I form a part of the club of unabashed Michael Schumacher supporters. Somehow, ever since 1994 when I first began watching Formula 1 races, this sportsman has stood apart. Back then, at my place, my parents thought F1 racing was a dull affair, with cars merely going n number of times around the same track “in circles”. Watching a full race – taking up 2 hours on the common television – was a feat I had first accomplished in 1995, during the Spanish GP. Subjecting my mother to the agony of the circulating cars, I watched with fascination how Schumacher, in his Benetton, was stuck in 5th gear through a large portion of the race. The consequences of being stuck in 5th (at that time F1 cars had 6 gears) is that the engine revs are very low in the slower sections of the race – giving less speed – and the car can never achieve its top speed because it doesn’t utilize the 6th gear. In short, major handicaps in a fast-paced race like Spain.
With amazing skill, he stayed the charging Mika Hakkinen (even then driving for McLaren, which bore the old red-white colour scheme), who was closing in on him like a cheetah stalks an injured impala. Fortuitously for Michael, he could hold on till the end and Mika wouldn’t have gotten past even if his engine had not blown on the penultimate lap. The Michael-Mika rivalry probably took off from here and reached epic proportions during their classic duels in ’98, ’99 and 2000.
One of the spellbinding moments of F1, by my reckoning, was at the 2000 Belgian GP (Spa Francorchamps = fron-ko-shon). The scene was almost identical – Michael was leading Mika by a slim margin, Mika had the faster car (’98, ’99 and 2000 were the years when McLaren were ruling the roost with the speed of their Mercedes Benz engines) and there were just a few laps to go. Michael, having negotiated the Eau Rouge corner, entered Kemmel straight (more than a kilometre long and with a steady incline) and had the back-marker Ricardo Zonta (BAR team) ahead of him. Hakkinen was closing in with every passing yard. Zonta, much slower than his two pursuers, was slightly to the right of the road. Michael tucked in behind him to benefit from the slip-stream effect*. Mika tucked in behind Schumacher to also benefit from his slip-stream. As Michael passed Zonta, he exited the slip-stream but Hakkinen continued to remain in it, this time, Zonta's slip-stream. That extra benefit pulled his McLaren an extra bit more than Michael and he gained the position from Michael and went on to win the race. Though heartbreaking for a Schumacher fan, this overtaking move ranks amongst the top ones for its sheer intensity.
The picture on the left shows the Spa-Francorchamps track of Belgium, notice the twisted Eau Rouge corner leading to the long (and inclined) Kemmel straight. The picture to the right shows the orange car of Zonta, the red car of Schumacher and the grey car of Hakkinen. Hakkinen benefits from the slip-stream effect following Zonta and emerges ahead of Michael even though he was earlier behind him. The video below shows, in the first half, how Hakkinen tried an overtaking move on just the previous lap at the same spot but was brilliantly defended by Schumacher, and in the latter half, the move that's being described here. Amazing driver's-eye-view of the situation!
Michael’s probably endured the most number of rivals in F1! Ever since he started making a mark, he was rubbing shoulders with the greats – Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. Next was the Brit Damon Hill (McLaren), followed by another McLaren driver Mika Hakkinen. In 1997 occurred the controversial Jacques Villeneuve-collision episode which won him a lot of flak and eventually the championship went right down to the last race at Suzuka, Japan where the Canadian took the honours. After 1997 the Hakkinen rivalry came to the fore once again, as Villeneuve faded away. With the retirement of Hakkinen and McLaren hiring another flying Finn, Kimi Raikkonen, the German’s McLaren rivalry continued. The entry of the swashbuckling Juan-Pablo Montoya (for Williams) promised to be yet another contest to watch out for. The latest amongst the contenders for Michael’s place has been Spaniard Fernando Alonso, the current world champion. He’s climbed up the ranks at a breakneck pace indeed!
One may recall a certain Alex Yoong, the only Malaysian to have ever competed in Formula 1, who resurfaces every now and then to give race info etc. He was actually the 19-year old Fernando Alonso's teammate in their debut 2001 season. Alonso's talents, though not covered on television due to his lowly standing - in the Minardi team, were being heeded elsewhere in the F1 world. He quickly found favour with Flavio Briatore, the head honcho of the Renault team (Renault took over the same Benetton that Schumacher won his first championships with), and was hired subsequently. The rest, as they say, is history.
Now, if you are wondering how all this seemingly irrelevant history is relevant to the title, read further.
In the late 90s, when the Benetton team was well and truly in the doldrums, Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) and Alexander Wurz (Austria) used to drive for them. The team went racing purely from the point of view of getting their machinery tested in the real circumstances. Their hardware at the time was so far behind the front runners that they couldn’t hope to compete in the same league. Invariably, they would end up languishing amongst the Minardis and Arrows. Fisichella, understandably tired of wasting his talent, sought a move out and joined Sauber Petronas. His former team was taken over by the engine manufacturer – Renault and that is when the tide changed for the team. They were amongst the points and slowly, but surely, threatening to reach the top.
With the recruitment of Alonso in 2003, they started their march towards realizing their dream of championship glory in both categories – the drivers’ as well as the constructors’ titles. In 2006, Giancarlo Fisichella has returned to the team that he has played a major (albeit silent) role in developing. 2005 was Renault’s season – partly because of the precocious brilliance of Alonso and partly because of the Ferrari machinery letting them down.
Today Giancarlo Fisichella (who considers himself the best driver in the business after Michael Schumacher) won the Malaysian Grand Prix, and the Inno di Mameli (Italian National Anthem, composed by the poet Goffredo Mameli) played in Formula 1 after almost an eternity. At one time, when Ferrari and Michael Schumacher were routing the opposition, winning a record 13 races in 2004, many people thought that the Italian and the German anthems are the usual musical pieces played at the end of every race!
It was refreshing to hear that forgotten piece of music once again. Thanks, Fisi for winning that race!
* Slip-stream effect: When a formula-1 car is at high speed, it creates a partial vacuum immediately behind it because the air it displaces due to its motion takes a split-second to fill back up. If another car is following very close, it gets sucked into this partial vacuum, thus going faster than the car ahead. This effect explains the way cars are overtaken on long straights.
With amazing skill, he stayed the charging Mika Hakkinen (even then driving for McLaren, which bore the old red-white colour scheme), who was closing in on him like a cheetah stalks an injured impala. Fortuitously for Michael, he could hold on till the end and Mika wouldn’t have gotten past even if his engine had not blown on the penultimate lap. The Michael-Mika rivalry probably took off from here and reached epic proportions during their classic duels in ’98, ’99 and 2000.
One of the spellbinding moments of F1, by my reckoning, was at the 2000 Belgian GP (Spa Francorchamps = fron-ko-shon). The scene was almost identical – Michael was leading Mika by a slim margin, Mika had the faster car (’98, ’99 and 2000 were the years when McLaren were ruling the roost with the speed of their Mercedes Benz engines) and there were just a few laps to go. Michael, having negotiated the Eau Rouge corner, entered Kemmel straight (more than a kilometre long and with a steady incline) and had the back-marker Ricardo Zonta (BAR team) ahead of him. Hakkinen was closing in with every passing yard. Zonta, much slower than his two pursuers, was slightly to the right of the road. Michael tucked in behind him to benefit from the slip-stream effect*. Mika tucked in behind Schumacher to also benefit from his slip-stream. As Michael passed Zonta, he exited the slip-stream but Hakkinen continued to remain in it, this time, Zonta's slip-stream. That extra benefit pulled his McLaren an extra bit more than Michael and he gained the position from Michael and went on to win the race. Though heartbreaking for a Schumacher fan, this overtaking move ranks amongst the top ones for its sheer intensity.
The picture on the left shows the Spa-Francorchamps track of Belgium, notice the twisted Eau Rouge corner leading to the long (and inclined) Kemmel straight. The picture to the right shows the orange car of Zonta, the red car of Schumacher and the grey car of Hakkinen. Hakkinen benefits from the slip-stream effect following Zonta and emerges ahead of Michael even though he was earlier behind him. The video below shows, in the first half, how Hakkinen tried an overtaking move on just the previous lap at the same spot but was brilliantly defended by Schumacher, and in the latter half, the move that's being described here. Amazing driver's-eye-view of the situation!
 |  |
Michael’s probably endured the most number of rivals in F1! Ever since he started making a mark, he was rubbing shoulders with the greats – Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. Next was the Brit Damon Hill (McLaren), followed by another McLaren driver Mika Hakkinen. In 1997 occurred the controversial Jacques Villeneuve-collision episode which won him a lot of flak and eventually the championship went right down to the last race at Suzuka, Japan where the Canadian took the honours. After 1997 the Hakkinen rivalry came to the fore once again, as Villeneuve faded away. With the retirement of Hakkinen and McLaren hiring another flying Finn, Kimi Raikkonen, the German’s McLaren rivalry continued. The entry of the swashbuckling Juan-Pablo Montoya (for Williams) promised to be yet another contest to watch out for. The latest amongst the contenders for Michael’s place has been Spaniard Fernando Alonso, the current world champion. He’s climbed up the ranks at a breakneck pace indeed!
One may recall a certain Alex Yoong, the only Malaysian to have ever competed in Formula 1, who resurfaces every now and then to give race info etc. He was actually the 19-year old Fernando Alonso's teammate in their debut 2001 season. Alonso's talents, though not covered on television due to his lowly standing - in the Minardi team, were being heeded elsewhere in the F1 world. He quickly found favour with Flavio Briatore, the head honcho of the Renault team (Renault took over the same Benetton that Schumacher won his first championships with), and was hired subsequently. The rest, as they say, is history.
Now, if you are wondering how all this seemingly irrelevant history is relevant to the title, read further.
In the late 90s, when the Benetton team was well and truly in the doldrums, Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) and Alexander Wurz (Austria) used to drive for them. The team went racing purely from the point of view of getting their machinery tested in the real circumstances. Their hardware at the time was so far behind the front runners that they couldn’t hope to compete in the same league. Invariably, they would end up languishing amongst the Minardis and Arrows. Fisichella, understandably tired of wasting his talent, sought a move out and joined Sauber Petronas. His former team was taken over by the engine manufacturer – Renault and that is when the tide changed for the team. They were amongst the points and slowly, but surely, threatening to reach the top.
With the recruitment of Alonso in 2003, they started their march towards realizing their dream of championship glory in both categories – the drivers’ as well as the constructors’ titles. In 2006, Giancarlo Fisichella has returned to the team that he has played a major (albeit silent) role in developing. 2005 was Renault’s season – partly because of the precocious brilliance of Alonso and partly because of the Ferrari machinery letting them down.
Today Giancarlo Fisichella (who considers himself the best driver in the business after Michael Schumacher) won the Malaysian Grand Prix, and the Inno di Mameli (Italian National Anthem, composed by the poet Goffredo Mameli) played in Formula 1 after almost an eternity. At one time, when Ferrari and Michael Schumacher were routing the opposition, winning a record 13 races in 2004, many people thought that the Italian and the German anthems are the usual musical pieces played at the end of every race!
It was refreshing to hear that forgotten piece of music once again. Thanks, Fisi for winning that race!
* Slip-stream effect: When a formula-1 car is at high speed, it creates a partial vacuum immediately behind it because the air it displaces due to its motion takes a split-second to fill back up. If another car is following very close, it gets sucked into this partial vacuum, thus going faster than the car ahead. This effect explains the way cars are overtaken on long straights.
9 comments:
m not a race fan actually. I can't keep a 'track' of it..
this blog is really well written. your passion for the sport shines through... as does you craze for trivial detail (who would know about the composer of italy's national anthem?!) and your description of the 2000 mika-michael nail-biting finish doesn't need any explanatory diagram, one can easily picture it. makes a F1 novice like me want to learn and enjoy the technical details of the sport...
The detail about the composer reduces the total obscurity of the name of the Italian anthem. And the name simply appeared on the website where I found the 'name' of the Italian anthem. I knew neither of the two names beforehand! :-)
Hey jus read ur stem cell article. I never looked at the ethical issues u'v mentioned so intently before. But i personally support the use of 'unused' embryos as a 'by-product' of IVF for extracting stem cells. Because if I may extralpolate your argument to pre-conceptional stage, and u cannot call conception as the point where life is created cuz its created from cells that r living to begin with, then every sperm and ovum should have a right to continue living and not die. U may say it happens as a course of nature. But its an abstract thought, if u could, would u save every cell from dying?
Balance is all that nature requires.If embryos r created in labs in excess, they can be stopped from becoming babies too.
And what abt the couple who wants only one healthy child? All the extra and not-so-healthy embryos cannot be implanted in their lives.
They cant b compared with livin breathin orphans or even fetuses. Female fetecide is condemned more because of the imbalance it creates in sex-ratio.
Lets not imagine too much.An embryo is actually a bunch of cells, so r we, but it cannot feel.It doesn't even have the instruments to.
As long as we don't hurt someone physically or sentimentally; hurt, referring to the capacity to acknowledge physical or emotional pain by a will, a consciousness; its absolutely cool to harvest totipotent cells to even improve someone's QOL.
F1? Doh! - I'm illiterate on that sport. I hold similar agony as that of your mom when it comes to watching circulating cars for 2 hours.
Hey in 2001 Monoco, It was Enrique Bernoldi in his Arrows who held up Coulthard for 18 laps on position 22, later got fired by Ron Dennis..
Indeed, Neo! You're right :)
I have substituted the dubious line with another that compliments the current world champion.
i too am a big furher fan . and im sure ul rate 2005 imola - msc's move on but . and even though i dont like alo , he did a stunning take on msc at suzuka 2005 - around 130 r. which also for me was the race of the season with rai hounding fis ,chopping off a second every lap for eight - nine laps and then overtaking him in the last lap .
happy to see msc has found his touch with a 'magnyficient' win yesterday
awesome article! Did follow Schumi - Hill in 94 to an extent (more through magazines than TV), but recall Schumi waiting at the corner after crashing in Japan, to hear that Hill crashed. Restarted following it after meeting someone with an interest in it (viz. - you) around 1998/99. The greatest race I've seen was the European Grand Prix of 1999(?), when Jonny Herbert of Stewart Ford won it. Brilliant qualifying and even more stunning race, simply for the number of times and the manner in which the lead changed amongst so many. Missed THAT Belgian Grand Prix of 1998 (?) with the spectacular 1st corner crash. Also missed Schumi punching DC later on :D. Now you know why he has a square jaw!
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