Showing posts with label Michael Schumacher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michael Schumacher. Show all posts

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Michael Schumacher Showing Signs of Improvement



Back in the end of December, Michael had a nasty skiing accident that left him in a medically induced coma.

In April, we were informed:

"There are short moments of consciousness and he is showing small signs of progress," Schumacher's manager Sabine Kehm told German broadcaster ARD.
"There are moments when he is awake and moments when he is conscious.
"Of course I am not a doctor, but medically, there is a distinction between being awake and being conscious, the latter meaning there is an ability to interact with his surroundings.
"I don't want to disclose details out of respect for the family, but we have no doubt at all in the abilities of the doctors treating Michael, they are experts in their field."

So, many weeks have passed and sadly there is still no further news.


Hero: 'Schumi' Schumacher is idolised by many Formula One fans across the world




kthanxbai! Jumblerant
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Wednesday, January 15, 2014

For The Danger Of It

A friend of mine recently praised wholeheartedly a new movie coming out called 'The Crash Reel'. Its a movie I am looking forward to seeing, but from the official trailer below, I was hooked by one line a reviewer is quoted on. And I think it might be the first time that I actually listen to what a reviewer says.



Did you catch the quote? At 1.49 Empire is quoted as saying '..like Senna, its appeal and message transcend'.

Ayrton de Silva Senna was a hero of mine back in the '80s so I paid attention to that quote. And I am sure for sure going to watch The Crash Reel when it comes out too.

Here is why Ayrton Senna was just so amazing:



And thats why David Coulthard, Michael Schumacher and so many more F1 drivers all agree that he was an amazing driver, if not the best driver of all time.

kthanxbai!

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Monday, December 30, 2013

Michael Schumacher - Why He Is My Hero

Michael Schumacher is my hero mainly because for the best part of a decade I hated him, and now I cannot think of Formula 1 without his influence.

I first heard of Michael Schumacher back in 1991 when he joined the Benetton Formula 1 team and immediately started to end races on the podium.
Michael Schumacher driving for Benetton Formul...
Michael Schumacher driving for Benetton Formula at the 1992 Monaco Grand Prix. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Unlike his peers, he did not use his early years in racing to learn the ropes, get to grips with the team and his personal engineers, but immediately jumped into fast racing. His engineers have always said that the feedback he gave was extraordinary.

The current world leader in Formula 1, Sebestian Vettel has repeatedly stated that he always endeavors to be more like Michael when it comes to how he behaves outside of the car. The fact that in such an ego-fueled industry the World Champion can say something like that shows just what a hero Michael Schumacher is to so many people.

So, why did I hate the man? I'm sure he didn't care a fig about me!

Michael Schumacher driving for Scuderia Ferrar...
Michael Schumacher driving for Scuderia Ferrari at the 2001 Canadian Grand Prix. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


Quite simply, in an era where it wasn't unheard of for drivers to sneak a quick cigarette here or there, (heck the cars looked like boxes of cancer sticks for crying out loud!), Michael proved time after time why it was so important to be at the peak of physical fitness. For me, that was just too much. The best drivers were equivalent to fighter pilots, if not better and they lived by their quick wits and reaction times. You're not going to improve on those however much salad you eat or however many miles you cycle, run or swim.

It's just not sportsman-like, its unprofessional and I'll have none of it!

Yes, I was wrong. Oh so very wrong. Oh so very, pathetically wrong.

Michael Schumacher repeatedly stood up for what he believed in. He just knew what it took to take Formula 1 racing to the next level. A level that most racers of the time could not achieve.

His first victory was at the Belgian Grand Prix in 1992, in a wet race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, which by 2003 he would call "far and away my favourite track". He finished third in the Drivers' Championship in 1992 with 53 points, three points behind runner-up Patrese.

In 1994 Schumacher won six of the first seven races and was leading the Spanish Grand Prix, before a gearbox failure left him stuck in fifth gear. To most drivers being stuck in 5th means pulling over to the side and an ice cream in the back of the team garage or a helicopter ride to the airport to get home. Schumacher finished the race in second place.

Its at this point that I, as a grown man and solid fan of Formula 1 should have noticed that he was a star on the rise. Instead I was present at Silverstone, at the British Grand Prix, when Schumacher was penalized for overtaking on the formation lap. He then ignored the penalty and the subsequent black flag, which indicates that the driver must immediately return to the pits, for which he was disqualified and later given a two-race ban. It was this kind of 'not playing cricket' that really annoyed my sensibilities of fair-play.

I wasn't driving a half tonne race car around gritty tracks at 300 km/h, so I wasn't really in a position to argue with him.

In 1996, Schumacher joined Ferrari, a team which had last won the Drivers' Championship in 1979 and the Constructors' Championship in 1983, for a salary of $60 million over 2 years. A year later, ex-Benetton employees Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn, who had been Technical Director at Benetton since 1991, and who were one of the key members behind Schumacher's title successes with the team in 1994 and 1995, decided to join Schumacher at Ferrari. This increased Schumacher's motivation to build a more experienced and potentially championship-winning team around him.

Michael Schumacher driving for Ferrari at the ...
Michael Schumacher driving for Ferrari at the 1997 German Grand Prix (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Ross Brawn would go on to create his own team 'Brawn GP' in 2009, which went on to win the 2009 Formula One World Constructors' Championship and one of its drivers, Jenson Button, won the World Drivers' Championship at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Schumacher was drawing excellent talent around him, and this time, he had the money to put into the design and upkeep of the dream car. He finished third in the drivers' championship in 1996 and helped Ferrari to second place in the constructors' championship ahead of his old team Benetton. He won three races, more than the team's total tally for the period from 1991 to 1995.

Schumacher won his third World Championship in 2000. At the post race press conference, after equaling the number of wins (41) won by his idol, Ayrton Senna, Schumacher broke into tears. This is when I started to dilute the hatred for the man.

A man who has won World Championships 7 times  (1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002,2003, 2004) cannot be hated by an F1 fan! Repeatedly he has proven that his attitude, mixed with his natural ability and his fitness, created a winner;

91 wins
155 podiums
68 pole positions
77 fastest laps
It doesn't get much better than that.

kthanxbai!

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Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Massa to Leave Ferrari 2014

Admittedly Ferrari's results recently have been less than amazing, and with Alonso and Massa as drivers they should be gathering the points like a Pac Man on speed.



So, just to recap - Ferrari are the team that have been in Formula 1 the longest; they won their first Grand Prix in England in 1951. The great drivers they have employed include Juan Manuel Fangio, Mike Hawthorn, John Surtees, Niki Lauda, Jody Sheckter, Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso.


Formula One 2007 Rd.17 Brazilian GP: Start of ...
Formula One 2007 Rd.17 Brazilian GP: Start of the race at the S do Senna. #5 Felipe Massa (Ferrari), #6 Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari), #2 Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) and #1 Fernando Alonso (McLaren) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Now Kimi Raikkonen, the diminutive Finn, worked at Ferrari before, where he won a World Championship in 2007. No mean feat in itself, but he was coming off a terrible year at McLaren where he failed to win a single race, and yet, won the 2007 Australian Grand Prix. And please let me clarify, that was his first race in the Ferrari car.

In 2009 he lost his Ferrari seat to Alonso, who he will be partnering in 2014.From Formula 1 Kimi went to the World Rally Championship, where he failed to make much of an impression. His return to Formula 1 in 2012 brought him 5 podium place finishes, including a win in Abu Dhabi, leaving him 3rd in the championship.


Ferrari

Kimi is currently 4th in the F1 Driver Championships with 134 points.


kthanxbai!

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Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Nelson Piquet Jr crashed for Alonso and Renault

So, what the gosh darned rooting tooting is that title all about then?

I am a fan of Formula 1. Any sport that can end in serious pain if you make a mistake gets my attention. Formula 1 has the added draw of having a large amount of information flowing throughout the year and not just on race day.

Crashes are not uncommon but generally do not alter the final result as they either happen at the first corner to some back markers or later on in the race to a couple of cars who are fighting for position and then take each other out.

There are some famous crashes such as Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton deSilva Senna's fatal crashes (in the same weekend), as well as Michael Schumacher taking himself or nearest competitor out, and a couple of beauties when cars went, literally, flying over others.

That's not the point though. The level of danger involved is the point.

Any crash involves pieces of car flying at high speed in all directions. This allows the energy in the crash to dissipate without harming the driver. But it also means that basically, bits go flying everywhere. Tyres have landed in the crowd killing spectators and we are coming to terms, in F1, with the fact that Felipe Massa is going to be out for the rest of the season because he was hit in the head by a piece of debris that fell off another car in front of his during a practice session.


He was hit in the helmet with a 800g piece of coiled metal at over 180mph that left him unconscious. He is recovering now and has a beautiful scar (above) to tell the tale.

And that is where today's revelations leave me with my mouth agape and my mind not comprehending what happened.




Nelson Piquet Jr.'s intentional crash, in the the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

Today it was revealed that one team, Renault, had asked one of its drivers, Nelson Piquet Jr., to crash on purpose. The FIA stated that Renault had planned and carried out actions:
to cause an intentional accident with the aim of causing the deployment of the safety car to the advantage of their other driver, Fernando Alonso, who went on to win.

The team stated
“The ING Renault F1 Team will not dispute the recent allegations made by the F.I.A. concerning the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix,”
Which is pretty damn shameful, dangerous and ultimately, suicidal for the careers of those involved.


So what also gets my goat here, and you may notice that I'm still very annoyed and shocked by it all, is that they actually thought that they could get away with it.

In an industry where millions of dollars hang in the balance for every point a driver can make people are going to be ruthless. And they are going to have very long memories.


The chap on the left, Flavio 'Flav' Briatore, has been in Formula 1 for a very long time. He helped to bring Michael Schumacher into the limelight. He was teh Team leader for Renault.

The chap on the left is Pat Symonds. He too has been in F1 forever and he was Flav's no. 2 man.

Today they both left their current (and probably last) Formula 1 team after the team admitted that these two individuals had in fact conspired with their no. 2 driver, Nelson Piquet Jr., to alter the outcome of the race.

Nelson Piquet Jr.Image by eugeneflores via Flickr


And the chap on the left got immunity. He is the driver of the car, Nelson Piquet Jr.

What a super chap, eh? He told the governing body of Formula 1 about the evil team leader's plans to corrupt the outcome of the Championship Race.

Except that he waited a year to tell them.

And only after he was fired by his manager and team leader, Flavio Briatore.

Revenge may be sweet Mr Piquet but I think you kinda shot yourself in the foot this time.

kthanxbai!

All photos are copyright people who can afford, or get invited to Grand Prixes.