Has age made Michael Schumacher faint of heart?
It’s a fact that as people grow, so do their fears. If a kid slips and falls, he may whine a little bit, but then he’s up and at ‘em in no time. If an elderly person takes a spill, he’s looking at a hip replacement and a colostomy bag to throw at his grandchildren
who snicker at him beyond the range of his hearing aid.
And if we apply this truism to the context of F1, then Michael Schumacher’s performance at his last race in Abu Dhabi on Sunday November 14, is truly worrisome.
At this final Grand Prix of the 2011 season, early on in the competition as Schumacher led the pack, we caught a brief glimpse of him returning to his old form. Then, disaster struck.
The seven-time champion ended up spinning to a halt. It was at this point that Vitantonio Liuzzi of the Force India team rode up the front of the Mercedes and narrowly missed Schumacher’s head by a few inches.
“It was even scarier from inside [the cockpit],” said the rattled Schumacher. “Obviously with me turned around I am like a ramp for the guys to just drive up on me.”
Schumacher who “was on the outside and trying to defend [his] position”, admits the incident was entirely his own doing. "For a moment I thought there was some contact involved, but I guess it was my fault.” Fortunately, he was saved thanks to the professionalism
and lightning-fast reflexes of the other drivers.
Schumacher has endured a difficult season. Coming out of retirement in 2010 to join the Mercedes GP team, the racing legend’s performance has left many people wondering if he’s becoming the d**k Clark of the F1.
However, it may be a little presumptuous to write Schumacher off after only a few missteps. Holding many of the Formula’s driving records, including race victories, fastest laps, points scored, and most races won in a single season, Schumacher is one of
the greatest drivers the sport has ever known.
Often referred to as “The Red Baron” after the German World War I fighter ace, Schumacher's ability to produce fast laps at crucial moments in a race, pushing his car to its very limits, is the stuff of F1 legend.
While understandably shaken after his near fatal crash on the Yas Marina circuit, Schumacher was pleased that the incident left him no worse for wear.
"As for me, I am totally fine and was not hit by anything," he said. "I had to go to the medical centre just for a precautionary check. I went off the line, spun and because of the dirt there, the back of the car just came around."
While regretting that he didn’t round out the season with a more impressive result in Abu Dhabi, Schumacher said he was “looking forward to fighting again next year.”
Indeed only the 2011 season will tell if this ageing racing legend still has some proverbial high octane fuel left in the tank. It may also turn out that he’ll be the F1 equivalent of Jessica Tandy in
Driving Miss Daisy.
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