THE BEST OF MICHAEL SCHUMACHER
Love him, or loathe him, Michael Schumacher is the most decorated Formula One driver of all time. 7 World Championships and 91 victories, almost the equivalent of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna combined. He's qualified on pole positions than anyone else, recorded more fastest laps than anyone else and scored more points than anyone else. Michael Schumacher's Formula One career will draw to a close at the end of the 2012 season after 21 years and 308 Grands Prix. Here are some of his most successful and extraodinary moments.
1991 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
Michael Schumacher's F1 debut came at the Belgian Grand Prix in 1991. Jordan driver, Bertrand Gachot had been jailed for assaulting a London Taxi driver and Eddie Jordan was left searching for a replacement, but he also needed money. Schumacher was an up-and-coming talent in the World Sportscar Championship, but Eddie Jordan's reasoning for selecting Schumacher over Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Karl Wendlinger, along with his friend Stefan Johansson, was that he was the only one who could pay enough money, Schumacher paid $150,000 for his first F1 drive.
Nonetheless, it was criminal to say that Schumacher was merely a a typical 1990's pay driver. After a test session at Silverstone, Schumacher went to Spa and the Belgian Grand Prix, where he qualified an incredible 8th fastest. This became 7th on the grid when Riccardo Patrese was relegated 17th after a gearbox irregularity. Sadly, Schumacher burnt the clutch out at the start and retired on the first lap, but he had already made an impression on the F1 scene.
1992 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
After that sole outing for Jordan, Schumacher was recruited by the Benetton team. In 1992, his first full season of Grand Prix racing, he finished on the podium 8 times and came 3rd in the final standings. At the Belgian Grand Prix, a year after his debut race, Schumacher displayed his amazing talent in the rain and clever tactical thinking. He timed his tyre changes to perfection in the changeable weather conditions on his way to his first career victory. It would prove to be the first of many.
1994 SPANISH GRAND PRIX
1994 saw Schumacher win the first four races, but the fifth round in Spain was the scene of a truly outstanding performance by the German. After leading the race from pole position, a transmission problem left him stuck in fifth gear but he still carried on for the remainder of the race, changing his driving style in the process and even managing to make a pit stop, despite his gearbox problem he managed to leave in fifth gear. Remarkably, his pace was not drastically slower than that of race leader and eventual winner, Damon Hill. Schumacher finished in second place, 24 seconds behind Hill. The German would go on to win the championship by 1 point from Hill in controversial circumstances.
1995 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
In 1995, Schumacher's rivalry with Damon Hill continued. But it was the German who once again came out on top. At the Belgian Grand Prix, Schumacher started a lowly 16th but quickly rose up through the field, by lap 16 he was leading as he had not yet made a pit stop. He stayed out on the track depsite a rain shower and although he was lapping slower than Damon Hill he was able to keep him behind, until a mistake let the Englishman through. Then the weather changed in favour of slicks again and Schumacher regained the lead. A well timed pit stop when the rain returned meant that Schumacher stayed at the front and he took a sensational win.
1996 SPANISH GRAND PRIX
Schumacher joined Ferrari in 1996. The car was not Ferrari's greatest ever, but Schumacher still managed three victories. His first arrived at the seventh race of the season, the Spanish Grand Prix. Torrential rain failed to hamper the German, who after a poor start from third fought his way back up to the lead by lap 13 and dominated proceedings from there. It was a prime example of why he carried the nickname of "The Rainmaster". He won by over 45 seconds from Jean Alesi's Benetton and Jacques Villeneuve's Williams.
1997 MONACO GRAND PRIX
The arrival of Ross Brawn in 1997 saw Ferrari challenge for the World Championship. Ferrari were not quite as quick as Williams, but Schumacher used his talent to fight Jacques Villeneuve for the title. The German's first win of the year came at Monaco, not for the first time in his career he produced a stunning display in wet weather. Running an intermediate set up, Schumacher took the lead at the start and had a 6 second lead after just 1 lap. He extended his lead to 15 seconds at the end of lap 3 and then to a phenomenal 22 seconds by the end of lap 5! He won by over 50 seconds from Rubens Barrichello's Stewart in 2nd and his Ferrari team mate Eddie Irvine 3rd.
1998 HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX
However, he quickly redeemed himself with some brilliant drives and once again challenged for the championship, even though his Ferrari was still not the quickest car on the grid. At Hungary, a track where the two McLaren's were feared to be unbeatable, Schumacher and Ross Brawn's tactical collaboration reigned supreme. The German pitted early on a 3-stop strategy, but then produced a succession of fastest laps to leap frog the McLaren's who were running a more conventional 2-stopper. A gearbox problem for championship leader, Mika Hakkinen in the closing stages allowed Schumacher to close the gap further in the standings after the German notched up his fifth win of the season, and without a doubt one of his most memorable.
1999 MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX
At Silverstone in 1999, Schumacher broke his leg in a crash and was out for the following six races. His championship battle was over.
Schumacer returned at the Malaysian Grand Prix and was stunning in qualifying, taking pole position nearly a second from his team mate Eddie Irvine. He would have to play second-fiddle to Irvine in the race as the Ulsterman was in the running for the championship. Irvine said after the race "Michael basically did all the hard work for me. Not only is he the best number one, he's also the best number two". In reality, Schumacher did not want Irvine to win the championship, his ambition when he joined Ferrari was to bring the drivers title back to Maranello, he would not have liked Irvine to do so.
2000 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX
After coming so close in 1997 and 1998, and being the victim of a cruel twist of fate in 1999. Michael Schumacher finally became the first Ferrari driver to win the drivers title since Jody Scheckter in 1979. The Japanese Grand Prix witnessed an incredibly tense duel between the German and the reigning World Champion, Mika Hakkinen. Some incredibly rapid laps before his final pit stop, and the flawless Ferrari pit crew helped Schumacher to beat Hakkinen on his way to victory and his third world title.
2001, 2002, 2003 & 2004 CHAMPIONSHIPS
From the 2001 Australian Grand Prix to 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher had won 39 races, qualified on pole position 31 times, finished on the podium in 54 races and scored 508 points. He had four successive World Championships, taking his total to 7. In 2002, he finished every race of the season on the podium and clinched the championship with six races of the season still to go. In 2004, he won 13 races in a season. For most, the dominance of Schumacher and Ferrari was boring, but for the fanatical tifosi, they loved every minute of it.
2006 BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX
The 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix was Michael Schumacher's final Formula One race until his comeback in 2010. A fuel pickup problem in qualifying meant he started 10th and a puncture early in the race dropped him to last. But thereafter he drove the race of his life, carving his way through the field and setting the fastest lap he clawed his way back up to fourth position at the finish. It was performance that summed up his career up to that point.
No comments:
Post a Comment