Yes, there are still issues from Hungary to talk about. All in good time.
First, some news on Ferrari. Felipe Massa’s personal doctor has said today that his left eye doesn’t show any signs of long-term damage, his recovery is progressing well and he should be able to race again. Only a couple of days ago it appeared that his life was in danger, so it’s great to hear that not only is he progressing well, but he’ll be able to return to his chosen career should he have the desire to.
It’d be a surprise if that was much before the end of the season, though, and in the meantime Ferrari do have a car to be driven. Recent days have seen fevered speculation over Massa’s replacement, with long-time Maranello target Fernando Alonso hotly tipped by many. In the end, though, the team have gone for someone with no experience of current-spec Formula One cars.
It’s only last week that we were discussing Jaime Alguersuari and whether he’d sink, as seemed likely, or swim at Scuderia Toro Rosso. The signs from a remarkably encouraging debut are that he might just keep his head above water, so if Jaime can do it, it seems a safe bet that this chap will manage fairly well too:
Alright, he’s got no recent driving experience, but he has got 91 wins, 7 world championships (5 of those consecutively), 76 fastest laps and 68 pole positions to his name, so he’s probably worth a shot.
It has been suggested that getting Michael Schumacher to agree to a brief comeback must have taken the hardest of hard sells from the Ferrari top brass. Really? Getting him to retire in the first place must have taken some doing, since when he stepped out of his car in the Interlagos paddock in October 2006 he was a driver still at the top of his game, with plenty of driving left in him and, to the eyes of the distant observer, being sidelined against his will. “Any chance you could leave us the keys, Michael? It’s just we’ve got this Finnish bloke coming to have a look at your car…”
That day Michael carved through the field from the back after an early puncture, eventually falling only one place short of the podium. With four laps of his career to go he fought wheel-to-wheel with his replacement Kimi Raikkonen for P4, and with one lap remaining he set the race’s fastest lap. It seemed a shame that it was all coming to an end; though you couldn’t help but be happy that he’d gone while at the peak of his powers, you equally couldn’t shake the idea that it’d be some time before any kind of decline set in. It seemed even more of a shame when, over a year later, he tested the Ferrari during the off-season and was as searingly quick as he’d always been.
Watching Raikkonen drifting and sliding around the Hungaroring on Sunday, revelling in a car that gave him leeway to get the tail out without damaging either his lap time or his limbs, it was easy to imagine how much Schumacher in his prime would have loved the Ferrari F60. While it’s not a great racing car, it has quietly turned into a very good one, quick enough to compete near the front of races when the stars are aligned. It looks like a car willing to be taken by the scruff of the neck, a car capable of regular good days that could become occasional great days in the right hands, the hands of a driver quick enough to make the difference. You think Michael wouldn’t love that?
14 years ago, Ferrari were in exactly that situation when Schumacher first signed for them. Their one race win in 1995, Jean Alesi’s emotional triumph in Montreal, was handed to them when Schumacher’s Benetton hit trouble late in the race. Elsewhere, there were two dominant teams, one harnessing the design skills of Adrian Newey and the other the leadership skills of Ross Brawn. The Ferrari was competent, sure, but the team didn’t really look like race winners. Then Michael arrived.
This year, the F60 is yet to win a race. Elsewhere, there are two dominant teams, one harnessing the design skills of Adrian Newey and the other the leadership skills of Ross Brawn. The Ferrari is competent, sure, but the team don’t really look like race winners.
Michael’s arriving. He couldn’t, could he?
[...] mate from across the Pond; a good bloke that contributed in the early days of CG. Adam’s recent Petrol Head post puts some nice flavor on Schumacher’s return … It has been suggested that getting [...]