In two races time,
Michael Schumacher will hang up his racing boots forever. He has decided that
it is time to leave the stage for the second and final time. Its going to be emotional. Big
time.
How do you say goodbye to
a legend? There’s no way one blog can do the great man justice so I’ll just
have to do a few mini blogs to cover everything I want to!
First up, where there’s
Michael Schumacher there’s often controversy not far behind. Schumacher
polarizes opinion like no other F1 driver in recent times or perhaps ever.
Every sport needs a villain of the piece and for many people that person was
Michael Schumacher. More than any other driver (although Senna shared the same
streak of ruthlessness) he was prepared to go to absolute extremes in search of
victory. Over the last 20 years, his stellar career has been marked with
controversy. But was all the savage criticism of Schumacher’s driving tactics
fair? Lets revisit the big flashpoint incidents in Schumacher’s F1 journey.
Adelaide 1994
Schumacher arrived at the final race of a
turbulent yet captivating season with a 1 point lead over title rival, Damon
Hill who had just beaten Schumacher in an unexpectedly thrilling wet Japanese
GP. On lap 36, while leading, Schumacher skidded off and hit a barrier. As he
returned to the track, Hill (perhaps rashly) went for the inside line and the
two cars collided, both subsequently retiring from the race. Schumacher had
clinched his first title.
Schuey and Damon in happier times |
Verdict:
Schumacher literally shut
the door on Damon and his title chances. Was it done deliberately? The jury is
still out but subsequent Schumacher race incidents might suggest that yes it
was a pre-meditated act of aggression. But was it any worse than Senna’s
deliberate collision with Prost at the first corner in the 1990 Japanese GP in
1990? After failing to persuade the FISA president, Jean Marie Balestre to
change the position of his pole to the cleaner side of the track, Senna had
famously said that he would try to take the lead into the first corner no
matter what. Adelaide actually is more reminiscent of the previous season’s
Prost-Senna title deciding crash, where Prost moved across to block a charging
Senna and both drivers refused to yield and dramatically collided. Did Prost
intentionally run into Senna? Was Senna overambitious in his overtaking
manoeuvre? Or a bit of both? Long before Schumacher, final race collisions often
used to decide the championship.
Jerez 1997
Schumacher approached the
final and deciding race with a 1 point lead over his title rival (once again in
a Williams) – this time the feistier Jacques Villeneuve. Sound familiar? After Schumacher
passed Villeneuve at the start, Villeneuve started catching Schumacher at a
ferocious rate. On lap 48, Villeneuve made his move and took the inside line,
braking very late. First Schumacher turned away then he suddenly turned into
Villeneuve. Schumacher ended up in the gravel, Villeneuve finished 3rd and
was crowned world champion.
Jerez 1997 |
Verdict:
The FIA was not best
pleased. Schumacher was stripped of all his points for that year. Not his
finest hour and unquestionably a more blatant ‘collision’ than Adelaide.
Austria 2002
Rubens Barrichello led
his team-mate, Schumacher, going into the final lap before suddenly slowing. Schumacher
then passed him on the line for the win. When Schumacher was awarded the
winners trophy on the podium, he gave it immediately to Rubens. Awkward to say
the least.
Awkward much? |
Verdict:
This was the day that F1
died of shame and shredded its integrity. But in the defence of the Ferrari
drivers, they were only responding to team orders. The way of the world in F1
since Time Immemorial. Anyway the FIA fined Schumacher, Rubens (c’mon, fining
poor Rubens!) and Ferrari a whopping £1 million and banned team orders. Yes,
because we have never seen team orders again have we? <Looks hard at Red
Bull>
Indianapolis 2005
Only 6 Bridgestone cars (Ferrari,
Jordan and Minardi) on the grid started the race after all the Michelin cars
pulled out due to safety concerns. It was a total shambles and hugely damaging
for the sport’s profile in the USA. Schumacher lined up in his Bridgestone car and
took his only win of the season. Schumacher and Ferrari were rounded upon for
refusing to make any concessions and for not supporting the other drivers.
Verdict:
The win was all-important
for Ferrari and Schumacher especially in a season where Michelin had by and
large outclassed Bridgestone. Was it Schumacher’s or Ferrari’s fault if Michelin
had brought the wrong tyres? There were other more powerful and influential
figures in F1 who could have and should have ensured a proper show was put on
for the US fans.
Monaco 2006
And finally to Rascasse-gate. With title rival (and the
man that Schumacher had identified 4 years earlier as the man most likely to
steal his crown) – Fernando Alonso – on a flying lap, Schumacher parked his car on
the penultimate corner at Rascasse. Qualifying was yellow-flagged, Alonso’s lap
was ruined and Schumacher took the all-important-at-Monaco pole position.
Schuey off to face the music but what is going on with those overalls?! |
Verdict:
You almost have to admire
the sheer audacity of it and the fact that even in the last year of (the first
phase of) his career, he was still so intensely competitive. But his reputation
was further besmirched in the process. Anyway after hours and hours of deliberations
(one thing the FIA can do well is deliberate and cogitate For An Eternity), the
FIA demoted him to the back of the grid. Schumacher’s performance in the race the
next day was mesmerising. He got in the car and did what everyone said was
impossible at Monaco and finished 5th from last place on the grid.
In a way that whole weekend encapsulated perfectly the genius and controversy
that are the twin trademarks of Michael Schumacher’s career.
Schumacher’s
controversial incidents have been so ferociously and endlessly debated that you
could be forgiven for thinking that he alone brought controversy to Formula 1.
In fact the sport has always had a shadowy side. Senna himself blazed the trail in
demonstrating a ruthless will to win at all costs. In recent
years, we have had an espionage scandal involving two of the biggest teams in
F1 (McLaren and Ferrari); Crash-gate
when Nelson Piquet Jnr revealed he had deliberately crashed in the Singapore GP
in 2008 to help his team-mate (Alonso) win the race; and Lie-gate where it transpired that McLaren had lied to race stewards
after the Australian GP in 2009.
Schumacher raised the bar
more than any other F1 driver before his time or subsequently. He tore up the
old job description (of simply being able to drive a fast car very fast) and
redefined what was expected from a racing driver from the super-human fitness
levels, the complete professionalism and the ability to drive every lap on the
ragged edge. This new holistic approach pervades the whole of F1 today and is
exemplified in the commitment shown by champions like Alonso and Vettel. When
the dust settles on the heat of the controversies, this is what should be
remembered along with Schumacher’s many virtuoso drives (a blog of my Top Five Schumacher Races is in the pipeline!).
Ah, I do enjoy I good wander down memory lane!
ReplyDelete