Let the games begin!
If you haven’t noticed from my Twitter feed, I am a Formula 1 fan. I wasn’t always a fan but had followed it on and off for a few years – those years where a certain Ferrari driver won race after race, championship after championship, and it got a little boring. Then, in 2007, a young upstart entered the fray for McLaren and really stirred things up a bit. Heck, he almost won the world championship in his debut year. Lewis Hamilton came in 2nd to Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. Without the red cars winning every race, a great deal of tension throughout the season, and some awesome competition, I was taken with a sport that now entertains me every couple of weeks from March to November each year.
I like the way Lewis drives. I like the aggressiveness (although sometimes reckless) nature in the way he overtakes and defends for position. Yes, having a good car to race in helps a hell of a lot, demonstrated perfectly by Brawn GP, Red Bull & Toyota earlier this season. (Perhaps I should have said “having Ross Brawn helps a hell of a lot”). Just look at the results. Now, however, the cars seem to be on a more level playing field. The Qualifying times for the Hungarian GP show that the top 10 times for Q1 were within just 0.1 seconds of each other. And just 1 second spread all 20 drivers. That’s a remarkably small amount. Compare this to last year’s qualifying in Hungary – the top 10 times for Q1 were spread over 1.2 seconds, with all 20 times being spread over nearly 3 seconds.
I have often wondered, & am probably not the only one, how Hamilton (or indeed Vettel) would compare to Michael Schumacher. As Schumacher retired from Formula 1 at the end of 2006, we have not had the opportunity to find out, and have had to rely on imagination and speculation. Until now.
With Felipe Massa’s horrible accident during qualifying at the Hungarian GP ruling him out of the European GP, and possibly the rest of the 2009 season, there is a need for another Ferrari driver. Speculation had been rife that Michael Schumacher may ask be asked to come back for a short time until Massa returns. This announcement confirms that he will indeed be Massa’s substitute.
I am thoroughly excited by this. It will shake things up a bit and we will finally get to see a number of great drivers (Schumacher/Alonso/Raikkonen/Hamilton/Button/Vettel/Webber among others…) competing with cars that are currently performing on a very similar level. I can’t wait. And I am sure that there are thousands more that feel the same way. If you weren’t enamoured by F1 before, this may change that.
A few quotes from the intertubz:
The BBC: “Lewis Hamilton against Michael Schumacher for the first time ever? Jenson Button up against Michael Schumacher? How will Kimi Raikkonen respond? It’s going to be fascinating.”
Eddie Jordan – “..I’m sure he [Bernie Ecclestone] has a little magic wand somewhere involved in this, because things just don’t happen…he has made this happen…”
The Telegraph: “Old green eyes is back. And boy is Formula One pleased to see him. Never mind Ferrari, Michael Schumacher is digging the sport out of a hole following BMW’s withdrawal from Formula One.”
The New York Times: “To return as a fill-in and not commit for a full season and run for the title could be something incredibly appealing to him”
Are you into Formula 1? What are your views on Schumacher’s return?
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