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by Blake Smith - 23/4/2000
The most
talked about incident in modern Motor racing is the 1994 championship
deciding collision between Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill
at Adelaide, which was then reiterated in 1997 when Michael
and Jacques Villeneuve had a collision in Jerez.
I
will start out by saying that I am a fan of Schumacher and not
of Hill, some people will say that this makes me biased, but I
am a racer's racer and quick to criticize poor driving.
Firstly
lets analyse the collision in 1994 between Hill and Schumacher.
Schue made a mistake and ran wide leaving a chance for Hill
to pass. Hill being a racer and seeing his chance to pass, which
would give him the lead meaning he would win the championship
as long as he could hold out Schumacher until the end of the
race. A relatively easy feat as he had an (arguably) faster
car, and it is nearly impossible to overtake in formula one
today. Schumacher being a racer to did not want to relinquish
his position, as he knew Hill having the (arguably) faster car
would pull away and his chances for the championship would disappear
off into the distance with him. So Schumacher tried to shut
the door. Unfortunately for both of them and for us fans Hill
was already halfway through. Now neither driver could have changed
just after this point and the crash was imminent. However the
question remains was it deliberate?
In
my eyes it was not a deliberate attempt by Michael Schumacher
to crash Hill out of the race (and the championship), but an
attempt to hold onto the lead. Now I don't believe that Schumacher
could have seen Hill due to the angle of his car meaning Hill
would not have been visible in Michael's mirrors, and due to
the formula one regulations on the cockpit Michael wouldn't
have had the peripheral vision to see Damon, however this is
my belief and Michael is the only one that would really know.
The
resultant crash was unfortunate for Michael in that his great
driving throughout the season was clouded by one incident, and
he did not get to finish the race. Also for Damon in that he
did not win the championship and did not get to finish the race.
For us fans because we were unable to see a great enthralling
battle between two great drivers in a great battle for the glory
of being world Champion.
However, the events that unfolded at Jerez in
1997 between Michael and Jacques Villeneuve have a completely
different appearance.
I
believe that Michael had a terminal problem with his car. (Maybe
it had something to do with that unpromising cloud of smoke
coming out of the rear of his car in the previous corner). This
allowed Villeneuve to close up and pull alongside Michael to
make an inside pass. This pass would have been clean and trouble
free if Michael did not deliberately turn into the side of Villeneuve
in an attempt to take him out of the race.
It
is quite blunt but that is the way I believe it happened. Michael
knowing he was out of the race (due to this terminal problem),
knew that Jacques would go on to win the race and along with
it the championship. When Jacques pulled inside Michael, Michael
originally began to turn to the left to give Jacques racing
room and pass cleanly being a professional racer. Then posed
with the championship slipping through his fingers, all the
hard work he had done all year turning into nothing Michael
saw and opportunity to change this and he immediately turned
hard right becoming a villain. In a quite blatant attempt to
take Jacques out of the race and thus out of championship contention.
I'm not sure how I would react myself in this situation but
I might have done the same, I'm not saying Michael's actions
were justified I'm just saying that he was posed with a decision
and he took the option that could have reaped him great rewards,
unfortunately for him it caused him great difficulty and wounded
his character. I believe that he got off lightly with only losing
his second place in the world championship. He could have received
a much harsher punishment similar to the six-month ban Senna
was threatened with.
Fortunately
for Jacques he went on to in the championship so that he could
reap the rewards for his own hard work during the season being
unfortunate not to win the championship in his rookie year.
Unfortunately
for Michael his actions put him under great criticism and a
lot of stress, next time I hope he thinks twice, the 1994 incident
also resurfaced due to this new one which was now interpreted
as a definite attempt to take Hill out of the race as well.
These
are my own views and you are free to have your own, however
if you feel I am like good old Murrey walker and "very much
mistaken" feel free to send me an email Buttwhisker@hotmail.com.
Disclaimer:
The views expressed by the author of this article are not necessarily
those of mSchumacher.com, which may differ.
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