G
Guest
Guest
I guess the Schumi fans over here would like to read this...
* * * * *
From Planet F1
HOW TO LOVE MICHAEL SCHUMACHER
10 Reasons Why You Should Give Schumi A Chance
There's nobody in F1 who causes such a strong reaction as Michael
Schumacher. Schumi is like the Citroen 2CV, Marmite or Installation
Artists. You either love them or you hate them. There aren't too many
people sitting on the fence.
I'm a firm believer that the more you understand Michael and how his
mindset works, the more you can admire him. I'm not part of that band of
brothers - affectionately known in the excellent P-F1 chat forum as 'the
disciples' - for whom Schumi can do no wrong. He's clearly done wrong in
the past. But you don't get to the top in professional sport and stay there
without upsetting a few people along the way.
Time and time again I've heard people in the paddock, who I respect, say
that the Michael Schumacher you see on television isn't the same one they
work with day in, day out. Steve Matchett, who writes technical features
for Planet-F1 and is a pundit on the Speed channel, worked with Michael at
Benetton. Steve is a no-nonsense, down-to-earth kind of guy. Having worked
with Michael in some very tense situations from when he signed in 91 to
when he left in 95, Steve hasn't got a bad word to say about him.
In a year when Schumi will be appearing on the podium every fortnight, I
think it's time we all cuddled up to the man from Kerpen. Blimey, how can
the Brits not like him when he's nice to dogs...
HE'S NICE TO DOGS
On the way back from the Brazilian Grand Prix one time, he felt extremely
sorry for a stray dog he saw from the window of his hire car. He put the
dog through Brazilian quarantine, named him Floh ('Flea') and took him back
to Germany.
HE TAKES TIME
One of the things that Michael does give is his time. We'll come back to
the point later on, but this is a small, small example that illustrates the
way he is. I collect Minichamps F1 cars - a few of the ones I have are
signed and I've noticed on this, and on other items of memorabilia that
Michael signs, he takes the trouble to sign his name.
Most drivers have developed a squiggle that represents their names. Unless
you're F.Massa or T.Sato you've got quite a lot of work to do, so a
squiggle is only practical. Considering he's the world champ and his name
goes on forever, Michael's 'squiggle' is painstakingly scripted.
HE'S EXUBERANT
We've not seen too many of the podium gymnastics this year, but Michael
clearly enjoys winning and shows it. Perhaps with power steering and the
levels of fitness drivers have these days they're not so drained at the end
of races, but through the 80's and 90's when we had Prost vs Senna vs
Piquet and occasionally Mansell, podiums were often dour, joyless places.
It was almost as though it wasn't cool to enjoy the win. Schumi changed
that.
HE PUTS IN WORK FOR CHARITY
Michael's football team raises money for UNESCO. A lot of F1 personalities,
both teams (Mclaren and Williams especially) and drivers do get involved
with charitable causes. Some don't. Michael does his bit.
HE'S OPEN AND HONEST
Michael gets a lot of criticism for his insistance on being No.1 in the
Ferrari team. He's open and honest about it. Be believes that's the best
way to take the team forward and says so. There have been instances in the
past when drivers will 'play politics' in the team to get the upper hand
instead. It's rumoured that when Alain Prost joined Nigel Mansell at
Ferrari, he decided that Mansell's car was better than his and got the team
to secretly change over the seat, numbers and driver settings so that Nigel
wouldn't realize. Unfortunately Nigel twigged that this wasn't his car and
their relationship within the team went rapidly downhill.
With Michael, what you see is what you get.
HE'S GENEROUS
Let's put one ghost to bed. Michael is not tight-fisted. Here's an extract
from Life In The Fast Lane, the book Steve Matchett wrote about Benetton's
World Championship winning year in 1994 from his position as a mechanic in
the team.
It's February, and the team have been testing in Jerez.
On the final night of our stay in Jerez, Michael took the whole team out to
dinner. This was a nice gesture and is something he likes to do quite
often. He sees it as a way of thanking everyone for the effort put into
preparing the car for him and is appreciated by us all I think.
'Order whatever you would like,' he told us, 'the bill will be kept open
all night!' We were still there, lounging backing the chairs, drinking and
chatting long after Michael had gone to bed.
HE'S LOYAL
Without Michael's help his brother wouldn't be an F1 driver today. Willi
Weber's got a lot to do with it too, but Ralf had a fairly undistinguished
first year at Jordan in 1997. The fact that the Schumacher name stood for
so much bought Ralf the time to improve and show that he was a talent in
his own right. Michael has supported him right the way through his racing
career.
Michael's also loyal to the people who work for him. His personal press
spokesman Heiner Buchinger had various illnesses over the years yet Michael
would not dispense with his services. When I was working at F1 Racing
magazine the editor, Matt Bishop, found it very difficult to get through
the Ferrari press machine. So he'd ring 'Buchinger' and Buchinger would
normally fix it. Things came to a head after Michael broke his leg in 1999
and Buchinger was not singing from the Ferrari hymn sheet. Luca Montezemolo
gave Michael the three-line whip to get rid of him or else. I imagine when
MS writes his autobiography that will go down as one of the biggest
wrenches of his career.
He's loyal to Ferrari too. Yes, they pay him a lot of money. A hell of a
lot of money, but Mclaren used to pay Ayrton Senna a hell of a lot of money
too. I don't recall Michael having a stand-off with Luca Montezemolo about
the team upping his salary and threatening not to turn up at the first race
unless they did.
HE'S NOT A ROBOT
You can hardly label someone who lists The Pope and Pele as his two great
idols as 'a robot'. Or someone who breaks down in tears during a press
conference when being asked a question about Ayrton Senna. Michael's
Germanic nature and the way he translates makes him come across as
arrogant, when really all he's being is logical.
Take the press conference from Barcelona. The interviewer says, "Michael,
that was a truly dominant drive, masterful."
To which Schumi answers, "Yes."
That sounds arrogant, but Michael will have computed the question as, 'That
was a drive where you were in control of the race from the front'. So
logically, yes, he was. He doesn't get the nuances of the language.
HE'S 110% COMMITTED
It's an over-used phrase but Michael more than any other driver puts an
enormous amount of time into making his team a success. Again it's part of
his Germanic nature, the thoroughness, the attention to detail. In the UK
three years ago we had some great adverts for the Volkswagen Passat that
were absolutely Michael Schumacher. They showed various VW engineers -
typical German guys - who were responsible for different areas of the car
in their own specialist fields. One guy was just opening and closing doors
listening to the sound of the door being closed. That's Schumi.
He'll test the car until it gets dark, after the test he'll wait behind and
talk over the data with the engineers till the problem is solved. While a
lot of drivers get out of the car and get in the helicopter, Michael is
prepared to sit and talk about the results until the solution is found.
Heiner Buchinger says that unlike Ralf, Michael takes the time and trouble
to get to know his mechanics, he asks about their families, he spends time
and he gets involved. That's why they love him so much. That's why in
Barcelona when his car broke down out on the circuit in practice on
Saturday morning, he virtually put the tow straps on himself and drove the
truck back. Michael's view on F1 is that if you're going to get involved
you do it to the maximum degree.
HE'S A GREAT MOTIVATOR (AND HE HASN'T CHANGED)
Steve Matchett on Schumi's first win for Benetton at Spa in 1992.
"On returning to the garage he shook everyone by the hand, thanking us all
individually for our help, another genuine show of appreciation that would
continue with every subsequent win. I have never felt such an integral part
of a team than when working with Michael and sharing the pleasure of one of
our victories.
As the crowds bulged from the circuit gates and we began packing equipment
in to the back of the race trucks, Michael changed out of his overalls. He
waved us farewell and set off on a bicycle, his victor's trophy strapped on
the back to meet his parents who were staying in one of the local hotels.
Michael gradually disappeared out of sight, ringing his bell, gently
turning left and right, avoiding small groups that were slowly plodding up
the hill. What a marvelous sight. Here was Michael Schumacher, the winner
of the Spa Grand Prix, cycling among the dispersing crowds, off to show his
mother and father his new trophy." The Mechanics Tale.
Love him or hate him. When he's gone, we'll miss him.
Frank Hopkinson
* * * * *
From Planet F1
HOW TO LOVE MICHAEL SCHUMACHER
10 Reasons Why You Should Give Schumi A Chance
There's nobody in F1 who causes such a strong reaction as Michael
Schumacher. Schumi is like the Citroen 2CV, Marmite or Installation
Artists. You either love them or you hate them. There aren't too many
people sitting on the fence.
I'm a firm believer that the more you understand Michael and how his
mindset works, the more you can admire him. I'm not part of that band of
brothers - affectionately known in the excellent P-F1 chat forum as 'the
disciples' - for whom Schumi can do no wrong. He's clearly done wrong in
the past. But you don't get to the top in professional sport and stay there
without upsetting a few people along the way.
Time and time again I've heard people in the paddock, who I respect, say
that the Michael Schumacher you see on television isn't the same one they
work with day in, day out. Steve Matchett, who writes technical features
for Planet-F1 and is a pundit on the Speed channel, worked with Michael at
Benetton. Steve is a no-nonsense, down-to-earth kind of guy. Having worked
with Michael in some very tense situations from when he signed in 91 to
when he left in 95, Steve hasn't got a bad word to say about him.
In a year when Schumi will be appearing on the podium every fortnight, I
think it's time we all cuddled up to the man from Kerpen. Blimey, how can
the Brits not like him when he's nice to dogs...
HE'S NICE TO DOGS
On the way back from the Brazilian Grand Prix one time, he felt extremely
sorry for a stray dog he saw from the window of his hire car. He put the
dog through Brazilian quarantine, named him Floh ('Flea') and took him back
to Germany.
HE TAKES TIME
One of the things that Michael does give is his time. We'll come back to
the point later on, but this is a small, small example that illustrates the
way he is. I collect Minichamps F1 cars - a few of the ones I have are
signed and I've noticed on this, and on other items of memorabilia that
Michael signs, he takes the trouble to sign his name.
Most drivers have developed a squiggle that represents their names. Unless
you're F.Massa or T.Sato you've got quite a lot of work to do, so a
squiggle is only practical. Considering he's the world champ and his name
goes on forever, Michael's 'squiggle' is painstakingly scripted.
HE'S EXUBERANT
We've not seen too many of the podium gymnastics this year, but Michael
clearly enjoys winning and shows it. Perhaps with power steering and the
levels of fitness drivers have these days they're not so drained at the end
of races, but through the 80's and 90's when we had Prost vs Senna vs
Piquet and occasionally Mansell, podiums were often dour, joyless places.
It was almost as though it wasn't cool to enjoy the win. Schumi changed
that.
HE PUTS IN WORK FOR CHARITY
Michael's football team raises money for UNESCO. A lot of F1 personalities,
both teams (Mclaren and Williams especially) and drivers do get involved
with charitable causes. Some don't. Michael does his bit.
HE'S OPEN AND HONEST
Michael gets a lot of criticism for his insistance on being No.1 in the
Ferrari team. He's open and honest about it. Be believes that's the best
way to take the team forward and says so. There have been instances in the
past when drivers will 'play politics' in the team to get the upper hand
instead. It's rumoured that when Alain Prost joined Nigel Mansell at
Ferrari, he decided that Mansell's car was better than his and got the team
to secretly change over the seat, numbers and driver settings so that Nigel
wouldn't realize. Unfortunately Nigel twigged that this wasn't his car and
their relationship within the team went rapidly downhill.
With Michael, what you see is what you get.
HE'S GENEROUS
Let's put one ghost to bed. Michael is not tight-fisted. Here's an extract
from Life In The Fast Lane, the book Steve Matchett wrote about Benetton's
World Championship winning year in 1994 from his position as a mechanic in
the team.
It's February, and the team have been testing in Jerez.
On the final night of our stay in Jerez, Michael took the whole team out to
dinner. This was a nice gesture and is something he likes to do quite
often. He sees it as a way of thanking everyone for the effort put into
preparing the car for him and is appreciated by us all I think.
'Order whatever you would like,' he told us, 'the bill will be kept open
all night!' We were still there, lounging backing the chairs, drinking and
chatting long after Michael had gone to bed.
HE'S LOYAL
Without Michael's help his brother wouldn't be an F1 driver today. Willi
Weber's got a lot to do with it too, but Ralf had a fairly undistinguished
first year at Jordan in 1997. The fact that the Schumacher name stood for
so much bought Ralf the time to improve and show that he was a talent in
his own right. Michael has supported him right the way through his racing
career.
Michael's also loyal to the people who work for him. His personal press
spokesman Heiner Buchinger had various illnesses over the years yet Michael
would not dispense with his services. When I was working at F1 Racing
magazine the editor, Matt Bishop, found it very difficult to get through
the Ferrari press machine. So he'd ring 'Buchinger' and Buchinger would
normally fix it. Things came to a head after Michael broke his leg in 1999
and Buchinger was not singing from the Ferrari hymn sheet. Luca Montezemolo
gave Michael the three-line whip to get rid of him or else. I imagine when
MS writes his autobiography that will go down as one of the biggest
wrenches of his career.
He's loyal to Ferrari too. Yes, they pay him a lot of money. A hell of a
lot of money, but Mclaren used to pay Ayrton Senna a hell of a lot of money
too. I don't recall Michael having a stand-off with Luca Montezemolo about
the team upping his salary and threatening not to turn up at the first race
unless they did.
HE'S NOT A ROBOT
You can hardly label someone who lists The Pope and Pele as his two great
idols as 'a robot'. Or someone who breaks down in tears during a press
conference when being asked a question about Ayrton Senna. Michael's
Germanic nature and the way he translates makes him come across as
arrogant, when really all he's being is logical.
Take the press conference from Barcelona. The interviewer says, "Michael,
that was a truly dominant drive, masterful."
To which Schumi answers, "Yes."
That sounds arrogant, but Michael will have computed the question as, 'That
was a drive where you were in control of the race from the front'. So
logically, yes, he was. He doesn't get the nuances of the language.
HE'S 110% COMMITTED
It's an over-used phrase but Michael more than any other driver puts an
enormous amount of time into making his team a success. Again it's part of
his Germanic nature, the thoroughness, the attention to detail. In the UK
three years ago we had some great adverts for the Volkswagen Passat that
were absolutely Michael Schumacher. They showed various VW engineers -
typical German guys - who were responsible for different areas of the car
in their own specialist fields. One guy was just opening and closing doors
listening to the sound of the door being closed. That's Schumi.
He'll test the car until it gets dark, after the test he'll wait behind and
talk over the data with the engineers till the problem is solved. While a
lot of drivers get out of the car and get in the helicopter, Michael is
prepared to sit and talk about the results until the solution is found.
Heiner Buchinger says that unlike Ralf, Michael takes the time and trouble
to get to know his mechanics, he asks about their families, he spends time
and he gets involved. That's why they love him so much. That's why in
Barcelona when his car broke down out on the circuit in practice on
Saturday morning, he virtually put the tow straps on himself and drove the
truck back. Michael's view on F1 is that if you're going to get involved
you do it to the maximum degree.
HE'S A GREAT MOTIVATOR (AND HE HASN'T CHANGED)
Steve Matchett on Schumi's first win for Benetton at Spa in 1992.
"On returning to the garage he shook everyone by the hand, thanking us all
individually for our help, another genuine show of appreciation that would
continue with every subsequent win. I have never felt such an integral part
of a team than when working with Michael and sharing the pleasure of one of
our victories.
As the crowds bulged from the circuit gates and we began packing equipment
in to the back of the race trucks, Michael changed out of his overalls. He
waved us farewell and set off on a bicycle, his victor's trophy strapped on
the back to meet his parents who were staying in one of the local hotels.
Michael gradually disappeared out of sight, ringing his bell, gently
turning left and right, avoiding small groups that were slowly plodding up
the hill. What a marvelous sight. Here was Michael Schumacher, the winner
of the Spa Grand Prix, cycling among the dispersing crowds, off to show his
mother and father his new trophy." The Mechanics Tale.
Love him or hate him. When he's gone, we'll miss him.
Frank Hopkinson
;D
