Schumacher goes down fighting

Luck, that old fickle beast, can be responsible for a great deal. It is never described as "Mr Luck" or "Sir Luck" or even "Lord Luck". Luck, when granted human qualities, is invariably described as "Lady Luck". There is a sound reason for this. Luck is famously ascribed the feminine gender because it is notoriously fickle. Just like you don't want to mess with an angry lioness if you are in no particular hurry to meet your maker, you don't want to take any chances with Lady Luck. You can spend years happily riding a chariot dragged along by Lady Luck until, one day, inexplicably, she snaps the reins while you're going uphill and laughs as you go crashing down to the bottom.

Until this weekend, if ever there was any good luck going you could safely bet that it was going the way of Michael Schumacher. On the last day of a career punctuated by extraordinary good luck, Lady Luck unceremoniously abandoned him at Interlagos. In qualifying on Saturday, having set the fastest time in the second of the three qualifying sessions, Schumacher emerged to set a time and found that, once again, the previously infallible reliability of his Ferrari engine was in serious doubt. "Disaster for Michael Schumacher - his engine sounds like a bag of bolts!" yelled Martin Brundle from the commentary box. This meant that Schumacher was forced to start Sunday's race from tenth place on the grid while his team-mate, Felipe Massa, basked in the glory of having achieved pole position before his home crowd.

As we have seen from time to time over the years, Michael Schumacher never ever gives up. Even when things look impossible to everybody he maintains supreme self-belief. Starting from tenth place he pumped in a series of devastatingly quick laps and would, surely, have won yesterday's race had disaster not struck yet again. While attempting to pull a dastardly overtaking manoeuvre on Giancarlo Fisichella, the Ferrari suddenly snapped back with a puncture to its left rear tyre. Schumacher was forced to coast to the pits, have a tyre change and resume the race from the back, almost a lap down on race leader Felipe Massa. His blistering pace upon rejoining was such that he cut through the field like a hot knife through butter. In one of the best drives of his long career, he overtook car after car, setting fastest lap after fastest lap. With only two laps to go and up to fifth place, he did not rest and say "well, at least I have salvaged something from this mess". Instead he went after Kimi Raikkonen and overtook him in the style only Schumacher has been able to perfect. This was the seven times world champion proving he was still at the top of his game. He knew he was going down but was determined to go down fighting. Stunning stuff.

The truth is that an eighth world championship was never really on the cards for Schumacher. It was unrealistic to expect that Fernando Alonso would finish the race without scoring a single point. In the event, Alonso finished second behind Massa and entered the history books. He now has a place permanently secured in the pantheon of Formula One greats. This gives him supreme confidence as he enters the next season as a McLaren driver in place of Kimi Raikkonen. The problem for him, as Raikkonen was painfully reminded of again yesterday, is that McLaren seem to have lost the ability to produce a competitive car.

A comment Raikkonen made on the grid before the race made me wonder whether Niki Lauda (himself a former double champion with the scarlet team) was correct to suggest that he will be responsible for the decline of Ferrari. There was a ceremony conducted by Pele at which Michael Schumacher was granted an award in recognition of his achievements. All the drivers were present except Raikkonen. When Martin Brundle asked him where he had been, Raikkonen - on live television, remember - said "I was taking a shit". This tells me a great deal. First, it is clear that there is no love lost between him and Schumacher - which probably explains why Schumacher chose to retire now rather than race for a season or two longer with Raikkonen as his team-mate. Secondly, it shows that he possesses none of the collegiate spirit that Schumacher imbued in Ferrari over the years ("we are a family," Schumacher often said.) Finally, it shows that Raikkonen is very much his own man. I wonder whether there are rueful heads being shaken in Maranello now. Did they choose the right fellow to succeed the great German? Time alone will tell.

Jenson Button did well to come third after a nightmare qualifying session which resulted in him having to start from fourteenth place. It is a psychologically important podium for Button and a good development for the Honda team. I would like nothing better than to watch a three way fight for the championship between Alonso, Raikkonen and Button. If Honda are finally getting their car sorted this could well be a possibility. Prayer time, methinks.

After two and a half decades of dominating the Formula One scene it is almost impossible to imagine a grid without Michael Schumacher's frightening presence. He did a marvellous job of making 2006 one of the most interesting seasons in many years. His cohorts of fans around the world will dearly miss him.

Gitau
23 October 2006

The end of an era

We woke up on the morning of 10 November 1989 to find that the world had changed irrevocably. The Berlin Wall had come down and Communism's death knell had been sounded. When the Formula One watching world awakes on Monday it will do so in the certain knowledge that things will never be the same again. Michael Schumacher, the most efficient driving machine the world has ever known, will have departed the scene forever.

If you bought a Jaguar motor car in the 1970s you were buying a vehicle with a history suffused with grace, charm and elegance. The feline lines of a Jag exuded beauty and romance. A Jag owner would get home and stand in his garage staring at his car for a good ten minutes before venturing into his home to greet his wife. The trouble was that within a couple of years, the car would be coated in rust underneath, its wheel arches would be falling away because of rust and the same owner's garage floor would be routinely covered in leaked engine oil. The Jag was English-built, you see. Contrast this with a Mercedes-Benz from the same era. Every panel fitted perfectly. The doors shut with a distinctive thunk. The engine kept going for mile after mile after mile and refused to die. Not a hint of oil was ever to be found on a floor where a Merc had been standing. The car represented the cutting edge of Teutonic motoring efficiency. But it was boring.

Michael Schumacher applied German engineering efficiency to the field of motor racing. Whereas famous rakes like James Hunt would begin each race by smoking a quick fag (having spent the night boozing and shagging a bevy of babes in his hotel room), Schumacher is famously ascetic, disciplined and virtually teetotal. He introduced levels of personal fitness never before seen in Formula One. In the days when Nigel Mansell was racing, sometimes he would end a race so exhausted that he would have to be dragged out of his car and carried to the paddock. Schumacher instead leaps out of his after a gruelling race in death-provoking temperatures as fresh as if he has just emerged from his morning shower. The contrast was never more clear than at the end of a particularly challenging race in 2002. David Coulthard standing next to a leaping, grinning Schumacher on the podium was so knackered that he looked as though he would pass out. Coulthard , no fitness slouch himself, later complained that the national anthems took too long. "They should give us a chair to sit on," he said. This dedication to physical fitness and personal discipline raised the stakes for everyone. Nowadays a rakish lifestyle like Hunt's is unimaginable. Most drivers are committed family men away from the circuit. It has to be said, though, that drivers have become one-dimensional characters. In a word, boring.

It is not just his dedication to personal fitness that is Schumacher's distinctive contribution to Formula One. Schumacher makes it his business to understand the minutiae of his Ferrari's engineering. He will sit late into the night with the Ferrari engineers in Maranello discussing the finer points of the car's engine or gearbox. When he performs a test lap, he knows exactly what to tell his team about the car's performance; what needs tweaking, adding to or taking away from. This too has been copied across the paddock - but not quite to the same extent. Team engineers now expect to have knowledgeable conversations with their drivers. It is not enough for a driver to say to his team "give me the right car and I will perform". The driver has to be intimately involved in the process.

Schumacher's unique insight that raw talent (of which he is blessed with tons) was not sufficient is the quality that has made him the most prolific points scorer of all time. You do not win seven world championships and ninety one Grands Prix by simply throwing a car round a circuit and hoping for a good result. In a demonstration of his combination of raw ability and technical prowess, Schumacher raced his Ferrari F2003 against a Eurofighter Typhoon jet in 2003. The F1 car won at 600 meters but lost at 900. However, the plane only beat Schumacher by 0.2 seconds in the 900m dash with a time of 13 seconds compared with the Ferrari's 13.2 seconds. Intriguingly, the Ferrari got from 0 to 60 in just 2.3 seconds. At the point at which the plane beat the Ferrari, it had taken off and was literally flying. So did it really win? When asked for his views later Schumacher's response was typically Germanic: "the track was slightly damp and the car's set-up was not ideal for these conditions…" What? Most mortals would have been shrieking with delight and saying "did you see that?!" Not Schumacher.

No commentary about Michael Schumacher would be complete without some mention of the man's extraordinary luck. The instances of luck playing in his favour are too numerous to recount. If ever there was to be a Ferrari retirement for mechanical reasons it would not involve Schumacher's car. If there was a driver to emerge unscathed from a major crash it would be Schumacher. If the rules were unclear about anything involving Schumacher, the decision would invariably fall his way. Even his entry into Formula One was characterised by masses of good luck. In 1991, mid-way through the season, Frenchman Bertrand Gachot driving for Jordan had a road rage incident in London. He collided with a taxi driver and then fell into a heated argument which ended with him spraying CS gas in the taxi driver's face. For this Gachot got bundled off to chokey for a few years, thus freeing up a place at Jordan for the young German driver.

How do I sum up the Schumacher era then? Well, it has been one of outstanding, even mind-boggling, achievement. An era that will remain seared on the memory - and in the record books - forever and a day. There are many who say that Formula One will be worse off because of his departure. Niki Lauda went as far as saying this week that Kimi Raikkonen will cause the decline of Ferrari. That may be harsh but time will tell. Personally, I look forward to an era of greater unpredictability; a return to the romance of motor racing. I may have expressed fawning respect for his talent, conscientiousness and focus but I am not a fan. Even discounting the unsportsmanlike behaviour he has displayed over the years, hand on heart I can safely say that I will not miss Michael Schumacher.

Gitau
20 October 2006

Correction

A keen-eyed reader of this column has picked me up on a bit of a howler:

"I am not sure I agree totally with the statement that we have not been here before. Two examples:

1. Nigel Mansell's rear tyre exploded in Adelaide with the 1986 title almost in the bag.

2. In 2003 Schumacher went to the final race in Japan needing just a point to be world champion while Kimi Raikkonen had to win and hope Schumacher did not score. Raikkonen led that race while Schumacher had a nightmare, colliding with local hero Takuma Sato at the start and dropping to last place. He finally moved up to eighth as Barrichello took the victory. "

I am pleased about this and would encourage further responses on things I say which you may disagree with.

Gitau
17 October 2006

The Brazilian Grand Prix

Many years ago I had a colleague called Giles who took the "Be Prepared" motto from his scouting days a little too much to heart, I thought. One of his eccentricities was to insist on never leaving his home without his passport on his person. One day, an urgent message was circulated around the building: "was there any junior person who could drop everything and get on a plane to Brazil within a couple of hours?" Giles, prepared as ever, took up the challenge and was promptly bundled off on a plane headed for São Paulo without so much as a change of underwear. Filled with thoughts of dancing the Samba into the night with a comely Brazilian lass, Giles endured the gruesome journey from Heathrow stoically. Alas, my poor friend's mission did not permit much Samba dancing or indeed much anything.

Giles was to take delivery of a brand new Embraer aircraft on behalf of a client and then fly straight back to London in the new plane. The reason for the panic was that Embraer had telephoned our client declaring an ultimatum and threatening to sell the plane to someone else. If delivery of the aircraft was not concluded within twenty four hours our client would lose a plane they had awaited for years. Upon arrival in São Paulo, the hapless Giles was whisked in a speedy car from Guarulhos International Airport past a vast slum nicknamed the City of God to Embraer's headquarters in São José dos Campos with hardly a moment to draw breath. Before he could protest that he would rather have enjoyed a little time off for a bite of churrasco and Brazilian red wine and a visit to the local underwear shop, Giles found himself sitting aboard an Embraer executive jet on his way back to London, receiving sustenance from a flat Coke and some stale sandwiches. I was tempted to goad the poor chap upon his return to the office. I wanted to enjoy a few laughs at his incessant boasts about preparedness but I held my tongue; the once enthusiastic boy scout had suffered enough.

I relate this tale not to poke fun at boy scouts (I too was one after all!) but to illustrate several features which make Brazil unique. No country juxtaposes First and Third worlds quite so starkly. Vast slums in the backyard of the fourth largest manufacturer of jet aircraft in the world; industrial excellence accompanied by Latin passion; and a flair for life and all the good things it can afford. This goes a long way to explaining the two areas in which Brazil excels: football and Formula One racing. Brazilian footballers come out of slums like the City of God. Brazilian racing drivers practice their art spitting distance away at the superb Interlagos circuit. The country's history in both sports defies description. You only have to mention the name Pele and watch any football fan go misty eyed. The name Ayrton Senna produces much the same effect on Formula One fans.

Sniffy commentators do not like Interlagos. They complain that it is too bumpy, poorly maintained and with low quality facilities. And yet the excitement Interlagos often produces consistently invites the thought "why won't they shut up?" Strange, preventable, things do happen at Interlagos - like stray dogs running onto the circuit or bits of advertising hoarding falling onto the race track - but they are part of what makes the place so unpredictable and exciting. Who can ever forget 2003 when heavy rain resulted in perhaps the most event-packed Brazilian Grand Prix ever. Car after car spun of the sodden circuit and crashed into the tyre barriers to the side. Even the master of wet conditions, Michael Schumacher, was not spared. It got so bad that the race was abandoned well before the final lap was over. At the end, the large number of ruined wrecks by the side of the track represented the world's most expensive scrap yard.

This weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix has the potential to be the most significant in the race's history. It is Michael Schumacher's last ever Grand Prix. It is also Michelin's last ever opportunity to do one over on their Japanese rivals. A world championship could very easily turn on the result of this race. If the race ends with Schumacher having scored ten points and Alonso having scored none, Schumacher will be world champion for the eighth time. Anything less - even a solitary point for Alonso - is not enough to prevent the Spaniard from walking away with a second world championship. I would love to say that we have been here before but I can't. Not in the modern era of Formula One racing. This has got to be as close as it gets.

Ironically the man with the most thinking to do is Alonso. Schumacher can afford to throw caution to the wind and gun as hard as possible for a win. If his car breaks in the process he will at least have the satisfaction of having done his best. It makes no difference if you lose the championship by one, ten or twenty points - the championship is still lost. In other words, Schumacher has nothing to lose by going hell for leather. The big question for Alonso is whether to approach the race with caution or not. He knows that Schumacher never gives up, so the most effective way of denying him any opportunity would be by bagging the race win for himself. But in doing so he risks breaking the car and handing the advantage back to Schumacher. What to do? Difficult one.

Let us not forget the part that may be played by other players. Interlagos has a very tight first corner and has been known to produce big crashes there. Ferrari may need a one-two result to guarantee the constructors' championship but I would not put it past them to enlist the assistance of other players. Would you be surprised if you learned of them slipping a few notes in the way of a lesser team like Spyker and requiring them to play "spoiler"? Italy is after all Mafia country. Money changes hands and people are found swinging under bridges with rocks in their pockets. A word of advice to Alonso: careful, matey, you may be about to get whacked!

An element to add to the heady mix is Kimi Raikkonen. Will he play the role of number three Ferrari driver or will he try and make sure that he does not end 2006 without a single win? Another difficult one. Psychologically it will be useful for Raikkonen to go into next year with a big win under his belt. It will also be handy to beat his future team-mate, Felipe Massa, at Massa's home Grand Prix and, thus, firmly buy himself numero uno within the Ferrari team. Nail-biting stuff, friends, nail-biting stuff. It's not over till its over (I have never seen any fat ladies at F1 circuits but a Maranello sinyora might have been flown in expressly for this purpose - you never know!).

Ensure that your telly is working but don't be satisfied with this. Have a contingency plan assured by keeping your neighbour well buttered up. Stock up on Brazilian Skol or whatever takes your fancy and,

Enjoy Brazil!

Gitau
17 October 2006

Suzuka decides the championship - yet again!

There are things one can predict with a near perfect degree of certainty. I know that it will get dark tonight. I also know that the sun will rise tomorrow. There is no gainsaying either of these two things. Before yesterday in Japan, I would, like everybody else, have placed the following prediction within the same certainty bracket: Michael Schumacher will not retire from the Japanese Grand Prix because of an engine failure. Retirements occasioned by problems like that had been eliminated by Ferrari years ago. No car was more reliable. The last time Schumacher's engine broke was in 2001 - in the days before al-Qaeda attacked America and caused a stupid president to suffer irreversible insanity.

Like the rest of the Formula One watching world, I stared at the screen in disbelief yesterday - at least what I was able to see when not obscured by Chipo leaping up and down and doing cartwheels across the room. With one almighty bang and lots of smoke, the world championship was dramatically snatched away from Michael Schumacher's grasp and placed squarely in the lap of Fernando Alonso. Suzuka was spoken of as a championship decider by many - not least, yours truly. It was spoken of as the place that tested true grit. The circuit that separated the racers from the mere pretenders. Never once did I expect that the championship would be decided in Alonso's favour at Suzuka. Never. If there was a decisive retirement destined for Suzuka on 8 October 2006 it involved a British-built, French-badged car in blue livery. Not a blood red Ferrari. No way. How wrong we all were.

In qualifying on Saturday everything seemed to be going the way of the Scuderia. In an apparent reversal of fortune from the bad experience Bridgestone had in Shanghai a week previously, Michelin looked like they were in serious trouble. The Ferraris were a second a lap quicker than the Michelin-shod Renaults. All top four positions on the grid were taken up by Bridgestone runners. Fernando Alonso in fifth place looked as though the best he could achieve was a damage limiting points scoring position - fifth, possibly, or fourth if he was lucky. Tyres are the black art of Formula One. They make such a massive difference to everything that, considering all the elements required for success - chassis, tyres, driver and team - they probably account for at least thirty per cent. At the end of qualifying Michelin seemed so disadvantaged that virtually every commentator predicted a walk in the park for the Bridegstone-shod Ferrari. More fool they. Tyres didn't matter a jot in the final analysis yesterday.

Felipe Massa failed to adhere to the script on Saturday. By running marginally more quickly than team boss Schumacher, he contrived to snatch pole position from the man who needed it most. Dutifully, in the race he did as commanded and let Schumacher through to take the lead minutes from the start. From then on, pit stops notwithstanding, Schumacher proceeded to do what he does best and lead the Grand Prix from the front. He never once seemed in danger of losing the lead until the unthinkable happened and he saw the unfamiliar cloud of smoke in his own rear view mirrors as his engine gave up the ghost. On the day when reliability mattered most to Ferrari it deserted them. This was decided by the Gods. Like Alonso's blown engine in Monza, this was not what was written in the master plan.

It is to be said for Schumacher that he graciously conceded that the drivers' title was lost. He acknowledged that for him to win the championship, he would have to win the last race in Brazil and Alonso score no points. Even if he won and Alonso scored one point, it would be game over, Alonso champion. This is not how Schumacher wanted to win his eighth title. He wanted to do it on the racing track, not be gifted a win by circumstance. He will go to Brazil hoping for a win on his last Formula One race ever but not expecting to be crowned world champion.

As things have turned out I have been proved both right and wrong by Suzuka. I predicted early in the season that Alonso was destined to be a double world champion at the end of 2006. I then changed this and confidently (some might say foolishly) declared that the advantage had swung away from the Spaniard in favour of the Teutonic genius in the red overalls. I should have stuck with my initial prediction…

If you believe in omens, remember this: there is no circuit that is quite as chaotic as Interlagos. It is perhaps fitting that the last season ends in the home of Grand Prix mayhem. Don't hold your breath, though. Schumacher's championship chances are six feet under.

Gitau
9 October 2006

The Japanese Grand Prix

The Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka has always been the race to look forward to. As if Suzuka's pre-eminence as being, like Spa, a true driver's circuit, is not enough, the Japanese Grand Prix has found itself to be the championship decider event on no fewer than ten occasions. There have been so many spectacular races at Suzuka that it is difficult to recall any that wasn't. It is that good. Suzuka is almost a metaphor for Japan itself. Having been humiliated by defeat in the Second World War (and no one takes humiliation with greater difficulty than a member of the proud Japanese race), the Japanese set about conquering the world with technological innovation. Suzuka demonstrates this more charmingly than could ever have been dreamed about by its designers.

Despite all of this, infuriatingly and inexplicably, the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix will be the last to be held at Suzuka, the world's only figure-of-eight circuit. The circuit does not fail to draw the crowds (not by any measure), it is technically up to all of the modern requirements set by the FIA, all the drivers love driving round it and the fans love being there. So what in the name of anything sacred are the FIA playing at? How can they justify taking the Japanese Grand Prix away from Suzuka? Well, to my mind at least, they can't. This smacks of the murky world of money politics that has dominated Formula One for way too long. Suzuka is owned by Honda and Fuji, the track to which the Japanese Grand Prix will migrate next year, belongs to Toyota. It looks to me as though Toyota dug more deeply into its coffers than Honda. Fuji has its merits as a circuit but it is no Suzuka. From next year, Formula One will be a good deal poorer as a consequence of this woefully bad decision. Shame on the FIA.

Enough of the moaning. It is still 2006 and we are going to Suzuka this weekend. We do so at a time when the world championship is at a knife-edge. Rarely have we seen a championship pendulum swing so dramatically away from a driver and decisively in favour of another. I cannot remember the last time - if ever - a situation like this arose. From a seemingly unbeatable margin of 25 points, Fernando Alonso is now level-pegged with Michael Schumacher at 116 points. It is advantage Schumacher, though, because he has more wins. A win for Schumacher at Suzuka and a retirement for Alonso means it will be world championship number eight for the German. If this happens it will be Schumacher's last and most eloquent championship victory.

All of this is rattling Alonso remarkably. When I watched his composure on his way to winning the title in 2005, I often felt like reaching out for Miles Davis's classic "Birth of the Cool". If I was interviewed on American television about Alonso at the time, I would have donned my darkest shades, nodded slowly and in my huskiest possible voice said "the guy hangs loose, man; he's one cool cat." Fast forward to October 2006. Now, I would probably pull off the shades irritably, purse my lips and yell "that stupid kid needs a good spanking!" What a difference a year makes. Losing to Schumacher in Shanghai so upset Alonso that he went berserk. This week he gave interviews to the Spanish media blaming everybody but himself for his failure to win in Shanghai (conveniently forgetting that salvaging second place in a fractious, incident-packed race, was a significant achievement in itself). According to Alonso there is some sort of conspiracy against him at Renault. He is convinced that the team do not want him to "take car number 1 to their rivals, McLaren, next season". To do this they are prepared to do anything to sabotage his chances of winning the title this year. Thus, the sticky wheel nut that cost him precious seconds in the pits in Shanghai was deliberate; the overtaking manoeuvre performed on him by his team-mate in Shanghai was done so as to "block" him ("In the same situation I don't believe that Massa would have driven past Schumacher," said Alonso); and more mischief lies ahead.

Why on earth is Alonso behaving like this at this crucial time? Why oh why would anyone make this kind of noise now when he desperately needs his team to cooperate if he is to win the next two races? Why antagonise everybody now when there is absolutely nothing to be gained by it? Surely he could have waited until the end of the season and then slagged off Renault for all he was worth - after all he is leaving them for an arch rival (Flavio Briatore and Ron Dennis hate each others guts). This is not the way world champions are meant to behave. Champions aren't whingers. They keep their opinions to themselves and never bad-mouth fellow drivers. The ease of last year's title victory and the commanding start to 2006 went to the youngster's head. He began to think of himself as a superstar worthy of nothing but the most doting attention. Michael Schumacher has never made that mistake. It is why he is still the hardest working driver in Formula One.

Let us deal with Alonso's arguments. Do Renault not want Alonso to win the title? That has got to be pure balderdash. What's in it for Renault? The more points Alonso scores the better it is for the constructors' championship and the crucial financial and psychological advantages winning it provides.

Was Alonso sabotaged in the pits in Shangai? Bollocks! Mistakes happen in pit-lanes all the time. We have seen more dramatic things happening in pit-lanes without the drivers involved crying foul. Did Michael Schumacher accuse Ferrari of sabotage when his car caught fire in the pit lane during refuelling a couple of year's ago? Did Kimi Raikkonen claim that there were deliberate moves against him when he exited the pits and promptly spun out with suspension failure last season? Of course not. Incidents happen - that's motor racing.

Did Fisichella try to block Alonso? The suggestion that Fisichella's manoeuvre was inappropriate is just plain daft. If he hadn't done it, Schumacher would have overtaken them both - Alonso simply did not have the speed at that point. In the same situation Massa would have been ordered to overtake Schumacher so as to protect him from Alonso - which is exactly what Fisichella was doing. Fisichella's later attempt at resisting being overtaken by Schumacher shows that he was not in any way seeking to assist Ferrari. In typical Schumacher style, the German saw a slight opportunity and grabbed it with both hands - even if it meant putting his wheels on the grass to achieve it.

Are Renault determined to prevent No 1 going to McLaren? Well, this is just stupid. Renault cannot have car No 1 next season - it is impossible - so this cannot be an issue for them. If they win the constructors’ championship – even if Schumacher becomes champion – they will have Nos 3 and 4. That’s pretty damn good if you ask me!

A word about the all-important No 1. It is true that Fernando Alonso would take No 1 to a new team if he won the championship. This has happened relatively few times. In 1987 Nelson Piquet won the title with Williams and took it with him to Lotus. Alain Prost did the same when he moved to Ferrari from McLaren in 1990. Similarly, Michael Schumacher took No1 from Benetton to Ferrari after winning in 1995 and Damon Hill matched this by taking No1 from Williams to Arrows after winning it for Williams in 1996. What is more interesting is what would happen to the number if Schumacher won the title. Since it is such a coveted number, if the world champion is not racing in any season, the tradition has been that the number lapses. Accordingly, as a consequence of Alain Prost retiring from Williams as world champion at the end of 1993, Damon Hill drove for the whole of the 1994 season in car number 0. I fully expect the same for Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari next season. If this happens, the best Alonso can hope to achieve is car No 5 (a massive climb-down from No 1, you will, doubtless, agree!). I have set out my thoughts for next year's line-up at the bottom of this posting.

As you can see, I am firmly in the camp that believes Schumacher is going to win the title this year. It may not be the end I had hoped for but after a championship as exhilarating as this one has been and a drive as astoundingly brilliant as Schumacher's last weekend in Shanghai, I believe it to be a fitting one.

The great thing about Suzuka is that one knows it is going to be a good race (who will ever forget Raikkonen's daredevil performance from seventeenth to first last year?). Stock up on some Kirin or Asahi and make the most of the last outing at a sterling circuit for, without a doubt, I am sure you will,

Enjoy Suzuka!

Gitau
5 October 2006

The 2007 Line-up

0
Raikkonen K
Ferrari
2
Massa F
Ferrari
3
Fisichella G
Renault
4
Kovalainen H
Renault
5
Alonso F
McLaren
6
Hamilton L/De La Rosa P
McLaren
7
Button J
Honda
8
Barrichello R
Honda
9
Heidfeld N
BMW
10
Kubica R
BMW
11
Schumacher R
Toyota
12
Trulli J
Toyota
14
Coulthard D
Red Bull
15
Webber M
Red Bull
16
Rosberg N
Williams
17
Wurz A
Williams
18
Liuzzi V
Toro Rosso
19
Speed S
Toro Rosso
20
Klien C/Monteiro T
Spyker
21
Albers C
Spyker
22
Sato T
Super Aguri
23
Yamamoto S/Davidson A
Super Aguri