Tuesday, May 30th, 2006
Shoeless Joe Jackson was a phenomenal baseball player for the Chicago White Sox. But he was caught up in the Black Sox Scandal, where he and a few teammates conspired to throw the 1919 World Series. A young fan, seeing his hero Shoeless Joe emerge from the courthouse, gave us the immortal line, “Say it ain’t so, Joe.”
I felt much the same at the conclusion of qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix this past Saturday. Schumacher had just lost control of his car at Rascasse, the second last corner on the famous street circuit, and caused Alonso to have to abandon his final qualifying lap which was looking like it would beat the German to the pole. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I watched the replay and it didn’t look right. Why was he taking such a shallow line into the corner? Why did he look so awkward when he tried to correct the understeer? At that point the ITV announcers had said what many were thinking; did Schumacher do it on purpose to avoid losing the pole position to a faster Alonso?
As it turns out the race Stewards agreed that he had deliberately blocked the track and after 7 hours of deliberation decided to cancel all his qualifying lap times and relegate him to the back of the grid.
Schumacher is no stranger to controversy. In a 15 year career with the success he has had he is bound to have come across some unsavory moments. As a fan I was able to accept those moments of “brain fade” as I marvelled at his talent and determination. I’m not naive and I know he has done some questionable things on the track but for the most part it was very easy to argue those things as racing incidents. I guess in particular I’m talking about Adelaide 94 and Jerez 97. Austria 02 wasn’t his fault and I don’t buy into the various conspiracy rubbish that plague his most voracious detractors. His so called “chops” are by and large racing incidents. The great Senna had a certain aggression on the track which made Schumacher’s chops look like a Sunday league karting incident. No, I’m talking about those two fateful incidents in 94 and 97. I guess I can add 06 to that list.
I think he did deliberately park his car at Rascasse. I think his awkward behaviour at the Press Conference gave away his guilt. The Stewards comments are more damning when you analyze the video.
“It was a painful decision because we could not make a mistake and put the reputation of the driver at risk,” he told Gazzetta dello Sport. “We don’t know for sure if the entire manoeuvre was deliberate, but in that spot he had certainly not done anything like it throughout the weekend. Schumacher braked over 50% more heavily than on the other laps he did. He then performed some absolutely unnecessary and pathetic counter-steering, and that lasted five metres, until there was no more chances of going through the turn normally.”
“He lost control of his car while travelling at only 16km/h. That is something completely unjustifiable. And the engine only shut off because he wanted it to by losing enough time before hitting the clutch. And the excuse that he did not engage reverse because there was traffic doesn’t make sense at all.”
“If he had damaged his Ferrari we would have probably filed the matter as an error,” Verdegay admitted. “We have only applied article 116 of the sporting regulations which says: if a driver affects the results of other drivers by committing an error, you can cancel all of his lap times.”
Is it possible he made mistake? Of course but not likely given all the other evidence and the circumstances under which he alleges he made a mistake. At the very core of this incident it comes down to a driver breaking the rules in the eyes of the Stewards and being punished for it. Case closed. But for myself it made me think of his flawed genius. Damon Hill put it best.
“There are two things that set Michael apart from the rest of the drivers in Formula One - his sheer talent and his attitude.
“I am full of admiration for the former, but the latter leaves me cold.”
His driving skill is without peer. His determination is in the same league or even second to the likes of Senna. Senna, like Schumacher, had his fair share of controversial moments, too many to list here. To be honest every driver has had his moments. They are human and make mistakes and poor judgment. After Saturdays display I can more clearly see the flaws in the genius. Maybe I’m analyzing it too much but I don’t know where this irreverence in Schumacher comes from. Maybe I am naive and if you spend enough time at the top and have enough people tell you your skills are God like then you start believing you’re above the law.
The “crime” has been justly punished. The detractors are having their day in the sun and the fanboys are having a lot to answer for. For myself, at the moment I realized he had parked his car to avoid his rivals from beating him I had a moment where I thought to myself; Say it ain’t so.
Posted in Op-ed, Race Review | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, April 26th, 2006
After almost 18 months (since the Japanese GP 2004) Michael Schumacher finally won a race. I know he won the United States Grand Prix last year but that hardly counts.
The last two seasons have been difficult years for Ferrari as they’ve seen their dominance of Foruma One slide to the point where they struggle to finish races in the top 8. The first races of this season showed an improvement over last years performance but that improvement hasn’t translated to any race wins or dominating performances. But the fourth round brought us into the heart of Tifosi country. Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrai at Imola might not be the home of the national Grand Prix of Italy but there is no mistaking that it is Ferrari’s home race.
Last year Schumacher and Alonso thrilled everyone with a final 12 laps or so which saw Schumacher pressing hard to overtake a slower but determined Alonso. Alonso won that race but this year in a copy of last years excitement, albeit for many more laps, Schumacher was able to hold of Alonso to win the San Marino Grand Prix and give the Tifosi reason to cheer for the first time in a long time. Schumacher looked like he was running away with the race in the first stint. He secured pole position the previous day, breaking Ayrton Senna’s pole record in the process, and got a good start on Sunday to lead Jenson Button through the first few laps. Everything looked good for Ferrari’s fans until the first pit stop. Schumacher was forced to use some worn tires which seemed to be graining and causing him to lap slower and slower until it was obvious that Alonso, in second place at that time, was going to catch him. Well the old saying in F1 is that ‘catching someone is one thing, passing them is another thing entirely’. To the delight of the home town crowd that old saying proved true as Schumacher went on to hold of the charging Alonso through the second stint as well as the third stint which he ran on different tires but with the same slow results. In the closing laps of the race Alonso looked like he didn’t want to settle for second and fought hard. He made a mistake with 3 laps to go which gave Schumacher the breathing room he needed to enjoy his first meaningful win in 18 months as he crossed the finish line.
I don’t usually post race reviews, readers can visit any number of websites to get a race summary but this win was special. Schumacher showed his greatest talent isn’t in driving a car fast, he showed he can win when his car is slower than the guy behind him. He showed amazing racecraft managing those two slow stints without giving up the lead. He didn’t put a wheel wrong and soaked up all the pressure from Alonso without cracking. The most compelling fact is that on his in-lap for his second tire change he put in a lap which was 1.5 seconds faster than the average of his previous 10 laps. Think about that. He was obviously having a problem with his car, he just saw Alonso go into the pits and he decided he needed to get everything he could out of the car so he put in a blistering in-lap just before pitting himself. When he came out of the pits he was still in the lead and the race was his to lose.
I’ve been thinking about that in-lap a lot trying to figure out if he was sandbagging or had some other tactic but none of it makes sense considering that any tactic which puts Fernando Alonso nipping at your heals for 30 laps is a bad tactic. The only conclusion I could draw is that since the first pitstop he sensed he had lost some speed so he decided to just drive fast enough to hold off Alonso and keep something in reserve for when he really needed it - such as an in-lap. I think many other drivers would simply put their left foot down and go as fast as the car would let them but Schumacher’s experience and racecraft gave him the confidence to drive the car at or below its limit knowing that passing at Imola is impossible and he gave himself a chance to win the race when the opportunity presented itself. Basically he pulled of the equivalent of a Formula One rope-a-dope!
Discuss on the message board or make a comment below …
Posted in Op-ed, Race Review | No Comments »
Saturday, March 25th, 2006
Watching Kimi Raikkonen race last year and so far this year it’s hard not to think of the old cliche “if he had no bad luck he’d have no luck at all.” I have to honest that is difficult for me to think a 24 year old millionaire race car driver can be considered to have any bad luck at all but I’m willing to put that aside so I can consider his run of problems as he desperately tries to win the top driving title.
I admit the incident at the first corner in Malaysia last weekend was simply a racing incident but when too many “incidents” start happening to the same guy who have to start wondering if luck is as random as most people think or do people make their own luck? I can’t remember if it was the ITV or Speed TV broadcasting crew who made the comment that Kimi seems to “make his own luck.” Of course this is a veiled dig at the Finn saying somehow it’s his own fault. So let’s look at his failures to finish a race for the last two seasons.
- Australia - stalls on the grid finished 8th
- Malaysia - tire valve failure caused puncture finished 9th
- Bahrain - finished 3rd
- San Marino - drive shaft failure from the lead
- Barcelona - wins
- Monaco - wins
- Europe - flat spotted tire which caused tire failure on last lap from the lead finished 11th
- Canada - wins
- US - no comment
- France - engine penalty for engine failure in practice finished 2nd
- Britain - another engine penalty pushed back him back in the grid and finished 3rd
- Germany - hydraulic failure cases him to stop on the track
- Hungary - wins
- Turkey - wins
- Italy - another engine change and a 4th place finish
- Belgium - wins
- Brazil - with mounting pressure he threw away his second q. run and finished 2nd and Alonso wins WDC
- Japan - wins with a pass on the last lap
- China - finished 2nd
- Bahrain - suspension failure in q. puts him at the back of the grid finished 3rd by shrugging off a heavy fuel load and coming from the back of the grid
- Malaysia - first lap incident puts him out of the race
In 2005 he had 10 fastest laps and 7 wins. There was no doubt he was fast but he or his car were unreliable. Sure he made some mistakes but that run of mechanical problems in July cost him the WDC and the only question remains is if we’ll see the same in 2006. So far it’s not looking good with lots of the “same old same old.”
Posted in Op-ed, Race Review | 2 Comments »
Monday, March 13th, 2006
The podium at the 2006 edition of the Bahrain Grand Prix represented the absolute ideal start to a new season of F1 racing. The old guard is represented by Schumacher and the next generation is clearly defined in terms of Alonso and Raikkonen. The race was fantastic with close wheel to wheel action up and down the grid but it was this supreme podium which renewed the fans excitement for the coming battle this season. The next generation has already got itself a world championship and the dogged presence Raikkonen on the heals of Alonso last year means that F1 fans are going to be treated to a great rivalry between these two drivers. A rivalry which we were denied in the Schumacher era.
Posted in Op-ed, Race Review | No Comments »
