And Formula One just got more Interesting!

By Adwait at 25 December, 2009, 12:36 am

There are certain sports figures that you associate with various sports around the globe. To name a few examples, cricket in India is synonymous with Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar, the world of golf can be summarized with Tiger Woods (well let’s assume I wrote this a month ago). Now we have LeBron James on top of every basketball fan’s list, when it comes to the pool, nobody can forget how Phelp-istan won 8 golds in the Beijing Olympics; everyone recently saw Roger Federer’s brand new white jacket launched by Nike with the 15 printed at the back in golden and also it is hard to forget the likes of Pele, Maradonna and Yohann Cryuff in the football world.

When it comes to the world of motor sport - Formula One, unarguably there is one name which automatically, unconsciously pops up into your head. Michael Schumacher, the German driver who created a cult of fans, who shout ‘Schumacher, Schumacher’ every time they see a speeding car on the road will be delighted and ecstatic, now that the Guru of F1 has decided to come out of a retirement which lasted three years and has confirmed his presence in the coming season in which he will be racing for, the Mercedes team In the 2010 season.

Now 40, (born 3rd Jan 1969), he is a seven time Formula One world Champion. His Career started in ‘91 and ended in ‘06, where he lost to Renault’s Fernando Alonso in a close finish to the season. Schumacher has amassed a total of 91 wins from the 249 starts in his driving career. He has made it to the podium 154 times, which is an impressive 62% of his career races, which most drivers simply dream of. He began his career in ‘91 at the Belgian Grand Prix with his first team Benetton. His first win also came at the Belgian Grand Prix, but he celebrated his best year in the ‘92 season. After winning two Championships with Benetton, Schumacher moved to the Italian giants Ferrari. This is where he cemented his place at the apex, as one of F1’s most impressive drivers.

Once at Ferrari, Michael was simply superb, He not only was the only German to win the F1 Championship but after his arrival at Ferrari, he went on to whitewash Formula One, giving the other drivers absolutely no chance of winning.

Schumacher turned F1 upside down. The sport had gained popularity simply because of the German driver. He created and set new records in the sport which still have remained untouched. Schumacher boasts of holding the records for the maximum drivers’ points, maximum drivers’ championships, race victories fastest pole positions and total points won in a single season. His most noticeable and famous achievement was in the 2002 season. The German at the peak of his career, made sure that he would end up on the podium after every race, a feat he achieved in the ‘02 season.

Schumacher finally ended his illustrious career in ‘06 after losing the championship to Renault driver, Spain’s Fernando Alonso. Thus retiring as the sports greatest driver, he soon became an adviser to Ferrari.

There was speculation this year, as one of the Ferrari drivers, Brazil’s Felipe Massa, was injured during a crash, that Schumacher would be his replacement, but due to a neck injury the veteran picked up during a superbike test earlier in the year, he had to pass the opportunity. So amidst the rumors, the Schumacher fans dreamt hard to see their favourite driver back in the circuit, but it wasn’t to be. But this dream, only 6 months later was granted, as Michael Schumacher signed a brand new £20million, three-year deal with Mercedes GP. This bought a smile to every possible Schumacher and Formula One fan all around the world.

So teaming up with upcoming German talent, Nico Rosberg at Mercedes GP, there is certainly something very interesting to look forward to in the upcoming Formula One season. I say, even if you’re not a fan, start watching it, because you never know, Schumi could have been practising all this while!

I’ll leave you with what Mr. Schumacher had to say about his return -
“I have no doubt about my ability. My old hunger for racing is back. For me, the imagination to be back in an F1 car and to compete for the world championship is exciting and extremely inspiring. I think the duels on the race track will be electrifying!”

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