Montreal 2010 - An earnest call for the real Schumi to return

The five lights illuminated, and the cars began to zoom past. Previously, Michael Schumacher who had vowed the world till 2006, ended up qualifying a dismal 13th! I felt first that the whole race would be a writeoff from Schumi's perspective. But them within the first ten laps, suddenly out of nowhere, the leaderboard said MSC 3rd! For a second, my heart skipped a beat. Could we be seeing a repeat of MSC at Montreal 2004 where he came charging up from 6th to win the race? After a powerful performance at Istanbul a couple of weeks back, where Michael came fourth, I was cautiously hopeful. (Pic cortesy The Age).

And then he pitted. I wondered why. Why spoil something that was going fine? But given that Ross Brawn and Michael have had many a winning partnerships till 2006, I said, let's watch. And the the guy who'd made it to 3rd from 13th, began slipping back. And back he slipped, so bad, that he was actually stuck behind any and every available back marker! Well, never mind, he who can climb 10 places in 10 laps can do it again, right? But then came the tiff with Robert Kubica. Over the grass, on the track, wheel to wheel, as close as it can be. The result, a place alright, but at the cost of a punctured front tire. Bad luck indeed. And so, off to the pits again, and after that, while everyone perhaps pitted twice, MSC pitted thrice, and so consistently lost track position. Till the end.

Post the race, people commented left, right and center. People said that maybe returning from retirement was not such a good idea. That maybe staying put as 7 time world champion was good. Even Flavio Briatore, wrote him off, saying that he had been away too long to be able to get back into the groove. But if you think about it, that cannot be the case. It takes tremendous drive to charge from 13th to 3rd. It takes even greater motivation to fight for a position like he did with Kubica. It takes tremendous courage to fight it out on track with kids 20 years younger. And it takes a champion to put one's body through that g force, through that heat, and constant stress to be out on a race track. A punctured tire is bad luck. And at Montreal, where everything depended on how best one nurtured his tires, the day just went bad. Besides, who will you blame for machinery, that could not provide sufficient straight line speed to hold on to a position and protect it from a Torro Rosso or a Force India??? It's a Mercedes at the end of the day!!! And it is totally unlike MSC to give up a position, without being totally helpless!

Well, whatever the case may be, psychologically, it is definitely very very difficult for a champion of Michael's stature to go through demeaning losses like Montreal. I can somehow see a repeat of the Michael days of 1998 and 1999 with Ferrari. Anyone can almost sense the angst that he might have felt, where being close to the championship, Michael broke his leg at Silverstone in 1999. But a 3 year contract is a long time. And a killer instinct doesn't disappear in 3 years! So even if he doesn't win the championship, I am sure that the learning he can provide to the Merc team is worth millions. He turned around Ferrari by 2000, and I, just like the million other Schumi fans across the world, who still wave that scarlet flag with Michael's face on it believe that one year of teething troubles later, 2011 will be a year to watch out for!

Bad Michael time!

A bad Michael day. It looks like all possible sport misfortunes have come bundled up together. First Michael Schumacher. Now Michael Ballack. Two sportsmen I truly respect.

I felt Michael added a dash of fun to an otherwise dull and drab business-as-usual Monaco Grand Prix. Technically race control said - 'Safety car in this lap'. Usually that means that the safety car would be pulled in in that lap. Besides, there were green flags waving which implied people would race to the finish line. It is true that overtaking behind a safety car is not allowed. But the race engineers in the pit garage were seeing the goings on and they got their information from race control. So how could that be all wrong? And we're speaking of Ross Brawn for God's sake. A man who built the man and the machine combination - Michael at Ferrari. He could not have gotten it all wrong! And, a penalty should be commensurate with the error. The lines were murky and overtaking behind a safety car is disallowed because it can lead to damage to man and machine! But here, the road was clear, the lights were out, the green flags were waving and it was an itsy bitsy overtaking manoeuvre. It could not have hurt anyone. The penalty - 20 seconds meaning, 12th position, meaning all points lost. Last time when Lewis Hamilton raced Vettel in the pits, that was dangerous. It could have knocked both cars out, and hurt the pit crew! The penalty - a stern warning. Now that according to me is unfair. Everyone in the sport should really be treated equally - be he an F1 legend or a rookie! Fine, if Michael was violating article 1.2.4. whatever, he perhaps needs a penalty. But commensurate with the crime committed.

And now the second Michael. I remember the Euro cup final where despite a bleeding brow Ballack came out to play for his team. He is a great captain indeed, responsible for getting Germany all the way up to the Euro 2008 finals! Pity the day didn't work out his way when the team lost to Spain. He is also a guy chosen by no one but Pele as one of the 100 greatest players of all time! With hardly a few weeks to go before the World Cup in South Africa, what has happened to him is terrible! Knocked out by injury sustained in an FA cup final. Well, Chelsea won the EPL and the FA cup. But at what price? And the injury was caused by a tackle in response to a slap! Again, let's have some equanimity here please! Ballack slapped Boateng. Wrong. Ok. But the tackle that resulted in such a bad injury was certainly not a commensurate rejoinder! A slap will tingle for a few minutes, the hurt ego will perhaps tingle a bit longer. But that's all. It can't stop you from playing in a tournament as critical as the World Cup! I sincerely hope that this isn't the end. For I remember how Batistuta cried in the 1998 FIFA World Cup after being knocked out by the Netherlands. For it was his last ever World Cup match. We all also remember the 1994 FIFA World Cup, where Roberto Baggio's penalty shot went over the cross bar handing over the championship victory to Brazil. FIFA World Cup matches that happen once in 4 years are too precious to let go of. And certainly not in such a painful way as in the case of Ballack.

All in all a terrible time for all Michael fans. Hope this is it, though and the happy Michael times come back soon!

Monaco - YAWNNNNN

The Monaco Grand Prix just got done. Of all the F1 races, I somehow don't like the one at Monaco. Simply because there is no action in there. He who wins pole wins race. Period! The records and statistics are testimony enough. It is a street racing track, with ABSOLUTELY 0 overtaking opportunities. Back when refuelling was allowed on track, at least there were some bleak chances of overtaking action. But even there, the pole-sitter would typically build up enough of a gap between himself and the second guy before diving into the pits.

And as expected today, Webber was on pole and Webber won! Pooh! Well, my sentiments used to be the same even when Schumi used to win back in the heydays! And sometimes, when I see the Monaco GP, I kinda realize the boredom non-Schumi fans used to feel between 2000 to 2005 when almost all races and definitely all championships would be won by Michael. BO-O-O-RING. But somehow, the tortuous track, the uphill and downhill nature of the track itself, all contribute to several drivers and some fans liking it. Add to it the fact that it is quite a picturesque track, with hills on one side and the Mediterranean Sea on the other. With the uber riche enjoying the race from their personal yachts on the sea. It is a different experience compared to say a Bahrain or a Montreal GP, for sure.

No post is complete without mention of THE MAN. Last time at Spain, Michael came a cute fourth. I still pine for the day when I'll see him on the top step, or at least on the podium this season. And I keep the faith that that will happen one day. Nevertheless, last time Michael got Nico's car and he proved that he still has it in him to perform. This time, Michael was outqualified by Nico, but he turned the tide in the race. No great shakes, for sure. But Michael provided that itsy bitsy dash of entertainment, by overtaking Alonso at the last corner, just as the Safety car pulled in on the last lap, lap 79. I guess it was the only overtaking manoeuvre in the whole race, and perhaps the only one ever! I am not sure. The move is being investigated, but it still was good to see him making up a place. Although Alonso had a dream race too, rushing from the pits. But no sympathies there for having lost a place. All said and done, Alonso had the penalty for having crashed his car prior to qualifying, right? Nonetheless, it was a boring race with half a dozen crashes, retirements, which also were responsible for catapulting Alonso to sixth.

Now, let's see what Istanbul has in store in two weeks.

Schumi.... COME BACKKKKK

I don't know what hurts more. Not having someone to root for in an F1 race, or root for an all-time favorite who is on a downward spiral. Try as I might, I can't make up my mind. All through 2007, 2008 and 2009, F1 seemed lackluster to me. My love for F1 was fed by a deep infection of Tifosi, and more specifically a Schumacher flavor of the same. Not just was I a huge fan of Ferrari and Schumacher, I loved his driving style, his rags to riches story, his determination, confidence and I could go on and on. And somehow the next crop of F1 drivers were nowhere close to being that good, according to me. We had Hamilton accused of chicanery, Alonso and Kimi notorious for their childish antics and so on. Not that Schumi was the cleanest guy ever, but according to me, his greatness far overshadowed the minor shortcomings.

And then he retired and for me F1 lost its charm. I could no longer search for that number 1 scarlet car and jump for joy as it crossed the chequered flag. I could no longer yell for joy when that same scarlet car would prevail in an overtaking manoeuvre. So for three years, I had absolutely no motivation to watch the races. People told me that I was not being right, since I was rooting for one guy and not the sport. They told me that one man does not make a sport. But for me, he did. He defined my formative F1 years.

And then last year he said that he would come out of retirement and I expected Michael Magic again. I wished for those same Sundays, that same fervor. But somehow, though Michael is back, the Magic is not. Fourth, 10th, failed to complete and 10th again. Hardly becoming of one of the best drivers of F1 history.

And there are several questions that keep swirling within my mind. Like why does a team that won last year's driver's and constructor's championship need 'turnaround'? Surely other teams would not have developed some radically new technology that Ross Brawn doesn't know about! Again, how does Nico's car perform better time after time and Schumi's lets him down always? Like in last week's race at Shanghai, I was appalled to see Michael struggling in an overtaking manoeuvre with Hamilton. It looked like as if there was a rocket engine in a locomotive! A fire raring to go, but the fuel unfortunately missing. So, no. Schumi has not lost the drive. Like in Shanghai, he swung from 9th to 18th to 5th to 10th to 7th and then to 10th again. The slide from 5 to 10 and again from 7 to 10, was owing to a mysteriously underperforming car. At which point, my heart yearns to ask a question - WHY COME BACK TO AN UNDERPERFORMING CAR??? And I also know the answer, that he is perhaps here to make the team strong and truly multiple World Championship winner material. Much like his role at Ferrari that was going title-less from 1979 to 1999, and so narrowly missed a championship victory in 1999 owing to Schumi's accident. And so, I hold hope.

But what hurts me the most is the neglect in the media. Newspapers rarely cover Schumi. Even the sports channels seldom ever pan across to his car, unless he is involved in some wheel-to-wheel racing somewhere, which unfortunately has been missing so far. So, for an ardent fan like me, this season is beautiful, yet painful. I get to see some Schumacher here and there, but no ceremonial jump on the top step. No unending discussion about his sterling driving skills. I guess this is how F1 was before the 1999 era of Schumacher domination. Does that mean 2011 would be much like 2000??? I am ready to wait and watch.

Australian GP 2010 - disappointed

Unlike the happy tone of the post following Bahrain, this one is actually disappointed. I just have a whole bunch of unexplained thoughts.

• Is age actually catching up with Michael?
• If Nico could finish fifth with a Mercedes, why couldn't Michael? Plus Brawn won last year's championship. It can't be that the other cars fitted themselves with Getafix's magic potion, which Merc doesn't have!
• Fine so Nico qualified higher, but MSC was seventh. The least he could do was maintain it.
• It is not a big deal to just scrape into the points, since the only competition back there was from rookies.
• At the end of the first race, the verdict was that there was work to be done, but by the third or fourth race things would begin to get competitive. Really?
• What is with Red Bull? They qualify like a dream, but what's the point if the car blows a race when it really matters? Reminds me of the Renaults of 2006 - excellent starters, pathetic finishers.
• Why am I so disappointed? Cos I am not used to a Michael who is not strong in a race. I cannot digest the fact that the camera of Star Sports seldom ever focuses on MSC, since he is too busy being a back marker.
• I want the old MSC and his charm to come back on track.

It has begun...

Know those days when you change the batteries to your TV remote? Suddenly your thumb screams thankyous. Likewise those days when you're in a hurry and you try to lock your door and the exact right key turns up? It's weird how these tiny things end up making your day. You mouth a thank you to the cabbie, smile as you get your coffee, and some pleasant song like say Enya's 'The Memory of Trees' resounds in your head. (Pic courtesy Ben Curtis/ AP)

Why am I describing this? Because I find it hard to believe that one event has that effect on several others. Those in the know would know that today, March 14th 2010 marks the return of the King to the wonderful world of F1. The king did indeed return, only this time, with the star and not the prancing horse. The race was rather mundane. The rules have changed a bit. Pit timings now show an aggregate total from entry to exit and not the usual under-10-second count showing how efficient the pit crew is. Now point scoring positions are not the top 6 or 8, but the top 10. Team names are all different now. We have Lotus racing, Virgin racing and Virgin now means that there are two airline magnates involved in F1 - Virgin and Force India, since Force India has a co-ownership by Vijay Mallya, of Kingfisher beer and airlines fame. Deadly combination, I know. This race also marked Karun Chandok's debut in F1 and yet again we see the tricolor on the circuit, painted across a car. Godspeed that he lasts longer in F1 than his predecessor.

The race began strongly, but the deadly hand of luck and fate again came up, when Vettel who so far had a strong weekend, began slinking back. I remember the team radio comment that was aired, where an exasperated Vettel poignantly asks his mechanics if anything can be done, and the response is that he suffered a mechanical failure, because of which two prancing horses and a McLaren lapped him up like a dollop of ice cream. So Alonso won, followed by Massa and Hamilton. Massa's return was indeed momentous. The chap was on track after almost being killed last year. Despite that, he returned and that too very strongly! If there was any fear or apprehension in his mind surrounding how his profession almost killed him, he sure has overcome it, and for that - RESPECT!

Schumi started seventh and ended sixth. Big deal you say? I disagree. The chap is 41. He has nothing to prove. He is driving more as a hobby. The car is different and new. And he gained a position with no one retiring. Alonso was second, and he won, because the winner slinked back because of a technical glitch. He did not win because of sheer overtaking and driving magic! There is no need, according to me, to exult and thump one's chest in a victory gained out of a race leader's loss, caused by events beyond his control.

So now, the dynamics are weird. Ferrari is strong, as usual. But my star driver is driving for a star. And a chap I don't really have too much respect for is driving in a scarlet garb. Life would have been a lot less complicated if only Michael had returned to Ferrari, as before... But then, he entered Ferrari and turned their fortunes around, through his sheer hard work, tuning the car and pushing it and himself to limits. I wouldn't be surprised if he does the same turnaround for Mercedes as well, making it a strong and powerful team, a force to reckon with and then slink back into retirement. Well, till then, he has a job to finish and people like me have a fun Sunday evening to look forward to.

The king is back - and this time for real :)

Not so long ago, there were talks that the king was coming back to race. Not so long ago, I was ecstatic about this fact and wrote this 'The king is back'. Not so long ago, I tried to hunt out ways of finding time to ensure 2 hours of bliss every alternate Sunday in the midst of a packed year. Not so long ago, I haggled with a friend on campus to ensure we got unabated access to Star Sports. Not so long ago, my hopes of seeing the king back on track were shattered. Yet not very long ago, came news that the king is indeed back. And this time, it is for real. So says his official site. And yet again, I am very happy about this turn of events.

I simply admire that person. Not just for the sportsman he is or for the magic he weaves on the track, but for the story he is. Many argue that he is ruthless and would do anything to win. I disagree. I think he is one sportsman who puts his 110% to achieve that success. Be it gruelling training sessions, or strategizing with the team. C'mon, he joined Ferrari when they were nothing more than a moneybag, and he was a reigning champion. He was hugely instrumental in turning them around. So for those critics who argued that Ferrari was twirled around Schumi's little finger, I say - deservedly so. Talent and results speak louder than words and these can drown any body's counter arguments.

Austria 2002, was perhaps an aberration, but then again, it was for the good of the team. At least Schumi and Ferrari did not blatantly defy the laws like Mr Hamilton! Never! And the adherence to talent, performance, hard work all iced with ethics, according to me, makes his list of followers long and never ending. It is very hard to come by a superstar who is not adulterated by his success. Schumi's humility in success and graciousness in defeat are legendary. He for one really never allowed success to get into his head. And that is where the piece of doing a task for the love of the task rather than for the love of the result comes in. I remember Tendulkar saying once that he played for the fun in the sport, not for the money and that money was just a temporal gain. I loved the ideology. And now again, take the case of Schumi. F1 is a risky sport. It requires tremendous levels of fitness, agility and mental acuity, not to mention the stamina to put up with the g-forces that throw one around in the cockpit. And Schumi is all of 41, with no one to prove a point to, with no one to answer to, with the marginal utility of money almost being 0! And so, when I wonder about why he wants to do it all again, I realize the sheer love and passion he has towards the sport and what he was doing as a member of the F1 family. I truly wish I could do something in my life that I would enjoy doing so much that no other lifestyle would appeal to me.

So, now I look forward to 2010 with renewed gusto. I can hardly wait for Baharain to begin. People who know me, would know the degree of respect I have for Herr Schumacher. Back in 2005, when he won the championship, I celebrated with pizza with a few close people, who had been on the receiving end of my fan following - the red dressing on Mondays post a Schumi victory or the irritation and better-stay-away-from-me-or-feel-sorry demeanor post a Schumi loss. And today after knowing that the king is soon coming back, I had to celebrate with a few friends, only this time, it was a post midnight caffeine session at our wonderful cafe here on campus. It is after all the emotion that counts right? So, best wishes to the king. Looking forward to the injection of life, ethics and thrill back into F1. I am sure Schumi's return would bring back eyeballs to the TV set. It sure as hell has brought back mine. Not to mention the return of Sporty Sundays on this blog starting next year :) Amen....

Thierry Henry - Hand of God

Hand of God. Again. The debate on whether the ends justify the means has come up. Again. A smirking Thierry Henry has now made way for a remorseful Henry. But like Arsene Wenger has said - sport is actually full of examples of people who have committed some form or another of foul, just to get to that end goal (pun intended). (Pic courtesy Sky News). Now France has qualified for the World Cup, but how many would remember the team for the qualifier? If France were to proceed strongly in the World Cup, would people observe the sport or still talk about Henry's hand goal? Do the ends truly justify the means?

But as instances throughout this year have shown, there really is no simple distinction between right and wrong in sport. This year alone has seen enough and more of such cases. Take F1. From the ignoble Lewis Hamilton scandal to the permanent expulsion of Flavio Briatore. The examples are plenty. People allude to the 2002 season, where Schumi passed Barrichello at Austria and then returned the favor at USA allowing Barri to win by 0.011 seconds! People say that such 'fixes' run contrary to the free spirit of sport. I argued then and I do even now that at least those moves were within a team and geared towards the greater good of the team. But in case of Henry, this is a clear violation of rules and I can draw a parallel with another rule in F1 where a driver is not allowed to make up positions by driving off a track around a bend. And if he does that he is penalized. Here, didn't Henry mould the decider goal by unfair means? Had that hand goal not happened, could we have seen a French victory? I doubt it very much.

And after the game, Henry very blatantly blamed the referee. Now whatever happened to integrity? Everyone extols Adam Gilchrist, for 'walking' in the 2003 World Cup in the semi final against Sri Lanka, after having hit just 22. Now, he could very well have stood his ground, since the umpire showed no reaction. But his action not only brought glory to him, but to the sport as well. All of a sudden meintions of cricket being the gentleman's sport started surfacing again. Scores of youngsters found a role model, again. So granted, there was a slip-up by the referee in the France-Ireland match, but the biggest referee of all, Henry himself knew that he was cheating. Shouldn't that have been grounds enough to admit to a fault and do something about it? Again, FIFA quotes the rule book saying an outcome cannot be changed. Now, what is the use of an archaic rule book if the rules do not allow fair outcomes? Isn't it time the rule book was amended then? By example?

All in all this is not just an unfair moment for Ireland. I guess it surely is a sad moment for France and a sadder one for World Cup Football. Roberto Baggio perhaps kicks himself still for that missed penalty. But Thierry Henry would be answerable to himself for the rest of his life if France goes on to win the World Cup. Given that repercussion, I guess the ends do not under any circumstance justify the means.

The king is back - All hail Michael Schumacher

Formula 1. This year particularly, this sport has been in the midst of a whole host of stories. Last year, the championship was won by Hamilton, on account of points, though Massa won more races. Lots of people criticized this turn of events and me and my blog were no exception! So this year saw a change in rules! Again, these rules were flailed by many. Then a new team came along - Brawn GP, and swept entrenched players and race winners off their feet.

As if that were not enough, cut to Hungaroring. A spring weighing 0.65 kg, flies from Barrichello's car, hits Massa's helmet in the most gruesome, freak accident in a long time. The incident triggered morbid pictures of Ayrton Senna, another Brazilian, whose accident is the only case of a casualty on track in F1. The parallels were way too many. Similar mode of injury, only that in Senna's case the accident had dire consequences. In Massa's case, one must say that it is indeed a miracle that he survived.

But look at Ferrari from a more holistic point of view. Ever since Schumi left the team, the team has almost sort of lost out a lot! First Brawn left, then last season was a disaster, thanks to Massa losing the championship by a meager point. As though that were not enough, this time around, though Ferrari and Massa were not in a very strong position championship-wise, Massa suffered a near-fatal accident, that knocked him out of action for goodness knows how long. Sounds a lot like Ferrari of 1999. 20 years of having run without a single championship victory, they were sooooo close to victory that year with Schumi, till the accident at Silverstone that broke Schumi's leg and knocked him out of the championship that year.

But things cannot be all bad all the time! So, Schumi came back after his injury in 2000 and won all championships thereafter. One of the best periods in F1, at least for me, since I got to see Michael magic time and again, and I got to see a piece of history being made! And now, HE IS BACK... He will drive for Ferrari for the remainder of the season - 7 races in all, beginning with Nurburgring - the European GP. As an ardent Schumi fan, I couldn't have asked for more.

I quit watching F1 this season, since there really was no one to cheer for. When Schumi raced, victorious Sundays were happy. The following Mondays would have me dressed in red while going to college. Sundays without Schumi on the podium were days when people were better off not talking to me. Such was the admiration I had for his talent and his sportsmanship. All hail the return of the king. Schumi thanks for coming back. Hope you add a touch of your magic to an otherwise forgettable, drab season in F1.

P.S. What are the odds that a sport superstar would make a comeback albeit brief, into a physically and mentally demanding sport? For me, this is nothing short of momentous. Note to self - a post for every Schumi race this season....

Rules, rules and more rules....

Rules, rules and more rules. Of late, rules have been more in the news than news itself! Weird indeed. Take for instance F1. There was so much baatcheet on the change of rules and a lot of debate as well. Debate with the ones who have been benefited by the old rules arguing against the old rules and the ones likely to be benefited by the new rules siding with the change. Hamilton of course hates the change, simply because he won last year's championship with fewer victories than Massa. Well, you could say that he won by simply being there, than actually competing to get to the top. More like, the kid in school who gets marks for attendance. Ok! So I am not a huge fan of Mr Hamilton. But when Schumi was going about winning races left right and center, people cribbed that the sport was too boring. And at the last minute, in 2005, the qualifying rules were changed to the single lap thingy. But that time, no one cribbed, since this was making the sport more fun! Indeed! So, now some more zing is being added to F1, with the change in rules. Clearly the fight for points makes people cling to a strategy whereby winning the race really doesn't count. And that makes watching kinda boring.

Then Tim Geithner says we need more rules in the American economy. Obama says we need more rules to control Wall Street. And the FASB, the accounting body creates more rules that make it possible for net income to not really be ... net income. As if the current accounting standards are too less to allow sufficient fraud.

So rules and rules. Expected anyway! Everyone is jobless, at least lawmakers need some kaam dhanda right?

F1 World Championship 2008 - A victory for Hamilton, but a loss for sport

The Brazilian GP 2008, - a story of a wheel of fortune that turned at 30,000 rpm! We all know how the race shaped up. Massa on Pole, Hamilton fourth. Hamilton needed to finish not lower than fifth. As it turned out, through a whole series of ups and downs that left the viewers at the edge of their seats, although Massa ended up winning the battle, he lost the war.

The race was beautiful, but in a tactical race, that saw Ferrari plan and work their race to perfection, a flawed strategy of Toyota, lost Massa his championship. I don’t know how much to read into this, but how could a strategy fail you in the last quarter of the last lap? When Massa had already crossed the chequered flag, cameras zoomed in on the Ferrari pit crew and showed them up in celebration. They also showed the McLaren crew celebrating and I felt pained thinking about the poor Brazilian. His home Grand Prix, more victories this season than Hamilton, his first dash at a championship that he has fought long and hard – a lot was at stake. Last year, Massa was a strong contender for the championship, and he showed that even without Michael, Ferrari could look good! Conspiracy theories can abound. Whether Glock voluntarily stepped off the gas, or

whether there really was a problem, no one will know, since FIA can intervene only in case of team orders. Glock was not McLaren, he wasn’t even Brit. Then why? And why favor Hamilton and not Massa? It just seems very unfortunate, because Massa did all he could. He qualified right, he drove a perfect race, he won the maximum races this season, then why?


As a Ferrari fan, I would have been happier if Massa had won, but honestly, gone are the days when a championship was pocketed around the 10th or the 11th race of the season. That charm and magic ended with the Michael Schumacher – Jean todt – Ross Brawn – Ferrari era. Ardent Schumi critics would vociferously claim that today’s championship battles look better, they are fought better and they engross the viewer. Granted, you like watching every race, since you want to see what happens next. But what happened to strategy, where one would try to grab the championship with both hands, when there is still a lot of time to spare? Whatever happened to creating a sporting stalwart? Alonso – 2 time champion, tipped to be the next best thing since MSC, faded away last year. Kimi – 2007 champ, faded away this year, in spite of a sterling Ferrari. This time, the champion was Hamilton. Next time, who knows? Vettel perhaps! If Hamilton had, in an exhibition of sterling driving, overtaken Vettel on the start-finish straight, or pulled some perfect maneuver that left Vettel wondering what just slingshot past him, I guess the championship win would have been well-deserved for Hamilton. But winning because someone handed it down to you because of whatever reason, at least to me, seems similar to winning through team orders. A damp squib victory indeed. Certainly not stuff great champion stalwarts are made of.

Change in plans - Sporty Sunday : Whose race was it anyway?

All F1 races happen on a Sunday. Grand Slam finals happen on a Sunday. Major cricket tournament finals happen on a Sunday. Of what use is writing about an event a week after it happens? Therefore, something on Saturday and Sporty Sunday! That said, I guess today's F1 race at Japan at the Fuji race track was a key 'management lesson'. In a way, our F1 superstars turned management gurus today. How? You ask? Read on

Lesson 1 : If life gives you an opportunity, capitalize on it. Don't squander it away on account of an unrestrained ebullience! If you are on pole, do as Schumi did. drive and drive like a man possessed. Build a 20 second gap, and leap on to the top step. Why lose out and then fight back and lose out even more?

Lesson 2 : And this is a story my grandma told me ages ago. This is a story that Indian history has taught us in a rather boring way through text books. And this lesson is, that while 2 contenders fight for all wrong reasons, a third shrewd contender very conveniently walks away with the spoils. So while Massa and Hamilton were busy giving each other drive through penalties, Alonso walked off with the victory, depriving both of them of the much-needed points that could have bolstered their title prospects.

Grandma said - 2 cats went a-fighting over a piece of food. A monkey intercepted and offered to settle the dispute. Tearing the piece into unequal halves, and then using scales, to equalize the two, the monkey attempted to settle the dispute. Each time one pan tilted more, the monkey bit off a piece off food as though trying to equalize the food portions. The result - either cat got nothing, monkey got everything.

Indian history - petty kings were busy fighting one another on meaningless issues. The British invaded, colonized and ruled for a good 150 years.

Who said sport is a means of entertainment? Sport teaches life's lessons - first hand. If our ancient Indian kings had seen this F1 race, we would perhaps never have been colonized! What say?

A LEGEND BIDS ADIEU

A LEGEND BIDS ADIEU

Michael Schumacher bids adieu to Formula one. News. Nearly 98% of the people knew this was coming. They said they read it in his body language. Some read it in his age. 37. But one comment that was on everyone’s lips was “Love him or hate him, but you can’t ignore the fact that he is the sport’s best to date.” Well, no one can agree more. You don’t have to take the critic’s word for it. Its in the figures. 153 podium finishes, 90 of them on the top step with 68 pole positions. Maximum race wins in a season. Longest reign as a world champion…. The records page is endless. A quasi rain God. By and far the only driver who can tame wet weather and win a race, not once but multiple times. He has made F1 driving an art. Watching the 7 times Westmeister tame the rest of the pack and emerge on top, is a sight to savor.

They nearly always attribute it to good machinery. No doubt, the Ferrari is a sterling car. However it was not always so. Ferrari was an ailing team, loaded with money, but low on talent and drive. Race engineers came and went, using Ferrari as a means to make a quick buck. None managed to deliver until the 3 musketeers Michael Schumacher , Jean Todt and Ross Brawn struck up a deal. Even then, they just somehow managed to breathe some life into the team, but failed to break the 20 year title-less run of Ferrari. They came close, by single digit points to clinching the ever-elusive title, but failed, with their predicaments being augmented by their star driver breaking his leg in an incident. Finally the wheel of fortune turned, and Ferrari began winning, in 2000, 2001,2002,2003 and 2004. and the whole world started doubting the team for foul play, calling them boring, calling Schumacher’s techniques mundane. No one wanted to enjoy the fact that they were watching history in the making. Here was a man with sheer talent and the drive and motivation to succeed and achieve, going for his goals and achieving them. Here was a man who turned down lucrative offers from successful teams to stick around with Ferrari and win with the ailing team. All Formula One drivers are in a class of their own. They are by and far the best drivers in the world. Running a successful company that is running like a well-oiled machine, does not need magic. However, turning a malfunctioning behemoth into one of the most venerated success stories ever, should not be shunned as the work of sheer luck or chance. A certain article in the papers went on to say that Michael Schumacher simply understood his machinery well. Well, granted, but isn’t that what all F1 drivers are supposed to do? How can a race engineer tweak your car, without understanding from you how it feels when you are inside it? If you come down to brass tacks, isn’t that the quintessence of the F1 driver’s job? So, if he understands his machinery well, isn’t he by and far the best in what he does? Isn’t he able to perform better than the rest of the people in his league?

Spoken like a true Schumi fan, you might say. I agree, I cheer for Michael Schumacher. But not because he always wins. But because he is the person that he is. Most people call him arrogant, haughty and an automaton. What they don’t realize is the fact that he has come a long way from being a young first son of a brick layer in Kerpen in Germany. He has come a long way from being the green eyed boy with stars in his eyes, but a few pennies in his pocket. He had the talent. He worked as a mechanic to understand how a car worked. He outclassed everyone else in smaller races, he caught the attention of a rich man, who agreed to finance his driving career. He did not have a father or brother in the industry. Whatever he is today, he can look back and feel proud that the edifice called ‘the legend of Michael Schumacher’ has been built by his hard work. He had a dream, he worked really hard to achieve it. He is still the shy man who refuses to open up to the public eye. Face it guys, he has had his fair share of media flogging, starting from his Benetton days to the wish-everyone-would-forget incident at Jerez. Just because he prefers to stick to his job and not discuss his favorite color in public, one cannot generalize and call him arrogant.

A certain correspondent said Michael’s farewell won’t evoke the emotion that Agassi evoked when he quit the sport. Well, for starters, Formula 1 does not enjoy as huge a fan base as Tennis. Till a few years back, although we had youngsters joining tennis academies aspiring to be the next Sampras, we did not have kids aspiring to be Michael Schumacher. In fact, Schumi was not even the topic of casual lunchtime discussions. He became a legend in the new millennium, when there was no looking back for Ferrari. And again, one question to be asked here is, why are sportsmen loved and idolized? Because they are vulnerable? Because they are more human? Because they are more easy to identify oneself with? Or is it because they show that spark and motivation, to succeed and be at the top of their game at all time, thereby exhorting the millions of their fans to excel in whatever they do? No one cheered for Rod Tidwell, in Jerry Maguire as long as he was playing a lackluster game. What made the fans write “IN ROD WE TRUST” all of a sudden, for the same man? Well, the answer is simple; he showed that he had the extra something to be the best. That is what role models are made of.

Michael Schumacher’s story is something all fairy tales are made of. Starting with a dream to make it big, working hard to go that extra mile, just to ensure his goal remains within reach, achieving all that he targeted, and finally quitting while he is still winning, this story of the multi-millionaire legend of F1, sounds straight out of a feel-good movie. And yet, this is one fairy tale that has come true