A new series begins on PlanetF1 today - our F1 Hall of Fame. The first entrant: Michael Schumacher.
Oliver HardenOne of the great Michael Schumacher anecdotes was relayed by his professional soulmate, Jean Todt, in December 2017.
The reason? He needed reassurance. He needed to prove – to himself – that he was still fast enough, that he could still do it.Even he – the great Michael Schumacher with his seven World Championships, 91 grand prix victories, 68 pole positions and 77 fastest laps – was not immune to the moments of isolated introspection and self-doubt that stalk us all.
Keeping up appearances was just one part of the battle for Schumacher, who throughout his career was conscious of projecting a public image of strength, confidence and control in a quite deliberate plot to undermine and intimidate the opposition at every possible juncture. He would take a glass-sided mobile gym to testing so at the end of a long day’s running, as his peers massaged their aches and pains, they would chance across this freak of nature still pushing himself harder, faster, stronger.one-two finish in Melbourne in 2004. As Rubens Barrichello, second again, is still in the process of removing his helmet, Schumacher is already climbing the stairs to the podium.
He would become not a mere cog in the machine at Maranello, but the beating heart – the point around which Ferrari’s entire world revolved. Schumacher’s career, of course, was not without its controversies and his collisions with Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve at Adelaide 1994 and Jerez ’97 respectively, as well as his blocking of the track at the climax of qualifying in Monte Carlo in 2006, are still regarded by some as coffee stains on a competitor’s integrity.
In other words were these the moments Michael’s private doubts came closer than ever to coming to the surface and his instinctive reaction, like some cornered animal, was to take a bite?between 2010 and 2012 failed to meet expectations, Michael possibly underestimating how severely the title-winning team of 2009 had to be eviscerated just to survive the transition from Honda to Brawn GP the previous winter.
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