Formula 1 blog - Linksheaven

Magical Memories

October 27th, 2006

“The old order changeth and giveth place to new”. …

It wasn’t until the last dozen or so laps that I actually realized what I would miss next season. No, it’s not Michael the driver or the immaculate Ferrari brigade that he helped assemble a decade ago. Michael’s retirement signals something larger, something more emotional. With his retirement, the era that produced three of the greatest drivers of all time, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and himself comes to an end. This was the very era that most people in this forum grew up with. In the 2000’s, with the coming of the Raikkonen’s and the Alonso’s, Schumacher and a handful of other racers were the remnants of an era that would forever be remembered not only for its brilliant drivers and technical advancements of epic proportions, but also for making F1 a truly global sport. But as they say, all good things must come to an end. So did Schumacher’s reign, on a day when Brazilian fans celebrated Massa’s fabulous victory on home soil, thirteen years after their most famous son (Ayrton Senna) brought home the trophy.

“Every year we find something new, we go faster, and that’s what Formula One is about.”

-         Michael Schumacher

The swansong at Brazil stood for everything that Schumacher symbolized. Starting tenth after a technical problem during the qualifying session, Schumacher raced to fourth within laps, setting the stage for a brilliant fight to the finish. However, debris on the track played spoilsport as fans watched the seven-time champion limp back to the pits with a left-rear tyre failure. Most true fans would have given up hope, but not Michael himself. In a fashion that so reminds the viewer of him and the old era, Michael fought back, transcending the limits of his car, astonishing fans and team bosses alike. He eventually came in fourth, signing off in style after sixteen long years of doing what he loved most – racing.

To the budding generation, Michael is a fairy tale - son of a bricklayer who went on to become the biggest sporting icon of an industry where money usually takes pole position ahead of talent. The two time world champion with guts who went from blazing Benetton to fragile Ferrari, transforming the legendary team into a winning machine. He was quintessential driver who went beyond pure racing – he was a team man. And with Jean Todt and Ross Brawn, he proved to be the ultimate team player. The move was farsighted and inspiring in an era where brilliant drivers usually stuck to the best teams, with their best interests in mind.

The statistic says that Schumacher is by far the greatest. With ninety-one race victories, sixty-eight pole positions and seven world championships, there isn’t any one driver in the history of F1 who can come anywhere close to him. There was an amusing statistic in the news paper that said that Schumacher fell one short of the combined tally of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. To take nothing away from Schumacher, I would only state that to compare these racers purely on numbers would not be fair. Perhaps these statistics measure one parameter – ‘consistency’. But they fail to bring in the emotional and charismatic aspects of racing. To me, one lazily elegant left hand sweep from Giles Villeneuve was more valuable than many a race or even championship. As for Schumacher, a second position at Imola, 2004 inspired and rejuvenated the Tifosi more than the tainted victory at Austria 2002 or the farce at Indianapolis last year. The one memory of Schumacher that would forever remain etched in my memory is Britain 1999 where he pumped his fist at the crowd lying on the stretcher with a broken leg. That was Schumacher at his best, the fighting machine, jousting for races with life and limb on the line.

So would he be remembered as the greatest racer of all time? Well, when emotion disappears and statistic alone stays on, maybe. My personal favorite would still be Ayrton Senna for the uncanny talent and the unbelievable passion that he evoked and still evokes the world over. I vividly remember a European daily calling for a ban on all competitive motor sport in the wake of Ayrton’s death at Imola in 1994. In my view, Ayrton was loved more. On the other hand, ‘Professor Prost’ was known for his efficiency and surgical maneuvers. Schumacher epitomizes tactical brilliance and determination. Brilliance displayed as early as Belgium 1992 where the pit maneuver catapulted him from sixteenth to first. To put an overall score on these three drivers would simply be unfair and compromising. Each of these drivers and many others like Fangio, Clark and Stewart represented different ideals and inspire the onlooker for different reasons. And the conditions they raced in were entirely different. Not in my wildest dreams would I compare a Fangio driving a 2L engine with four cylinders with a Schumacher on the V8’s or V10’s, powered with state-of-the-art technology and more importantly - safety.

Entering the tricky part, Schumacher is considered by many to be a tainted genius. Schumacher is alleged to have pushed Hill off the track in 1994 to take his maiden title. In 1997, he was stripped off his points for trying the same maneuver on Villeneuve, although he was unsuccessful in doing that. Austria 2002 was perhaps the biggest farce. Rubens Barrichello was sure to win the race, when Team Ferrari ordered him to let Michael Schumacher take the lead and win the race. What followed on the podium tarnished Schumacher’s image further. Monaco 2006 was yet another incident which brought the images of 1994 and 1997 to the mind. Schumacher was disgraced to the back of the pack when he allegedly parked his Ferrari on the track, fully aware that Alonso was scorching along to take pole. All these incidents have perhaps been blown out of proportion by the media, but they do deserve some attention. When it comes to gamesmanship, the scores simply do not seem to match.

Was it time for him to bid adieu? Going by what I saw this season, Michael still has it in him to go for another season or two. So why did he retire? Eddie Jordan said in an interview that Michael could have been edged out of Ferrari. Or could it be that Michael wanted to retire on an emotional high, considering the brilliant and almost unbelievable turn around that the Ferrari’s staged this year? Any of these would be true, but the truth would perhaps never be known, not until Michael publishes an autobiography!

All said and done, after sixteen long years, Schumacher hangs up his helmet. So what would it be like in 2007 on the pit lane when Schumacher is gone? The old guard would have vanished once and for all, having set the bar higher for future generations. One driver, Kimi Raikkonen, would have the daunting task of filling into Michael’s boots while remembering that Massa would not be willing to act as his No.2. Alonso would be opposite Raikkonen in a McLaren, hoping to make it three in a row. As for Michael Schumacher, it sure would be different, sitting either in his living room or in a commentary box, watching the red lights go off, as Formula One would begin yet another glorious season albeit sans tobacco, sans Michelin and sans Michael Schumacher.

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