Michael Schumacher has stirred up trouble with Ferrari fans, who feel betrayed after seeing video footage of the German ace celebrating with his McLaren rivals at Suzuka.
Photographs of his party antics, apparently under the influence of alcohol, were splashed over the front pages of Italian newspapers yesterday and condemned by commentators and fans alike.
The footage had been caught by an Italian cameraman who managed to get into a McLaren party on Sunday night to celebrate Mika Hakkinen's world title victory over Schumacher's team-mate Eddie Irvine.
Schumacher, seen wandering about with black adhesive tape wound around his head and still wearing his Ferrari overalls, was judged by 76 per cent of TV viewers to have betrayed the legendary Italian team.
The Gazzetta dello Sport, like the rest of the press, was shocked that he had broken one of the unwritten laws of Italian life - by having one drink too many in public - and said he had let the team down.
"The sight of Schumacher drunk is above all unusual and unpleasant," wrote editor Candido Cannavo. "We thought he only drank milk."
The paper claimed Schumacher was already drunk before a Ferrari party and then headed for the "enemy" McLaren, still wearing Ferrari's colours. "Can you imagine it?" Cannavo wondered.
"A sensitive man, a driver who loved Ferrari deeply, a champion who supported the cause and the image of his team would never have done it.
"He is an enormously talented driver who in return for great riches gives Ferrari his skill, experience, intuition and class, but not his heart. . . He is the perfect champion for an era which has no place for flag-bearers."
Tuttosport published photographs of the merriment accompanied by the headline: "Schumi, why did you do it?".
The Turin paper added: "Many people asked themselves `Ferrari have just lost the world title. How come Schumacher is having fun like that? He wouldn't be toasting Irvine's defeat, would he?"'
Meanwhile Schumacher reckons he will get on much better with new Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello than he ever did with Irvine and the Ulster-man's "crazy" personal life.
Schumacher will be again leading the Formula One charge for Ferrari next season, but insisted yesterday that he wouldn't benefit from any privileges compared to his Brazilian partner.
Schumacher also made it clear that he would be on a similar wavelength to Barrichello, unlike the German's experience with Irvine.
"Rubens is a really good guy. I've never had any problems or disagreements with him," Schumacher said. "I've always had a good rapport with other drivers, but I think that I will get on better with Rubens than I did with Eddie.
"He's like me in that he's married, and he doesn't have a crazy life like Eddie does. We'll get on well off the track as well as on it, I'm sure about that. With Eddie it was never possible," he told the Gazzetta dello Sport.
As for the racing priorities, which saw Irvine very much the second driver until Schumacher broke his leg in July, he added: "There's nothing in any contract, not even mine, about being number one or number two driver.
"There's no initial difference," he said. "The hierarchy within the team is only decided by what happens on the track. That's how it was with Eddie right from the start.
"And I would add that Ferrari are a great team and are capable of preparing two absolutely identical cars, with the same components, for both drivers. . . And Rubens knows this well. Just as Eddie did."
Looking ahead to next season, Schumacher said the team's victory in the world constructors' title on Sunday convinced him that Ferrari could lift the coveted drivers' title next time around.
"In the last two races, I had a car that was exceptional," he said of the Malaysian and Japanese Grand Prix.
"That makes me feel certain that the new Ferrari will help me achieve what I set out to when I first came to Maranello."
