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Small talk on Formula One
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Michael and Ralf Schumacher
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IN THE MIDST of a mayhem known as World Cup - Formula One,
Ferrari, Michael Schumacher strike my fancy. As I'm writing
this, I'm stuck in this volatile period of huge sports events
- the Tyson-Lewis fight in Memphis is another week away, the
NBA has not crowned its 2002 champ and the PBA is on hiatus
and really the only conference worth watching is the All Filipino
Cup and it won't open before October and the earlier we accept
the fact that we may not medal in the Asian Games, it's better
for all of us.
So with World Cup football not even shown in Philippine television,
I'll just tackle Formula One racing and Michael Schumacher's
dominance. The success of a team depends primarily on the
car then the driver. Both entities go hand in hand. Rubens
Barrichello is driving the same car as Schumi but his results
aren't as scintillating. He failed to get away on the formation
lap in Barcelona, finished only 16 laps in Brazil with hydraulics
problems and was bumped-off from fifth to seventh in Monaco.
The event in Austria when team orders propelled Rubens to
give way to Schumi for the very vital four points was logical
if one delves in-depth. There's no shame in receiving assistance
from a teammate and the comments of former Formula One driver
Johnny Hebert are merely sourgraping.
A winner of 58 Grand prix and counting, clearly Schumacher
can't ask for more in a career coated with milestones and
controversies. He's a brilliant driver, plain and simple.
His dominance isn't boring. He has the best machine and he's
the best driver. What goes around, comes around. If Rubens
helped him out in Austria, Schumi has it in him to return
the favor. Remember Malaysia in '99, when he moved over for
teammate Eddie Irvine?
The problem in Formula One isn't Ferrari's dominance but
the financial constraints hobbling some teams. We all heard
how the Prost team filed for bankcruptcy before the season
even began. Both Jordan and BAR (British American Racing)
were reported to have laid-off a number of their crews. In
this World Cup year, the ability to lure sponsors is severely
curtailed. Contrary to reports, fans’ interest aren't
waning, Formula One is even attracting more followers in this
side of the world with cable television and local stations
paving way for the broad fan-base.
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David Coulthard
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Michael Schumacher
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Was McLaren's David Coulthard win in Monaco such a breath
of fresh air as described by commentators? Not really. DC
comes from a team with a chance to win this season and there
are only three - Ferrari, Williams and McLaren. It wasn't
a huge surprise that he pulled a win although the British
owned outfit isn't as competitive as last year's. Did Formula
One need a driver with a surname other than Schumacher to
win a Grand Prix this year? It would happen eventually. The
Schumacher brothers do not have the stranglehold on Formula
One, if it wasn't Coulthard, it could have been Montoya or
Raikonnen. But let's face it both Michael and Ralf are talented.
Sometimes a family could produce more than one offspring of
superior skills. In the case of Michael and Ralf, they not
only race for different teams but Ralf only won once this
year compared to Michael's five. The Schumacher surname should
be a non-issue.
This season is still exciting. It's not yet a lock for Ferrari.
Anything could happen which makes Formula One more exciting
than ever. We saw in Monaco that Ferrari could also underperform
and a replay of Monaco could be in store in future Grand Prix's.
But since the Italian team did well in polishing their machines
in the off-season, surely they deserve much more credit for
their success than their critics are giving them. *
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