Michael Schumacher’s dilemma

Michael Schumacher is considered one of the greatest drivers in the history of Formula 1. The seven-time World Champion has raced with the best of the sport like Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, and Damon Hill. He debuted in 1991 with Jordan for only one race where he really impressed with his performance and Benetton took notice of his skills and offered him a race seat.

Schumacher raced with Benetton for four seasons with good effect and justified his inclusion in the team with back-to-back title wins in 1994 and 1995. The consecutive title wins showed the world that Schumacher was going to be the next big thing in the sport and Ferrari took notice. The Scarlet team offered the German a race seat and Schumacher gladly accepted.

Schumacher had a long stint with Ferrari from 1996 to 2006 and it was with Ferrari that the former champion was recognised as one of the greats of the sport as he conjured up five back-to-back world titles. From the year 2000 to 2004 Schumacher reigned as the champion of F1 and engraved his name in the history books forever.

Renault driver Fernando Alonso broke the long streak in 2005 and took the crown from the German in dominating fashion. Alonso won in it 2006 as well but it was less impressive with a handful of luck involved. Schumacher was leading the season but a technical fault in the one of the races gave Alonso the lead and a tyre puncture at the start of the final race provided the Spaniard with the title.

Schumacher was still at his peak but retired at the end of the season. Many were shocked at his decision as people knew that the German still had it in him to win titles. Ferrari also believed the notion and kept him involved with the team.

Then in 2009 Ferrari driver Felipe Massa was involved in an accident which ruled him out of the remainder of the season. Ferrari saw it as a chance to give Schumacher another go and got the confirmation from FIA to let Schumacher race again. Unluckily, he had sustained a neck injury prior to the race and was not able to race in the season.

That outside chance might have sparked the excitement Schumacher had felt during his driving days. In 2010, when Ross Brawn asked him to take up racing again for Mercedes GP, the German obliged. His comeback was not what most wanted to see for the champion’s comeback season finishing 9th in the drivers’ championship scoring 72 points. 2011 was not much better either with only 76 points scored in the season with a best of 4th position in the German Grand Prix.

Schumacher’s comeback has not been the best and certainly not as he may have imagined it. The question comes to mind what might be the motivation behind the former world champion to keep on going? While critics have pointed at Schumacher’s failure to finish better than his rookie teammate Nico Rosberg, his supporters have defended by saying that Rosberg races with the mindset of doing better than Schumacher whereas the German is only thinking about the title. It gives evidence to the sheer determination he has to win his 8th title.

Going into the 2012 season Schumacher said that he will decide about his future at the end of the 2012 season. He also said that he will analyse how well Mercedes has done to become a title winning team and then decide whether he wants to continue or not.

It is being speculated that Mercedes will be in contention for the title in the upcoming season as they have made some major changes to their car to make it combat the likes of Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari- the leaders of the grid.

Whether 2012 will be Schumacher’s final season or not, one thing is certain that the champion will not take his career or place in the team for granted.

Looking at his recent performances, one cannot say Schumacher can win another title but if he does, it will be an accomplishment, which will be cherished by the most ardent of his critics and a dream come true for his fans.

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Posted by Kashif Khan on Jan 30 2012. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.