prix which doesn't give the biggest challenge but they give a good excitement and that's what we need." Schumacher leads Williams' Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya by three points and McLaren's Mika Raikkonen by seven. Form would suggest that, of the three title contenders, the 'Red Baron' will be the toughest nut to crack.


A favourite Schumacher expression, used already this season after a nightmarish start, is "when the going gets tough, the tough get going." He has won more races, scored more points and taken more titles than any F1 driver alive. And he is still plainly enjoying his job, the biggest burden of all swept away with the 2000 title that gave Ferrari their first drivers' title in 21 years.


This season has been Schumacher's most error-prone and troubled in years and it is just possible that this time he will be first to blink. The five times world champions is also aware of the importance of the United States Grand Prix in the overall strategy of the Italian luxury car makers.


"Well, it is important for commercial reason because we have a lot of champions that commercially have a lot of interest in the American market and for that it is very important to have a Grand Prix with a lot of spectators with a lot of television and to have a good show, to have a good Grand Prix. With the situation such as this year, we're coming there for sure with at least two drivers fighting for the championship going to Indianapolis, it becomes even more interesting."


The rise of Williams, McLaren and young lions like Raikkonen and Spaniard Fernando Alonso has made Ferrari's task harder. In Montoya, the Williams driver who lurks three points behind the German with just Japan remaining after 'The Brickyard', he has a hungry rival.


Montoya won both the Formula 3000 and CART titles, as well as the Indy 500, and knows a bit about big occasions. He is not a man to be intimidated. And then there is McLaren's Raikkonen. Seven points behind, the 23-year-old 'Iceman' can go flat out knowing that as a long-shot he has nothing to lose.


If he wins he has a hope of the title, if he loses everyone will still praise his fantastic season. The realistic odds, however, are that the title will go down to the wire in Japan on October 12, possibly with all three still in contention.


Then it could really be winner takes all and Schumacher, despite winning far more races than his rivals cannot be sure of anything.


As the three contenders face off in the tightest end-of-season fight in years, motor racing's governing body FIA is ready to flex its muscles over 'team orders'. Such orders, involving one driver helping a team mate to improve his race position, have been banned this season after the global condemnation provoked by Ferrari when they manipulated the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix.


After teams made clear that they would still use tactics to keep their drivers in contention, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) has warned them to think carefully at Sunday's U.S. Grand Prix.


At last year's race in Indianapolis, Schumacher led and then slowed at the line in what looked like an attempt to engineer a dead heat but ended with Rubens Barrichello declared the winner. That did not go down too well with spectators either and the two cases prompted the FIA to outlaw team orders.


Bureau Report