About two months ago, 7-time world champion Michael Schumacher celebrated his 42nd birthday. Not quite a pensioner yet, but already ancient in terms of world-class athletes of practically any sport. Especially motor racing, where youthful reflexes and gusto are always necessary to produce stunning lap times needed in the game. Case in point is the mantle of youngest ever world champion being passed over 3 times in the last 6 seasons, first to Fernando Alonso (24 in 2005), then to Lewis Hamilton (23 years & 10 months in 2008), and again last year to Sebastian Vettel (23 years and 4 months). Seems like there is no room in the sport for someone who is old enough to be Vettel’s father.
When Schumacher was announced as Mercedes GP’s driver for 2010, hopes were high on not only both sides of the camp, but in fans and detractors even. He was still considered by everyone to be on top of the game when he retired at the end of 2006, and even in retirement, Schuey kept himself in decent shape. Other than the neck injury caused by a motorbike accident, there were little concerns about Schumacher’s comeback being a letdown. Michael, was, after all, the epitome of a fit & trim race car driver in his prime, and is known as someone who will never give up. Schuey also has been known as a very calculating person, and he surely would not place himself in an embarrassing situation.
But, boy, everyone was in for a surprise. No one, not even his biggest critic, would have expected Schumacher to struggle like he did for most of the year. After a decent start, and then a couple of strong races mid season in Spain, Monaco, and Turkey, Schuey regressed as he struggled to come to terms with the new Bridgestone tires that seem to be lacking in front end grip, something his driving style does not prefer. Though as the season closed, in the last couple of races, Schumacher’s relative pace was much improved, still it was unusual to see the multiple World Champion struggle. In his younger days, Michael was known as someone who could quickly adjust to any car in any situation, but 2010 proved that those days have long gone. Even his most die-hard fan would have to admit it was an unsatisfactory season for the 91-time Grand Prix winner.
Most would now blame age as the primary reason for Schumacher’s disappointing 2010. However, some people may point out that 5-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio won his 5th and last title at the age of 46, in 1957. But the field wasn’t as competitive back then, as Fangio was competing with even older men. A lot of his contemporaries were also in their 40s, some even in their 50s! In his first year at Alfa Romeo in 1950, Fangio was actually the youngest of the teams’ 3 works drivers, at 39 years old. World Champion Giuseppe Farina was 4 years older (43), while third driver Luigi Fagioli was 52! Other later Fangio teammates like pre-war star Hermann Lang, Karl Kling, and Louis Chiron were also older than the Argentinean. Only a few noteworthy drivers were someone you can consider as young like today’s top drivers – Englishmen Mike Hawthorn, Peter Collins, and Stirling Moss, were all in their 20s back then. And it’s not just their age. Some of Fangio’s opponents had physique more akin to a sumo wrestler than a race car driver (of today). His friend and countryman Jose Froilan Gonzalez, known as the Pampas Bull, was so fat, was once quoted as saying, in the late 1960s, “In my day, the drivers were fat, and the tires were skinny”. 1952-53 World Champion Alberto Ascari had a pudgy physique he was known as “chubby” in Italian. And it’s not just they are fat. American Masten Gregory, with those thick-framed glasses he used even while driving at the races, looked more like a cast of the 1980s hit movie Revenge of the Nerds than the 1960s film Grand Prix. In contrast, Schumacher will not be only competing against youngsters like Vettel, Hamilton, Rosberg, Kubica (if he weren’t injured), Alguersuari, Buemi, etc (all under 26), but also against relatively young veterans like Alonso, Felipe Massa, and Jenson Button, all still under 32 with at least 9 years F1 experience. And Mark Webber, the next oldest grand prix driver after Schumacher, Barrichello, and Trulli, at 34, is known for his extreme fitness regimen, much like Michael was in his prime.
After a rather disappointing comeback season in 2010, Schumacher has modest hopes for this season. Other than age, there is the wear and tear that has accumulated as Schuey has been racing since the early 1970s, at the age of 4. Michael has always been known as someone who will never give up and never back down from a challenge, but everything comes to an end. Other greats in different sports like boxer Muhammad Ali, and basketball star Michael Jordan, all seem to have the same problem of not knowing when to give up. But more often than not it was a case of the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Ali was a pathetic sight in his last 2 fights, against Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick. While Jordan was still good enough to make the all-star team in his 2 years as a Washington Wizard, he was clearly a shadow of his former self, and (then) young guns like Kobe Bryant ran rings around the hoop legend.
When Pirelli replaced Bridgestone as Formula One’s tire supplier for 2011, the hopes of Schumacher and his fans were raised up a bit as Michael has expressed a “cautious optimism” (his own words) on the Italian tire’s front end grip. Initial tests in Spain showed considerable progress, as Schuey topped the time sheets at one of the testing dates recently. Though more often than not testing times are not really a gauge of the car and driver’s true race pace, it was an encouraging sign for the German great. If Michael wins a race this season he will be the oldest Grand Prix winner in 41 years – Jack Brabham was 44 when he scored his final victory in 1970, just a year after Schumacher was born. If, against all odds, Schumacher wins the WDC, he will be the oldest champ since Fangio. That would be some amazing accomplishment, something even his most ardent critic would surely salute. Throughout his career, Michael has proven to be someone who would prove his doubters wrong, and he would surely do everything he can to do it one more time. In a few months time we will know the answer to all of this. When it happens, count it as a big boost for the 40-something crowd.
No comments:
Post a Comment