|
Articles by Darren Galpin
| Arrivederci – Seal It With A Win - Sun 10th Sep 2006 |
|
There was only really one topic of interest at the Grand Prix this weekend – was Michael Schumacher going to retire? He wouldn’t let it slip until after the race, which he won. And with Fernando Alonso dropping out due to an engine failure, things are looking nicely set up for Schumacher to sign off his career with yet another World Championship.
The only other drivers who were in with a look in for the race were Kimi Räikkönen, who was only ever a couple of seconds behind after the first set of pit-stops, and an inspired Robert Kubica. The BMW team were particularly on the pace this weekend, with Heidfeld making third on the grid, but even so, Kubica’s race was particularly special. It was only his third event, and he managed to overtake his team-mate around the outside of turn 2, before leading the race for six laps when those in front of him pitted. This put his qualifying pace into perspective, as he had had more fuel on board than all of those in front of him, and he also showed exceptional maturity in withstanding the attentions of Felipe Massa until Massa shot his bolt by flat-spotting his tyres under braking into the first chicane. This was also the second race in succession that he finished ahead of his team-mate – perhaps Mario Thiessen (head of BMW Sauber) regrets his decision to sign Heidfeld for two years and being forced to drop Jacques Villeneuve. Villeneuve generally had the better of Heidfeld, and Kubica easily does so, but Heidfeld has the contract for 2007. Expect 2007 to be the final year in F1 for Heidfeld.
But for 2007 we won’t have Michael Schumacher for the first time in 16 years, so there will be no clear benchmark for the others to compete against. He is the driver who has by far won the most championship races and world championships, but is he the best ever?
Let’s consider the team-mates which Schumacher has had through the years:
1991 – Andrea de Cesaris (Jordan), Nelson Piquet (Benetton)
1992 – Martin Brundle (Benetton)
1993 – Riccardo Patrese (Benetton)
1994 – Jos Verstappen (Benetton)
1995 – Johnny Herbert (Benetton)
1996-1999 – Eddie Irvine (Ferrari)
2000-2005 – Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari)
2006 – Felipe Massa
None of those drivers were slouches, but none of them were of the top notch either. Piquet was seeing out his time in F1, possibly racing for a few years too many. Martin Brundle wasn’t completely outraced, as he beat Michael on more than one occasion, but he too was no longer a fresh faced driver. The same could be said of Riccardo Patrese – another competent driver, but one who was coming to the end of his career. Jos Verstappen was an inexperienced novice driver who was easily dealt with, and Johnny Herbert was another in the Martin Brundle mould. As for Eddie Irvine, Rubens Barrichello and Felipe Massa, all were contractually obliged to play second fiddle to Michael’s needs, ceding position when necessary, and only receiving Michael’s cast-offs. Not once has he really faced a team-mate of comparable ability against which to judge him. That he is good is undoubtable, but he has never gone head to head like Prost and Senna, or Prost and Mansell. Consider the fact that when Michael Schumacher broke his leg and was replaced by Mika Salo, Salo had to give up his maiden win at Hockenheim to Eddie Irvine, who in turn easily outpaced Barrichello at Jordan. Barrichello had his days at Ferrari, yet has been outpaced for most of this season by Jenson Button. The racing world has lost out by not seeing him race against Räikkönen next year, the first time that he would have faced a team-mate of near equal ability. Does this highlight some kind of inner doubt about his ultimate ability? Probably not – it is more to do with a ruthless desire to have everything focussed on him.
However good he made be, and he is certainly one of the best there has ever been, his career will always be coloured by his standard of driving, and by the numerous “incidents” in which he has been involved. There are four in particular which highlight the dichotomy in his character:
1) Adelaide 1994, where he collided with Damon Hill.
2) Jerez 1997, where he drove into Jacques Villeneuve
3) Spa 2000, where he hit Mika Häkkinen’s wing at 180 mph
4) Silverstone 2003, where he put Alonso onto the grass at 180 mph
The first two are the more famous incidents, both of which affected the outcome of the World Championship. In the first, Schumacher “closed the door” on Damon Hill despite knowing that he had a broken car, thus putting both out. In the second, Schumacher deliberately turned in on Villeneuve and drove into him to knock him off the circuit, this time failing. If he had got the benefit of the doubt in the first incident, the second one removed the doubt for most. It was one of the most singularly crass moves of all time.
The other two incidents are of lower profile, but have potentially had even more of an effect on the sport, as they have indirectly helped to rewrite the rule book. Whereas before you could place your car in the way, you weren’t allowed to weave or block outright. Now though you have the infamous “one move” rule, where you are allowed to move once to block an opponent. Thus Schumacher could make one move at Silverstone in 2003, where he kept moving right so that Alonso had to go onto the grass to avoid contact at 180 mph, or where he moved over on the approach to Les Combes at Spa, hitting Häkkinen’s wing. Such manoeuvres were deemed legal by the FIA, and so have to be allowed in the junior formulae as well, as there can’t be one rule for F1 and one rule for the rest when it comes to driving standards. Thus behaviour on track got worse, a trend started by Ayrton Senna, but accelerated and taken to more of an extreme by Michael Schumacher.
Then there are the more frequent smaller transgressions, such as at Hungary where he cut a chicane and kept position, and all that happens is that the FIA issue a “clarification” saying that such behaviour was acceptable. But he is so good that he doesn’t really need to do this at all – it simply demeans the ability that he has. Consider also the following: to achieve his seven world titles (and potentially eight), Schumacher has raced in F1 for 16 years, during which two people have lost their lives – Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger. When Juan Manuel Fangio won his five F1 titles, he raced for 9 years, in which time Alberto Ascari, Jean Behra, Raymond Sommer, Peter Collins and Luigi Musso, F1 drivers all, were all killed. In 1950, there were only 7 races (including the Indy 500, at which most European based drivers didn’t compete) in the World Championship, whereas this year there are 18. Schumacher has won by far more races, yet he also has by far the most opportunity. Fangio only competed in 51 World Championship races, against 232 for Michael Schumacher up to the end of 2005. Fangio won 24 of his races, against 84 (again, up to the end of 2005) for Schumacher. Fangio also had drivers of the calibre of Stirling Moss as his team-mate.
So is Michael Schumacher the best ever? No, I don’t think so. The best of his generation beyond doubt, but he has never faced the consistent challenge of more than one other top line driver at the same time. Prost won his titles against the likes of Piquet, Mansell, Senna and Lauda. Fangio competed against Farina, Ascari and Moss. Schumacher only really ever faced one contender in any given year. And the others didn’t need to cheat either. There are lies, damned lies, and statistics. By most statistics (but not all – Fangio’s win rate was 47%, compared to Schumacher’s 36%) Schumacher is the best driver ever. Yet he is also the most contentious champion ever. History will judge him to be a flawed genius.
|
|
Other great sites
Search
|
