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Why Did Schumi Do It?


It's hard to fathom why such an experienced driver as Michael Schumacher, a man who has been voted Laureus Sportsman of the Year so many times, should get it so wrong in Monaco qualifying

No, I couldn't quite believe it either. The moment Schumacher ran wide at Rascasse in Qualifying for Monaco and parked the car there it was obvious he didn't want to continue. For a start, the tyres of his Ferrari weren't even up against the Armco, (and for those who doubt it, look at the in-car footage).

The biggest question wasn't DID he do it deliberately. It was quite obvious he did it deliberately. It was WHY he did it? Why risk his reputation as a seven-times World Champion, the greatest points scorer, GP winner, pole-sitter, driver etc of all time.

In the press conference he had his guilty "post-Austria 2002" face on. This was the uncomfortable post-race press conference he had to endure after the Ferrari team had asked Rubens Barrichello to move over and give up the win to him. Schumacher was booed off the podium. At the time Schumi made out that he didn't know what was going on (not true, as it turned out) and referred people to "Mr.Todt".

Luckily on Saturday he had the poodle-like Peter Windsor (a man who worships the ground he walks on) asking the questions in the post-Qualifying press conference and so he got away with it. Though the fact that he momentarily forgot one of the most famous corners in F1 - Rascasse - set alarm bells ringing.

Schumi also seemed unable to describe what had happened that made him run on, just that he was pushing hard. Given that Rascasse along with Lowes/Gran Hotel hairpin is one of the two slowest corners in F1, it's very difficult to get wrong. In the 25 years I've been watching F1 races I can't remember anyone losing it there on a qualifying lap on good tyres.

After we came out of the press conference the ITV crew were very suspicious too.

"Didn't he look a bit sheepish?" asked pundit Mark Blundell who's driven the corner many hundreds of time in his career. "It's difficult to have an accident there."

"There wasn't a conviction in what he was saying and you get the feeling that he parked it and then realised it was the wrong thing to do."

Meanwhile, Ted Kravitz had been speaking to other people in the pitlane. "I've been talking to other teams who've come to me and said Ferrari are a disgrace, they're an absolute disgrace. They're all sure he did it deliberately"

So, no healthy differences of opinion, only one conclusion if you're not wearing red.

Flavio Briatore was similarly disgusted with Schumacher. "I think he is taking everyone for a ride. Someone who was seven times a world champion wants us to believe that he didn't do it on purpose - it's fairyland.

"And given that we are not Snow White and the Seven Dwarves I think that what he did was unsporting and against everything.

"It's really astonishing what he did. Incredible."

Though Schumacher has been mired in controversy throughout his career, stretching back from his pre-F1 days, this is potentially the most serious. This is one incident he can't afford to back down from. It's serious because it could cast a cloud over his exit from F1.

And even if nothing is done before the race on Sunday it will still rage on all season. In the 1997 Jerez GP, when he was fighting for the lead and the World Championship with Jacques Villeneuve, he tried to take Villeneuve out and put himself into the gravel. At the time it was dismissed as a racing incident by stewards, but Schumacher was subsequently punished by the FIA. And years later he admitted to Jeremy Clarkson that yes, he did drive into Jacques.

Schumacher has had similar clashes with Mika Hakkinen, Damon Hill and used to be well-known for his Schu-weave, a manoeuvre which almost pinned his brother against a pitwall, caused Montoya to lose the Brazilian GP and once put Alonso on the grass at Silverstone.

But the incident that is most telling is the start of the 2000 Austrian GP when he was hit by an overzealous Ricardo Zonta in Turn 1. Schumacher's Ferrari had a deranged front wing at the first corner and so Schumi drove his car onto the racing line and then switched the engine off. He was hoping for a red flag and a re-start. Instead he got a Safety Car and no re-start.

Today the ghosts of 1997, of 2000 and of 2002 reappeared. Jean Todt had said that there was some fun missing from F1 and his team have certainly injected it. This incident will be talked about for years to come.

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Редактирано от V-Shokou io kurayami на 31.05.06 19:13.