Talking Point: Schumacher's retirement.

When Michael Schumacher crossed the unblemished chequered flag at Imola, the sanctum sanctorum of Ferrari, it was celebration time for the omnipresent Tifosi. But for Michael himself, the question of retirement must have loomed larger than the victory itself.

As the Seven-time World Champion ponders over signing a two-year contract with Ferrari, a team he so successfully built around himself, motorsport comes to a standstill. Will HE? or Wont HE? they wonder..

As one reflects, the words of Zinidine Zidane, perhaps the greatest mid-fielder of modern day Football come to mind. He said "I don't think I can improve on anything I've done. Hence, I've decided to retire". And that to him was the deciding factor.

Talking of Michael's achievements, he holds every conceivable record in F1.

• Most number of World Championships (Seven)
• Most number of race wins (Eighty-six)
• Most consequtive race wins (Seven)
• Most race wins in a season (Thirteen of Eighteen)
• Most fastest laps in a season (Ten of Eighteen)
• Most podium finishes in a season (Seventeen of Seventeen)
• Most Championship points in a season (148 out of a possible 180)
• Most number of pole positions (Sixty-six from two-thirty-six races)

and the list continues...

Talking of the intangibles, one can't forget the slight German who first forayed into F1 in a Jordan car on a cold morning in Belgium, after having promised Eddie Jordan that he knew the Spa track, complete with its notorious Eau Rouge curve, like the back of his hand. In reality, Michael had only been around the track once, and that too on a borrowed bicycle. Michael went on to qualify seventh, shocking the greats, and was signed on by Flavio Briatore for as early as the next race. The rest, as they say, is history.

Buried in the brains are images of a jubliant Schumacher holding the trophy high for the first time at Spa in 1992, and of the emergance of a new King at Australia in 1994. The epic battles with Hakkinen reminded us so much of the Prost-Senna jousts, and will go down in history as one of the greatest. And ofcourse, there were black moments, like the '95 Hill controversy, where Schumacher allegedly pushed Hill off the track to take the championship, the Austria 2002 debacle where Barrichello was forced to let Schumacher win the race, and the disqualification from the World Championship after Schumacher attempted to push Villeneuve off the track at the season finale.

Going back to Zidane's ideology,

Is there room for further improvement?

Talking about it, Schumacher's decline in form might be attributed more to Ferrari's failure to deliver a winning machine than to Schumacher himself. No matter how great the driver, he can only be as good as his machine allows him to be. One could simply put down the argument that we could never know if Schumacher is still as good as he was a couple of years back until Ferrari delivers a powerful machine. On the other hand, we did witness races like Imola 2005, where a ressurgent Schumacher chased Alonso all the way to the chequered flag. Some call it one of his greatest drives, considering his limited resources. But perhaps there is another story. The Schumacher of the young would have spotted those milli-meter wide gaps that Alonso left as he snaked around Imola. The chase would have been won, as it had been won on numerous occasions in the late 1990's with Hakkinen, simply by taking that extra bit of risk. Perhaps the slowdown has started...

Now the logical bifurcation in the road has come, and Schumacher would have to decide. Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo has hinted that he would not be interested in anything lesser than a two year commitment. The ball is in Michael's court now.

Michael, being himself, could go for the gamble and challenge the new order, thereby improving what he has done before. Afterall, how can one forget Nigel Mansell's emotional World Championship in 1992, aged 39? But ofcourse, one has to remember that Mansell had no world championships before 1992, and hence had nothing to lose and everything to gain. But for Schumacher, the situation is quit the opposite.

Is it worth the gamble?

HE is back.

Apologies (to the few who read my F1 reviews) for the late post...

Come Imola and the only words on everybody's lips are : 'Ferrari','Tifosi','Schum' .... and 'Ayrton'. Eleven years on, the legend lives. Tamburello is perhaps the most well known chicane in modern day Formula One racing, simply because in those haunting 1.8 seconds in the year 1994, a racer died and a legend was born.

Ayrton Senna.

This might sound like the incessant jabber of a mad Senna fan, but guess it all has relevance. Ayrton Senna, over a decade ago, set the record for pole positions at 65 from 161 races. This weekend, almost eleven years since the great racer passed away, Schumacher, widely considered Senna's successor, broke that record, getting his 66th pole in his 236th race. It is indeed ironic that the German great should take his 66th pole on the very track where Ayrton took his last pole position, the very track where he lost his life so tragically.

Long live Ayrton the amazing.

The Grid:

Michael the Magnificient, Jensen the Joker, Barrichello the Bewildered, Felipe the fu*ked, Fernando the Formidable, Ralf the baffled, Kimi the Killer and Montoya the marauding. As for the rest, I'll mention them as and when the tickle the clocks.

Come raceday, it would be interesting to watch a couple of drivers. First up, can Jensen Button come of age, winning his first GP? Unlikely, considering that a hundred thousand and one tifosi would be out to get his a*s, the last one being Michael Schumacher. And ofcourse, lets not mention the Bridgestone tyres and their inability to retain heat.

Felipe. With qualifying, it was pretty evident that Felipe had been reinstated as the resident scape-goat at Maranello. Felipe's got big challenges. He isn't very good at car-control which means that the Villeneuve-Tamburello complexes are going to have fun with him. And Felipe has also got to keep Renault (a.k.a Alonso) in check, thus helping Michael take his eighty-fifth career win. Maybe he needs to learn the 'Make Mike win' tips from Mr.Barrichello.

The McLarens clearly haven't shown the pace that they did in 2005 at this point in the season, but one cannot write them off. Toyota seem to be improving by the hour, and with two people within the top ten, they look good to challenge the McLarens. Williams have Webber at P10, but will the Cosworth stay-put all race long? Only time will tell.

Schumacher, as expected, got off to a clean start and so did Jensen Button. However, Barrichello could not hold on to his position, and Massa and Alonso shot past him. However, the race was stopped after Yuji Ide nudged Albers, making him barrel into the gravel. Perhaps Ide's last race, considering that Montagny has been signed on as Super Aguri's third driver.

A couple of safety laps ensued, followed by another incident. The usually sobre Trulli had hit Liuzzi. It later became evident that Trulli's Toyota had steering problems. Liuzzi continued on inspite of being hit, but Trulli retired shortly after.

The first set of splash 'n' dash affairs ensued, with Barrichello and Button pitting on laps 11 and 12. Clearly, the Honda's have been sand-bagging, running on much lighter fuel-loads compared to the Renault's and the Ferrari's.

Michael set some scorching laps before plunging into the pits on lap 20. It was then Alonso's turn to capitalize on the empty tarmac before him, as he set the tracks ablaze before pitting eventually on lap 25.

Come lap 27, it appeared that Schumacher and Massa were both facing tyre problems. For Schumacher, that meant that Alonso would soon be hounding him.

On Lap 30, there was some action in the pits as lollipop man Alistair Gibson gave Button the all-clear way too early. The Brit pulled off the pits with the fuel-rig still attached to his machine. Clearly, bad luck for Jensie, but too bad, he's now got a reason for race number 105 (or 106, who cares) without a win.

It was now a race to the finish with Alonso chasing Michael in much the same way that the German did a year back at the same venue. Alonso pitted on lap 42 and Michael on lap 43. From then on, the two cars ran as one, as spectators could not differentiate the red blur from the blue-yellow one.

The final few laps saw Alonso back off, as the wise Spaniard noticed brake-dust coming off his rear wheels. The Renault has always been a bit harsh on its rear-tyres, and Imola being the 'brake-buster' track, wasn't going to make things easier.

With the Tifosi blowing their trumpets, a jubliant Schumacher cleared the chequred flag, punching the air with the same enthusiasm as he did fourteen seasons ago. Surely, Michael isn't going to retire this season?
As for the others, they hardly need a mantion. Montoya, to my utter amazement, was third, and Massa drove well to come in fourth. Raikkonen, Webber, Button and Fissichella were the others to tickle the scoreboard.

The next three races are way too close for comfort, and one should lookout for Team Maranello(a.k.a Schumacher) and Team Woking(a.k.a Raikkonen) to come out in full force and challenge Alonso.
Going by the statisitcs, my bet is still on Alonso, but Schumacher being Schumacher may still rattle the young Spaniard.

Over to the European Grand Prix at Nurburgring.

Snapshot of Nurburgring 2005.

Alonso wins at Oz

In a race where the safety car completed more laps than some regular drivers did, Alonso kept his nerve to come home first, and the man who can keep Alonso at bay, Kimi Raikkonen, bounced back after a dissapointing show at Sepang to come in second. Schumacher (Ralf, for a change) came in third, followed by quick Nick. Fisichella, whose weekend in Australia was nothing like the one he had at this venue last year came in fifth, with Villeneuve coming in sixth to give BMW valuable points for the Constructor's championships. Barrichello was lucky to come seventh despite his dismal driving, and Coulthard took eighth, after a 25-second penalty was imposed post race on Scott Speed for ignoring the yellow flags. Overall, an incident filled race, thanks to the track that was as slippery as an eel.

To talk the race driver by driver, Alonso was clearly a class apart.He showed that the Renault's package was still leagues ahead of the rest. His race pace was amazing, infact amazing enough to keep the freakishly fast Finn at bay. In their battle, Alonso and Raikkonen posted 31 of the 33 fastest laps, each trying to gun down the other, oblivious of the 'traffic' on the circuit. Their respective partners did not have a good day, with Juan Pablo Montoya being silly enough to spin his car on the parading lap (yes, parading lap!), and Fisichella stalling his car after the first parading lap. Montoya then did what he does best, which is disobeying the flags. He overtook Button on the yellows, and perhaps would have got the same penalty as Speed had it not been for the last-corner goofup. Montoya alleged that the car had shut itself down!

Button the talkative, who was looking to win his maiden grand prix from the third pole position of his career had a bad sunday. Despite fending off super-starter Alonso on lap 1, he couldn't hold on to the lead after the safety car pulled off the first time around. Clearly, the Honda's tyres were at fault, for it looked like Alonso overtook a near-stationery and cold Button. A re-enactment took place a couple of laps later, only this time it was Raikkonen who overtook Button for second spot. A spectacular blow-up of his engine just meters before the finish line meant that he would finish tenth instead of fifth. And a blown engine would also mean that the best he could qualify at Imola would be eleveth. The other Honda driver Barrichello still could not find his groove with Honda, and after an amazingly poor qualifying managed to tumble into seventh, after a record number of drivers pulled out owing to a myriad of reasons. Clearly, Barrichello does not have the pace, and he would be in big trouble if he can't fit himself into the Brackley-made car soon enough.

Schumacher had an anonymous race until lap 25, after which, for a brief period of time he did show us why he was considered one of the best drivers ever to grace a formula one cockpit. But as luck would have had it, the German pushed his machine a bit too far, running wide into the last corner, and ending up in the barriers. With Schumacher displaying such driving prowess, and Todt promising a whole new package for Imola, I still wouldn't count Ferrari out of plucking a race or two from the Renault's and the McLaren's.

Toyota did reasonably well, and something that's a lot closer to the budget they are spending. Ralf came in third, inspite of having done nothing dramatic. Trulli didn't even have a race, after he, Rosberg and Massa came together on lap 1.

BMW had a field day, with both their drivers landing in the points. Mario's blue-eyed boy, Nick, came in fourth, and Villeneuve, who started ninteenth, thanks to the silly engine rule, came in sixth, proving that he still had it in him to race. A good show by the French-Canadian, and I hope he can carry this form into the European leg.

As for Redbull, Coulthard gained the solitary point despite driving poorly, thanks to an aggressive Scott Speed who incurred a 25-second penalty because of disobeying the flags. Klein, on the other hand, made a silly error very early in the race, braking too hard on a bump and ending up in the barriers, strewing enough debris on the track to bring out the safety car.

The Super Aguri team continues to impress, with Sato coming in twelveth. Though only Ide was behind him, Sato did show us how fast he really could be. After running well, he left some of the more experienced and respectable drivers in his dirt-trail. Surely, Sato might spring some surprises with the SA06, due to be released mid-season.

The Toro Rosso did impress too, for otherwise the Taxi team (read: Midland) wouldn't cry foul and ask for the Masechitz's B-team to be excluded from the WCC points ratings. The junior Red Bulls are indeed trying to match their elder brothers.

Overall, an incident filled race, one where Alonso stamped his authority yet again, proving to the crowds that Renault was still the best team and he was still the driver to beat.

A 3-week hiatus, as the Formula One juggernaut rolls on to more the traditional pastures of Europe. Come Imola, and I would forever be reminded of the man who continues to rule the hearts of F1 fans all over the world, twelve years after his death at this very track. Long live Ayrton Senna da Silva.

I yearn that Imola 2006 would be as interesting as the 2005 edition, where a ressurgent Michael Schumacher chased the crown Prince Alonso to the very finish. I would expect a strong performance from Ferrari, who should, hopefully, mount a challenge to the supremacy of the Renault's and the McLaren's.

The Tifosi shall holler at Imola!