Michael Schumacher: Should the seven-time world champion continue? – Formula 1 Special
It is said that if you want to earn respect in your field you must earn it by working hard, Michael Schumacher has proven it by attaining seven world championships in his Formula 1 career.
The German driver’s respect was well proven when Jean-Eric Vergne expressed no anger over the veteran driver after the crash incident at the Singaporean Circuit.
Currently, there are discussions floating in the air related to the future of the German driver. Some people believe that the veteran driver should take a ‘glorious’ retirement now because he is unable to perform impressively while others who love him want
to see him attaining the championship title for one more time.
Schumacher is 43 years old but he still can be counted among the most physically fit drivers of the sport. Formula 1 seems easy as drivers seem to be driving sitting the car but actually it is not, as they have to keep themselves physically fit and control
their nerves on the circuit, keeping themselves cold in the hot area. The cars are capable of achieving massive speeds while the leading drivers try to restrict their followers by attaining favourable areas on the circuit which can result in saving some precious
time.
The German driver has been hinted of some other place in Mercedes if he plans retirement after the current season finishes, but the speculations about his future seems to have affected his driving adversely, if not, then Mercedes is perhaps not capable for
a driver who is mentally faster than the jet engine of his car.
Let us consider some scenarios from the Singaporean Grand Prix which may depict reasons for the retirement of Schumacher in other grands prix as well. It was told, prior to the race, by the race experts that drivers have to be careful with their brakes on
the hard Marina Bay Street Circuit. The warning was issued due to the high temperatures and excessive number of turns on the circuit which may result in early tyre degradation and braking issues as Marina Bay consists of 23 turns.
Pirelli, the tyre providing company had early announced that teams should not achieve excessive speeds as then they would have to apply excessive brakes on the turns which may result in degraded tyres. Schumacher was fighting to finish the Singapore GP with
a 10th position and was not getting ample space to overtake.
Another factor to be noticed is the black dirt sprinkling on the ground when brakes were being applied heavily. One could have easily predicted that brakes could cause a problem for the drivers but perhaps this factor was overlooked by the Mercedes driver.
Excessive braking was a reason, among many others, which lead to brake failure in his car thus resulting in an unfortunate crash.
We are among those who love the veteran driver and would want to see him driving forever and ever but on a realistic note we know that it is not possible as everyone has to leave some day or the other. We are not saying that the uncrowned king should start
planning his retirement from the sport but we saying that he should ignore the speculations about his future which directly or indirectly suggest him to retire because he is unable to perform convincingly and concentrate on his driving until he is a part of
driving.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely of the writer’s and do not reflect bettor.com’s official editorial policy.
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