Ok, I will give you a hint. I am talking about the Brazilian Grand Prix. Yeah, the final Formula one race of the 2006 season.
And now I am sure, you know who I am talking about and who turned out to be the most unfortunate dude for the last couple of races, just when it required him to be fortunate. It just required him to have some amount of luck, which is exactly what he lacked. Yes, you guessed it right- Michael Schumacher. He is the topic for my today's posting.
Just when it seemed that fortune was favoring Schumi when Alonso's engine blew up in Italy, this time it was Schumi's turn-a Ferrari engine blowing up after nearly 6 years and this was in the Japanese Grand Prix! And the Brazilian Grand Prix was even more painful. Starting with 10th on the grid after a fuel feed problem in the qualifying, he was still looking very determined. He came up to 6th place by the 5th lap or so before trying to overtake Fisichella and in the process ran his tyres over some piece of debris left on the track by a previous car. How unlucky this guy was! However, Ferrari worked up a cool strategy and fueled his car when he came in for a tyre replacement. And when Schumi went back on track, he was the last- the 18th. And his team mate, the Brazilian, the home hero- Felipe Massa was happily leading the race from the front.
And from the 18th on the grid, he probably drove the race of his life. His recovery drive from last to 4th place was mind-blowingly brilliant! There were classic overtakings and some of them towards the end were the best I have ever seen. An amazing last drive. If you watched the race, you would have loved that last overtaking- Schumi overtaking Kimi wheel to wheel. Just making Kimi (who will drive Ferrari next season) a part of a wonderful overtaking. And Schumi was up in 4th place. What else could this guy do? He took every advantage of driving that car, a car that he has driven for 11 years!! Yes, he has been with Ferrari since 1996. He showed what someone could do with that type of a car. No, not that anyone could drive that car so well. Only he could have driven the way he did!
Schumi finally signed off his glorious 16-year long career, probably not quite the way he would have wished. He might not have retired as a world champion in his last race. But 7 world titles to his name and all records that could be possibly made in a formula one career, what more could he have asked for?
"He" knows and the world knows that he is LEGEND. And the world will probably not see a professional racer like him. No, not even Alonso, not even Kimi. They cant even get close to him.
Obviously an emotional seven-time world champion said he was proud to have spent 11 years with Ferrari – the longest any driver has remained at any one team.
He spoke thus:
"My racing career comes to an end. Obviously, it is a special moment for me and I am proud to have lived my career with some fantastic people, namely everyone who is part of the Ferrari family. There is so much I could say about them, but it is difficult to find the right words".
For any of you die-hard Schumi fans, I am sure you know this site- you can find quite a lot of snaps here and here.
And who cares even if fortune doesnt favor you on a particular day. It doesnt change the opinion that the world has on you. A legend will remain a legend and no fortune can change that.
The Formula one world will miss Schumi. However, we look forward to seeing him get involved with Formula one and Ferrari- a team that he loves working with- in one way or the other in future. I am sure he will!
3 comments:
i don't think it was all to do with luck, on some days some drivers are just better....
Well, the best driver on the day was Schumi or in other words, the best car was Ferrari. Anyways..
hai Nanditha..nice one...well schumi was really awesome at brazil..
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