Schumacher displays a new humility in victory

Derick Allsop
Tuesday 23 July 2002 00:00 BST
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Same world champion, different man. That is the take of at least one other current driver as Formula One again acknowledges Michael Schumacher as the standard bearer for their sport.

Schumacher completed his latest success in record time in Sunday's French Grand Prix. He now has five titles, a feat achieved by only one other driver, Argentina's Juan Manuel Fangio, in the 1950s.

The German respectfully resists comparisons with Fangio, maintaining that racing today is much more of a team effort. It was left to others to consider where he should be placed in the pantheon of the greats.

Schumacher's uncompromising driving has, in the minds of some, tarnished his credentials to be ranked alongside Fangio, or Jim Clark, or the driver he succeeded as number one, Ayrton Senna. Stirling Moss, who partnered and raced against Fangio, believes the Scot, twice world champion, and the Brazilian, title-holder three times, are the closest challengers to his old friend's pre-eminence.

Moss concedes that times, attitudes and accepted practices have changed. He sees Schumacher as a product of the age, the best of today's drivers by far, yet lacking the humility and charm he looks for in champions.

David Coulthard has been one of the most vociferous critics among Schumacher's contemporaries, having encountered at first hand that notorious aggression. He has also accompanied Schumacher on the rostrum and at press conferences on countless occasions, observing, listening and forming his opinions on the champion.

Again, he has not always been impressed. Schumacher knows his status in Formula One is unchallenged and is conscious of his worth. However, here, when the record books elevated him to Fangio's level, the imperious mask slipped and a man of the people introduced himself.

There was no gloating, no posturing. He paid tribute not only to his team but also to Kimi Raikkonen, the young Fin who was within five laps of his maiden Formula One win when he slid on oil and presented the decisive victory to Schumacher and his Ferarri.

Coulthard, Raikkonen's McLaren team-mate, who finished third, again joined 33-year-old Schumacher through the post-race formalities and sensed a change in the champion, fifth time around.

"He seems to be mellowing in his old age," the Scotsman said. "He's definitely more humble, and that's good. Perhaps it's the family man in him that's making the difference. I imagine him going home from here and bouncing his baby on his knee.

"You've got to hand it to the guy. He's still the benchmark, the driver we've got to beat. His consistency is the thing that really impresses. He's there all the time and his results speak for themselves.

"He does seem to have his fair share of good luck. Again, his team-mate [Rubens Barrichello] gets left at the start, poor Kimi gets caught out by oil and Michael has another championship. But it's about being there and taking your opportunities, and Michael does that time and time again. What he's achieved is incredible."

That record also includes a phenomenal 61 career wins, eight of them this year. Schumacher needs two more from the remaining six races to claim the outright record for victories in a season.

Ross Brawn, Ferrari's technical director, has worked with Schumacher through all his championship-winning campaigns, two of them at Benetton, the rest, in consecutive years, at Maranello. The Englishman believes no one should dispute Schumacher's standing among motor racing's all-time élite.

Brawn said: "It's unfair to compare the great drivers of different eras because of the different circumstances and demands on them, but clearly they include Fangio and Senna, and I think you can talk about Michael being up there among them."

Ferrari have already made ominous progress with the design and development of next year's car and unless Williams or McLaren can raise their game Schumacher is likely to claim a sixth championship.

McLaren distinguished themselves here after an embarrassing effort at the British Grand Prix a fortnight earlier, but Williams again failed to match the qualifying performance of Juan Pablo Montoya, who started from pole position for the fifth race in a row.

Sam Michael, Williams's chief operations engineer, admitted: "We were simply not competitive enough. Our tyre choice looks like a mistake and our performance in race trim is not good enough."

Schumacher, meanwhile, had to take on his conscience before deciding whether to have his customary celebratory cigar. He sheepishly admitted that was his intention, but confided: "I don't like to say too much about this because I know that for a lot of kids I am a hero and this is not a good example.''

Ah, the flawed genius...

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