Monday, October 23, 2006

Schumacher’s Last Dance

It’s still hard to believe the day has finally arrived… Alas, all racing drivers must eventually retire. (Or slide into mediocrity) Although Michael Schumacher has had a season filled with some very strange mistakes, Michael has also scored 7 wins. Can it really be 15 years ago that I watched Michael make his sensational Grand Prix debut for Privateer Eddie Jordan at Spa-Francorchamps…?
As the sport’s “elder statesman” at the age of 37, Michael still seems hugely motivated to achieve victory and secure further World Championships. Was he forced to retire by the arrival of Kimi Raikkonen? As with Ferrari’s recent engine failure, we’ll never know the answer…
Unfortunately with one race to go Michael’s bid for a record 8th World Championship seems to have been extinguished with his devastating engine failure in Japan…
It appears that Fernando Alonso is poised to become Formula One’s youngest two times World Champion at age 25. All Fernando must do is finish in the points. An 8th place finish or better will do the trick. Michael must win the race with Fernando finishing 9th or worse…
Michael definitely needs some assistance to clinch the title in his final Grand Prix, look for Michael to simply dominate…Will Fernando’s Renault engine falter? Or even better go “KABLAMOE!” Highly unlikely... Will Fernando’s right rear tire nut fall off again? NO! Renault has fired the mechanic who’d had two occurrences of this… Therefore wouldn’t it be ironic if Michael’s “little” brother “Ralfie” nudged Fernando out of a points scoring position…
Unfortunately, it was Michael’s turn for shenanigans as he made a typically brilliant pass of Giancarlo Fisichella. Giancarlo earned his pay by slicing his front nose end plate against Michael’s rear tire… This incident forced Michael to pit for new tires, dropping to 18th place. Yet Michael showed why he’s won seven titles by fighting his way back to the front of the field. Michael snagged his 76th fastest race lap on route to a superb 4th place finish, passing his replacement Kimi Raikkonen with four laps remaining…