Shoeless Joe Jackson was a phenomenal baseball player for the Chicago White Sox. But he was caught up in the Black Sox Scandal, where he and a few teammates conspired to throw the 1919 World Series. A young fan, seeing his hero Shoeless Joe emerge from the courthouse, gave us the immortal line, “Say it ain’t so, Joe.”
I felt much the same at the conclusion of qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix this past Saturday. Schumacher had just lost control of his car at Rascasse, the second last corner on the famous street circuit, and caused Alonso to have to abandon his final qualifying lap which was looking like it would beat the German to the pole. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I watched the replay and it didn’t look right. Why was he taking such a shallow line into the corner? Why did he look so awkward when he tried to correct the understeer? At that point the ITV announcers had said what many were thinking; did Schumacher do it on purpose to avoid losing the pole position to a faster Alonso?
As it turns out the race Stewards agreed that he had deliberately blocked the track and after 7 hours of deliberation decided to cancel all his qualifying lap times and relegate him to the back of the grid.
Schumacher is no stranger to controversy. In a 15 year career with the success he has had he is bound to have come across some unsavory moments. As a fan I was able to accept those moments of “brain fade” as I marvelled at his talent and determination. I’m not naive and I know he has done some questionable things on the track but for the most part it was very easy to argue those things as racing incidents. I guess in particular I’m talking about Adelaide 94 and Jerez 97. Austria 02 wasn’t his fault and I don’t buy into the various conspiracy rubbish that plague his most voracious detractors. His so called “chops” are by and large racing incidents. The great Senna had a certain aggression on the track which made Schumacher’s chops look like a Sunday league karting incident. No, I’m talking about those two fateful incidents in 94 and 97. I guess I can add 06 to that list.
I think he did deliberately park his car at Rascasse. I think his awkward behaviour at the Press Conference gave away his guilt. The Stewards comments are more damning when you analyze the video.
“It was a painful decision because we could not make a mistake and put the reputation of the driver at risk,” he told Gazzetta dello Sport. “We don’t know for sure if the entire manoeuvre was deliberate, but in that spot he had certainly not done anything like it throughout the weekend. Schumacher braked over 50% more heavily than on the other laps he did. He then performed some absolutely unnecessary and pathetic counter-steering, and that lasted five metres, until there was no more chances of going through the turn normally.”
“He lost control of his car while travelling at only 16km/h. That is something completely unjustifiable. And the engine only shut off because he wanted it to by losing enough time before hitting the clutch. And the excuse that he did not engage reverse because there was traffic doesn’t make sense at all.”
“If he had damaged his Ferrari we would have probably filed the matter as an error,” Verdegay admitted. “We have only applied article 116 of the sporting regulations which says: if a driver affects the results of other drivers by committing an error, you can cancel all of his lap times.”
Is it possible he made mistake? Of course but not likely given all the other evidence and the circumstances under which he alleges he made a mistake. At the very core of this incident it comes down to a driver breaking the rules in the eyes of the Stewards and being punished for it. Case closed. But for myself it made me think of his flawed genius. Damon Hill put it best.
“There are two things that set Michael apart from the rest of the drivers in Formula One – his sheer talent and his attitude.
“I am full of admiration for the former, but the latter leaves me cold.”
His driving skill is without peer. His determination is in the same league or even second to the likes of Senna. Senna, like Schumacher, had his fair share of controversial moments, too many to list here. To be honest every driver has had his moments. They are human and make mistakes and poor judgment. After Saturdays display I can more clearly see the flaws in the genius. Maybe I’m analyzing it too much but I don’t know where this irreverence in Schumacher comes from. Maybe I am naive and if you spend enough time at the top and have enough people tell you your skills are God like then you start believing you’re above the law.
The “crime” has been justly punished. The detractors are having their day in the sun and the fanboys are having a lot to answer for. For myself, at the moment I realized he had parked his car to avoid his rivals from beating him I had a moment where I thought to myself; Say it ain’t so.
you have got a great blog here, just gave you a link, a kind link back will be appreciated.
Thanks Ankit. I’ve been reading your blog as well. Thanks for the link. I’ll put a link to your blog as well.