E-Paper
Eyes on the track
Formula One has produced more than its fair share of shocks already this season but Wednesday's announced comeback by Michael Schumacher surely takes top billing.
Formula One has produced more than its fair share of shocks already this season but Wednesday's announced comeback by Michael Schumacher surely takes top billing. The German F1 legend, who will join Mercedes GP in 2010, retired in 2006 as a multiple drivers’ world champion.
A man of achievements and unequalled statistical records, he was dogged by controversy fuelled by his most unforgiving critics. Schumacher was 37 when he hung up his racing helmet having competed in 249 F1 GPs, 180 of them for Ferrari.
He won 91 races, 71 for Ferrari, took 68 pole positions, 58 for Ferrari, and set 75 fastest laps on his way to seven
drivers’ world titles, including five for the scarlet scuderia.
He retired having just fallen short of Italian Ricardo Patrese's record of lining up in 256 races.
The man from the flatlands of Kerpen in Germany was a Teutonic machine, a human delivery system of speed and points and glory in a sport unused to such high standards of regularity, human reliability and sheer professionalism.
Nobody trained like Schumacher. Nobody was as fit as Schumacher. Nobody raced as hard as Schumacher. Nobody won like him. Nobody worked on and on and on like he did.
Tributes poured in after he had announced his retirement.
Some were warm and loving, some were barbed and tinged with envy and some reflected a failure to understand that F1 was
bringing down the curtain on the greatest and most complete driver ever to have raced.
Among his critics were 1997 champion Jacques Villeneuve who claimed he was a flawed champion, a man whose records did not justify a reputation of being the greatest of all time.
Too many controversial incidents punctuated his time at the top, too many accidents, incidents and allegations of wrong-doing, including rumours that in 1994 and 1995 when he won his first titles with Benetton, that the team had an unfair advantage. But his admirers spoke only of his virtuoso racing. As a result, his legacy was one of magnificent achievements but with a reputation that divided the paddock.
I feel ready: Schumi
“Three years of absence gave back all the energy that I'm feeling right now,” Schumacher said. “I feel ready for some serious stuff. I still feel absolutely on the edge.” He will partner Nico Rosberg in an all-German team for the 2010 season, said.
Schumacher had planned a comeback with Ferrari but had to abandon due to a neck injury.
Former champions Damon Hill, Schumacher's leading rival in the mid 1990s, and Nigel Mansell have both said that age will be no impediment. His return will allow 2008 champ Lewis Hamilton, who entered the sport after Schumi, to measure himself against F1's most successful driver. He has worked as a consultant for Ferrari, but the team has said that is not a binding agreement.
