Schumacher leaves the stage
It is official now. Michael Schumacher has announced that he will retire from motor racing at the end of this Formula One season. The extent of Schumacher's achievements is such that there is little good any pundit can do in attempting to put words to them. I set the record out for you in a post script to this posting. Read it - slowly - and marvel. There will never again be a list that reads like that.
I became interested in Formula One motor racing at about the time Michael Schumacher was beginning his phenomenal career. The year was 1992 (a year after Schumacher first came on the scene at Spa and had everybody goggle-eyed in disbelief) and I was sharing a flat in London with a curious toff called Chris. My flat-mate indulged three main interests: polo, art and motor racing. If he wasn't charging about on a horse in Gloucestershire, he would be among other amateur artists drawing, sketching or sculpting this that or the other. When I moved in with Chris he had started a club of sorts which brought together four or five amateur artists to sketch the female nude (which has inspired great art through the centuries). The artists would meet in Chris's flat every second Sunday afternoon and have a naked female model sit for them while they sketched her. The twist to the tale was this: they would do so while watching Formula One races. Chris said it was all about the poetry and symmetry of the curves of the racing cars and the manner in which they complemented the perfect female form in all its wondrous beauty - or something artistically poncy like that.
Typically, I would leave the flat on these Sundays and let the artists go about their business uninterrupted. One day, I was walking out as the sitting model for that afternoon was walking in. She had been running so as not to be late and her cheeks were flushed and her beautifully formed chest was heaving. She was about as good a specimen of female beauty as can be imagined. What to do? There was nothing for it. I raced down the road and bought myself an artist's sketch book and some crayons. I kid you not, this is how I got into Formula One. Eyes swivelling between boob and tire, from buttock to paddock, I was hooked.
The German rookie in the Benetton-Renault at the Belgian Grand Prix in 1992 was so outstanding that I began to doubt what I was seeing. Even though I was crap at the sketching - my interpretation of a perfectly formed foot looked something like a chicken - I needed to stay on terms with the artists so as to have something to contribute to the fortnightly Sunday afternoon sessions before a naked beauty and a television screen. I immersed myself in Formula One history. I watched as many videos of old races as I could get my hands on and read as much literature as I could find. Having done all this, I was baffled by the way Schumacher approached corners on a race track. Nobody else did it like him. The manner in which he entered the corners demonstrated raw courage and superlative skill. He was awesome.
What has always bothered me about Schumacher is what I perceive to be his self-doubt. Blessed with as much talent as he has and having broken every record there has ever been, Michael Schumacher still finds it necessary to play dirty. Admittedly, he learned this from Ayrton Senna. If there has ever been a bastard in motor racing it was Senna. He was a prize sh1t. Rules meant nothing to the Brazilian. If you stood in the way of him achieving a victory and he could gain advantage by fouling you, he would do so with abandon. The difference between Schumacher and Senna, though, is Senna simply did not care what people thought. He was in your face. Schumacher cares. He tries to pretend that he is playing by the rules when he blatantly is not. Monaco 2006 showed both sides of this flawed genius. Schumacher stupidly parked his car so as to ruin Fernando Alonso's qualifying lap. Disqualified and relegated to the back of the grid, he then produced the most impressive performance ever seen at Monaco by charging all the way up to fifth place against all the odds. The only way I can explain this is believing that there are some self-doubt demons lurking deep within Schumacher's psyche which get aroused from time to time. How else do you justify the man's extraordinary behaviour?
As (statistically at least) the greatest driver exits the stage, we can look forward to better days. To days when Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso will go head to head; the Finn in Ferrari red and the Spaniard in Mclaren silver. It is not without considerable relief that Alonso waves goodbye to the seven times world champion. He does so with a bitter taste in the mouth. Alonso and the Renault team are convinced that the stewards at Monza fixed things so as to ensure a Schumacher victory. Alonso was found guilty of blocking Felipe Massa in qualifying on Saturday and received the super-harsh penalty of having his three best qualifying times deleted from the time-sheets. Starting from tenth on the grid and flustered, Alonso overdrove his Renault engine on Sunday. Ten laps from the end and the engine had had enough. Bang! it went. Alonso must have felt that the same thing had happened to his world championship.
The world championship is now wide open. The gap between Alonso and Schumacher is now just two points. Crucially, though, the momentum is clearly in the German's favour. It is going to be very close…
Gitau
11 September 2006
Schumacher's Record
World Titles: Seven (1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004)
Longest reign as champion: Four years 11 months 17 days (Oct 8 2000 to Sept 25 2005)
Most Wins: 90
Most pole positions: 68
Most wins in a single season: 13 (2004)
Consecutive Grand Prix wins in a season: 7 (2004)
Most second places: 43
Most fastest race laps: 75
Most races led: 139
Most laps in the lead: 5,047
Most points: 1,354 (includes 78 from 1997 when he was excluded from the final standings after a collision with Canadian Jacques Villeneuve in the title-deciding race)
Most points in a single season: 148 (2004)
Most successive seasons with a win: 15
Most podiums: 153
Most wins at the same grand prix: 8 (France)
Most wins from pole position: 40
Most successive races in the points: 24 (2001-2003)
Most successive podiums: 19 (2001-2002) Schumacher is the only driver to have gone through an entire season on the podium (in 2002)
Biggest winning points margin: 67 (2002)
Fastest title: 2002 (won in Germany in July with six races to spare)
Most Team points: Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello have the most one-two finishes of any team in Formula One history. They scored 24 one-twos between 2000 and 2005.
I became interested in Formula One motor racing at about the time Michael Schumacher was beginning his phenomenal career. The year was 1992 (a year after Schumacher first came on the scene at Spa and had everybody goggle-eyed in disbelief) and I was sharing a flat in London with a curious toff called Chris. My flat-mate indulged three main interests: polo, art and motor racing. If he wasn't charging about on a horse in Gloucestershire, he would be among other amateur artists drawing, sketching or sculpting this that or the other. When I moved in with Chris he had started a club of sorts which brought together four or five amateur artists to sketch the female nude (which has inspired great art through the centuries). The artists would meet in Chris's flat every second Sunday afternoon and have a naked female model sit for them while they sketched her. The twist to the tale was this: they would do so while watching Formula One races. Chris said it was all about the poetry and symmetry of the curves of the racing cars and the manner in which they complemented the perfect female form in all its wondrous beauty - or something artistically poncy like that.
Typically, I would leave the flat on these Sundays and let the artists go about their business uninterrupted. One day, I was walking out as the sitting model for that afternoon was walking in. She had been running so as not to be late and her cheeks were flushed and her beautifully formed chest was heaving. She was about as good a specimen of female beauty as can be imagined. What to do? There was nothing for it. I raced down the road and bought myself an artist's sketch book and some crayons. I kid you not, this is how I got into Formula One. Eyes swivelling between boob and tire, from buttock to paddock, I was hooked.
The German rookie in the Benetton-Renault at the Belgian Grand Prix in 1992 was so outstanding that I began to doubt what I was seeing. Even though I was crap at the sketching - my interpretation of a perfectly formed foot looked something like a chicken - I needed to stay on terms with the artists so as to have something to contribute to the fortnightly Sunday afternoon sessions before a naked beauty and a television screen. I immersed myself in Formula One history. I watched as many videos of old races as I could get my hands on and read as much literature as I could find. Having done all this, I was baffled by the way Schumacher approached corners on a race track. Nobody else did it like him. The manner in which he entered the corners demonstrated raw courage and superlative skill. He was awesome.
What has always bothered me about Schumacher is what I perceive to be his self-doubt. Blessed with as much talent as he has and having broken every record there has ever been, Michael Schumacher still finds it necessary to play dirty. Admittedly, he learned this from Ayrton Senna. If there has ever been a bastard in motor racing it was Senna. He was a prize sh1t. Rules meant nothing to the Brazilian. If you stood in the way of him achieving a victory and he could gain advantage by fouling you, he would do so with abandon. The difference between Schumacher and Senna, though, is Senna simply did not care what people thought. He was in your face. Schumacher cares. He tries to pretend that he is playing by the rules when he blatantly is not. Monaco 2006 showed both sides of this flawed genius. Schumacher stupidly parked his car so as to ruin Fernando Alonso's qualifying lap. Disqualified and relegated to the back of the grid, he then produced the most impressive performance ever seen at Monaco by charging all the way up to fifth place against all the odds. The only way I can explain this is believing that there are some self-doubt demons lurking deep within Schumacher's psyche which get aroused from time to time. How else do you justify the man's extraordinary behaviour?
As (statistically at least) the greatest driver exits the stage, we can look forward to better days. To days when Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso will go head to head; the Finn in Ferrari red and the Spaniard in Mclaren silver. It is not without considerable relief that Alonso waves goodbye to the seven times world champion. He does so with a bitter taste in the mouth. Alonso and the Renault team are convinced that the stewards at Monza fixed things so as to ensure a Schumacher victory. Alonso was found guilty of blocking Felipe Massa in qualifying on Saturday and received the super-harsh penalty of having his three best qualifying times deleted from the time-sheets. Starting from tenth on the grid and flustered, Alonso overdrove his Renault engine on Sunday. Ten laps from the end and the engine had had enough. Bang! it went. Alonso must have felt that the same thing had happened to his world championship.
The world championship is now wide open. The gap between Alonso and Schumacher is now just two points. Crucially, though, the momentum is clearly in the German's favour. It is going to be very close…
Gitau
11 September 2006
Schumacher's Record
World Titles: Seven (1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004)
Longest reign as champion: Four years 11 months 17 days (Oct 8 2000 to Sept 25 2005)
Most Wins: 90
Most pole positions: 68
Most wins in a single season: 13 (2004)
Consecutive Grand Prix wins in a season: 7 (2004)
Most second places: 43
Most fastest race laps: 75
Most races led: 139
Most laps in the lead: 5,047
Most points: 1,354 (includes 78 from 1997 when he was excluded from the final standings after a collision with Canadian Jacques Villeneuve in the title-deciding race)
Most points in a single season: 148 (2004)
Most successive seasons with a win: 15
Most podiums: 153
Most wins at the same grand prix: 8 (France)
Most wins from pole position: 40
Most successive races in the points: 24 (2001-2003)
Most successive podiums: 19 (2001-2002) Schumacher is the only driver to have gone through an entire season on the podium (in 2002)
Biggest winning points margin: 67 (2002)
Fastest title: 2002 (won in Germany in July with six races to spare)
Most Team points: Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello have the most one-two finishes of any team in Formula One history. They scored 24 one-twos between 2000 and 2005.
posted by Gitau at 1:01 pm
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