Hello everyone! Michael Schumacher, seven times World Champion, announced yesterday that he will retire from active Formula One driving at the end of 2006. Finally, the era of Schumacher’s hypocrital reign is over and F1 will only benefit from the absence of the German ace on the racetrack. Okay, I have pissed all Germans and Sourray off, but the fact remains that Schumacher has done some unacceptable things in his career and has invited the angst of most F1 fans. Let’s see exactly why Schumacher and his company of close friends at Ferrari(Jean Todt, most notably) have made Formula One their own playground and ruined F1’s spirit.
1. 1994 Championship
Earlier in the year, Ayrton Senna, the greatest F1 driver to have taken to the racetracks, crashed at Imola and died instantly. By season’s end, British driver Damon Hill and M Schumacher were the main contenders for the title. Unusual circumstances meant that Hill could win the championship only if he won the final race. To prevent him from winning the race, Schumacher controversially collided with Hill’s Willams car to ruin his chances of winning. Thus, Schumacher won his first title under severe controversy. He was also accused of using illegal software on his car. The era of Schumacher’s cheating had well and trruly begun- and it would last for over a decade!
2. 1997 Championship
Again, the Champiuonship in 1997 went down to the wire- the contenders this time were J Villeneuve and M Schumacher. Villeneuve was leading Schumacher’s Ferrari and Schumacher was getting frustrated behind the wheel of his car. He tried an almost illegal overtaking manouvre which damaged Villeneuve’s car and took himself out of the race. The incident was so blatantly unjust that the FIA stripped Schumacher of all the points he had scored in the entire season!
*3. 1998 British Grand Prix
*Michael Schumacher was once again in the bad books of the stewards and they asked him to make an extra pit stop(costing him about 20 seconds of race time) in the final laps of the race. Schumacher took the penalty once the race was almost over- a thing that borders on sheer lunacy- and escaped unschathed with a win. Clearly, Schumacher by now believed that he could get away with anything short of murder as the rule book seemed to have gone for a toss when it came to him.
4. 2006 Championship
After a dismal 2005, Schumacher and Co. are back on the title trail in 2006. Schumacher displays why he is regarded as one of the great drivers by winning at Imola in a car that wasn’t the quickest on that day. But what did he do a few weeks later at Monaco? He "accidentally" stalled his car on the narrowest part of the racetrack so that his rivals couldn’t get past him to post a quicker time in qualifying. Schumacher’s justification: he lost control of the car there. Umm.can the German driver please explain how he lost control of a race car at 16 km/hr? Mumbai’s taxi drivers will do a better job in Formula One in that case. Then later, at the recently concluded Italian Grand Prix, Ferrari accuses poor old Fernando Alonso of illegal tactics, costing him 5 positions on the starting grid. When Alonso was asked how he would bid farewell to Schumacher Alonso said, F1 will become actually become a sport after Schumacher’s retirement. Its not only Alonso who is so fired up. Canadian Villeneuve too has declared in public that he hates Schumi’s guts.
Oh, by the way, when Schumacher isn’t busy cheating, he and his team dominate F1(in 2004) so completely that even the most die-hard F1 fans cannot stop yawning. Indeed, what exactly is Schumi’s contribution to the sport? While Senna and Gilles Villeneuve are remembered fondly even today, I believ that in the broad sweep of history, Schumacher will only be remembered for his statistical achievements, not for some breathtaking driving. He will be remembered as the guy who won ninety times, but Senna will be remembered as the bloke who made victory so special. In short, Schumacher has failed to carve his name in the hearts of millions of fans- and I personally, am delighted to see him go. And so are Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso, I presume.
Formula One will turn into a just sport in 2007!
SCHUMACHER"S ACHIEVEMENTS OVER THE YEARS:-
Let’s give him some credit, shall we?
World Championships- 7 (8th one well and truly on the way)
Race Wins- 90
Pole Positions- 70
Race Starts- Almost 250
Weekend Hatricks- 22
Wins at same circuit- 8(Magny Cours, France)
That’s asll there is. Please Rate & Post your comments- and tell me whether you agree with what I have written or no.