Michael Magic: Schumacher's Best Drives
So after 16 years and 7 world titles,the greatest F1 racer finally parked his car one final time.Michael Schumacher's last act as an F1 driver was a fitting testimonial to a career that was built on sheer dedication and ruthlesness.
Here are a few of his amazing performances :
1992 Belgium :A wet race,it was Schumacher's first win.After being overtaken by his team-mate Martin Brundle he noticed that the Briton's tyres were worn out.Assesing that he would have the same condition soon,he immediately pitted.A perfectly timed tyre change saw him finish ahead of the Williams.A Tactical Masterpiece.
1994 Spain :This has to be right up there with the best drives in the history of the sport.Schumacher managed a second place despite having just the 5th gear available for over 40 laps of the race.This period also included 2 pit stops.
1995 Belgium :Starting from the 16 place on the grid he stormed into the race lead by lap 15.But soon he had Damon Hill chasing him on wets as rain began to fall.Michael on dry tyres displyed great defensive tactics to cling on to the lead.hill managed to finally pass him,but Michael still took the win.
1995 Europe :In yet another wet race Michael Schumacher came from his final pit-stop 24 seconds behind Jean Alesi's ferrai with 16 laps to go.Schumacher pushed to the limit and passed Alesi on the penultimate lap to take the win.
1996 Spain :In a car that was off the pace of the leaders Schumacher won his first race for Ferrari in torrential rain.After dropping 6 places at the start,Michael stormed into the race lead on lap 12 going past Jaques Villeneuve.Three laps later his lead was 15 seconds and finally won the race by about 45 seconds.His fastest lap was 2.2 seconds quicker than anyone else.
1998 Hungary :A race were Ross Brawn famously told Michael to build up a 25 second lead in 19 laps before his final pit stop.Schumacher obliged,making a 3 stop strategy work and taking a famous victory.Ron Dennis later said "If you make just the slightest mistake, he'll get you. Mercilessly."
2003 Austria :Leading the race on lap 23 he pitted.During refuelling his Ferrari was engulfed in flames.Schumacher sat calmly in his car as the mechanics put out the flames,but he had lost 20 seconds and the race lead.Schumacher still roared back to famous victory at a circuit which had seen him take an embarassing victory in 2002.
2004 France :Running behind Fernando Alonso,Ferrari decide to switch to an audacious 4 stop strategy to leapfrog Alonso.Michael came in as early as lap 11 and resumed the race down at the 8th place.Thanks to 2 blistering laps he took the race lead on lap 32 after the Spaniard had made his second stop.He ups his pace and retains the lead after his third stop on lap 4.But he still had to stop once more for fuel and with Alonso just 3 seconds behind it was time for yet another display of Michael Magic.In just about 12 laps he builds a 22 second lead,just about enough for yet another splash and dash pit-stop.Michael thus became the frst and only driver to win after making 4 stops.
2006 China :With the World Tile up for grabs China was the site of yet another wet race.It was soon clear that Bridgestone wets were not a match to their Michelin counterparts.It took a herioic performance from Michael to qualify sixth on the grid.His was the only Bridgestone shod car in the top 12,with team-mate Massa qualifying 13th.During the race Michael drove conservatively for most part as Alonso build up a 25 second advantage,but a bad tyre choice by the Spaniard saw Michael and Fisichella catch up with him soon.After passing Alonso for second and building a confortable 20 second advantage over him,Michael produced fast in and out laps to cut down Fisichella's lead before passing him into turn 1 to take his 91st and last win.
Here are a few of his amazing performances :
1992 Belgium :A wet race,it was Schumacher's first win.After being overtaken by his team-mate Martin Brundle he noticed that the Briton's tyres were worn out.Assesing that he would have the same condition soon,he immediately pitted.A perfectly timed tyre change saw him finish ahead of the Williams.A Tactical Masterpiece.
1994 Spain :This has to be right up there with the best drives in the history of the sport.Schumacher managed a second place despite having just the 5th gear available for over 40 laps of the race.This period also included 2 pit stops.
1995 Belgium :Starting from the 16 place on the grid he stormed into the race lead by lap 15.But soon he had Damon Hill chasing him on wets as rain began to fall.Michael on dry tyres displyed great defensive tactics to cling on to the lead.hill managed to finally pass him,but Michael still took the win.
1995 Europe :In yet another wet race Michael Schumacher came from his final pit-stop 24 seconds behind Jean Alesi's ferrai with 16 laps to go.Schumacher pushed to the limit and passed Alesi on the penultimate lap to take the win.
1996 Spain :In a car that was off the pace of the leaders Schumacher won his first race for Ferrari in torrential rain.After dropping 6 places at the start,Michael stormed into the race lead on lap 12 going past Jaques Villeneuve.Three laps later his lead was 15 seconds and finally won the race by about 45 seconds.His fastest lap was 2.2 seconds quicker than anyone else.
1998 Hungary :A race were Ross Brawn famously told Michael to build up a 25 second lead in 19 laps before his final pit stop.Schumacher obliged,making a 3 stop strategy work and taking a famous victory.Ron Dennis later said "If you make just the slightest mistake, he'll get you. Mercilessly."
2003 Austria :Leading the race on lap 23 he pitted.During refuelling his Ferrari was engulfed in flames.Schumacher sat calmly in his car as the mechanics put out the flames,but he had lost 20 seconds and the race lead.Schumacher still roared back to famous victory at a circuit which had seen him take an embarassing victory in 2002.
2004 France :Running behind Fernando Alonso,Ferrari decide to switch to an audacious 4 stop strategy to leapfrog Alonso.Michael came in as early as lap 11 and resumed the race down at the 8th place.Thanks to 2 blistering laps he took the race lead on lap 32 after the Spaniard had made his second stop.He ups his pace and retains the lead after his third stop on lap 4.But he still had to stop once more for fuel and with Alonso just 3 seconds behind it was time for yet another display of Michael Magic.In just about 12 laps he builds a 22 second lead,just about enough for yet another splash and dash pit-stop.Michael thus became the frst and only driver to win after making 4 stops.
2006 China :With the World Tile up for grabs China was the site of yet another wet race.It was soon clear that Bridgestone wets were not a match to their Michelin counterparts.It took a herioic performance from Michael to qualify sixth on the grid.His was the only Bridgestone shod car in the top 12,with team-mate Massa qualifying 13th.During the race Michael drove conservatively for most part as Alonso build up a 25 second advantage,but a bad tyre choice by the Spaniard saw Michael and Fisichella catch up with him soon.After passing Alonso for second and building a confortable 20 second advantage over him,Michael produced fast in and out laps to cut down Fisichella's lead before passing him into turn 1 to take his 91st and last win.
posted by Not an intellectual at 5:11 AM
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