Michael doing his famous victory leap
The world of Grand Prix F1 has been entertained and enthralled by some fantastic driving on the part of Michael Schumacher ever since his first win in 1992. The racing world has always been split on whether to like him or despise him for his victories.
I remember going to Cricket Club to watch the F1 races. The majority of my friends and the rest of the crowd turning up to watch the races weren’t in favor for him either. With the exception of the German’s present of course!
This could be in part because he wins too often, and some think there is no real competition in F1 anymore. I don’t entirely believe in that. There is lots of talent on the track these days. The younger blood given newer and equal cars are proving to be quite a match for ol’ schumi boy. It’s my belief that most of the animosity stems from his reputation as being a dirty driver. After all from the very start, his career has been smeared with accusations and investigations into his ruthless tactics while on the track.
At the end of the day facts are facts. So let’s look at the facts a little shall we? Schumi boy, liked or non-liked holds many Formula One records, including those for most drivers’ championships, race victories, fastest laps, pole positions, and most races won in a single season. Schumacher is the only German to have won the drivers’ championship. He is also the world’s first billionaire athlete, tens of millions of which he has donated to humanitarian causes, such as tsunami and earthquake relief.
With that being said, I think this is a good time for him to retire. Whether this is his decision or that of Ferrari; it’s always good to go when the going is good. This will be his last season as a F1 racer and will be replaced by Kimi Räikkönen.
I’ll end this post with a quote from his wife. This reminds us all that no matter what we exel in life in and what we or others think of us, we are still human, and at the end of the day – a person.
Machael’s wife Corinna: “For you he is a legend, for me he is a husband“
Crazy how someone can become a billionaire just from driving a car around in circles. I’ll just add that to my “the world is fucked up and here is why” list.
It’s the end of an era. Love him or loathe him, Michael definitely had something more than his peers. The ability to pull that extra few tenths of a second out of the car when it was most needed, the ability to set lap after lap with almost identical lap times, the ability to strategise and adapt whilst driving a race car at over 200km/h.
The glory years for me, were the late 90s, after he joined Ferrari. 97-99, when the car wasn’t the best in the field, but he still managed to challenge for the championship up to the very last race, were fantastic. After 2000 Ferrari had the best car and in the hands of the best driver no-one else had a chance, which made it a bit boring.
I myself am glad to say that I saw him race twice. I didn’t like some of the things he did, but I’ll never forget those special races where he turned the strategy on its head, set some scorching lap times, and came out in front.
A master, consummate in his chosen art. Why shouldn’t he get paid millions? He was the best of his time. He was the Michael Jordan, the Tiger Woods of his sport. I think he deserved every penny. Sportsmen are, after all, entertainers, and he kept hundreds of thousands of people entertained for many many years.
Motorsport is harder than any other sport – can you think of another sport where you have to concentrate for 90 minutes with virtually no time to relax?
Yes thats very true. You need to have immence concentration for this sport. Not to mention very nimble fingers. Imagine the constant gear changing that you have to do… Crazy.