Ok, do you have your rose tinted glasses on? Good, let's
begin.
I'll set the scene, its 2001, I am just 8 years old, I'm stood
in my Grandad's house during a family gathering, my Gran has worked
hard to make a buffet and we're all tucking into the various foods
available. Whilst stood in the doorway to the living room I can see
the TV, on which my uncle has switched on the Brazilian Grand
Prix.
I remember him and my Auntie cheering Michael Schumacher on as
he went on to take second place. Maybe it was pure coincidence,
maybe it was fate, but for whatever reason I fell in love with
Formula 1 that day. Since the Brazilian Grand Prix was in the
evening and I knew nothing about the sport I assumed all races were
that time and when I caught a brief glimpse of ITV's advert for the
Spanish Grand Prix I planned to watch it on the Sunday evening,
only to find out I'd missed it. So I caught the next one, the
Austrian Grand Prix. Again Schumacher came second, behind David
Coulthard, who had also won the Brazilian Grand Prix.
From here on in I was hooked. I've followed the sport ever since
and at many times during my childhood Formula One and Michael
Schumacher was all I would talk about. He won a lot of races in
2001, nearly every race in 2002, 2003 and 2004. In 2005, when the
rules changed so that mid race tyre changes were banned, my 12 year
old heart was broken as the guy who I'd assumed would be winning
Formula One races and championships forever no longer was.
Schumacher to me, and I assume many others, is a symbol of
success, dedication, and dominance. He's always had a killer
instinct in races, many times it's caused controversy. The
dominance that Schumacher had in Formula 1 during the first half of
the 'naughties' was a defining part of my childhood, from it, I
learned that if you build a team around you, work hard and never
give up you can succeed in anything you do. I took that attitude
right the way through my school years, in the majority of my
classes I was at the top, through hard work and dedication and in
August I hope to be picking up A level results showing A*s and As.
Of course, I can't say Michael Schumacher got me my qualifications,
but I carried that same attitude which I believe contributed
immensely
In 2009 after Felipe Massa's accident and the rumours were going
round that Michael Schumacher was coming out of retirement to drive
for Ferrari once again, my passion for Formula 1 reignited, it
suddenly dawned on me that whilst I am a Formula One fan now, up
until the end of the 2006 season I was just a Michael Schumacher
fan. He still has one of the biggest fan bases in the sport,
despite him no longer being at the front, and I don't think he'll
ever lose those fans. Why? Because they see the red helmet and
remember a time when the name Michael Schumacher was associated
with success and dominance.
Part of me, and I assume many other Schumacher fans, want
Michael to continue to race forever, but at the same time don't
want him to keep racing whilst he's not at the front. I personally
just want to see one more win, one more jump on that podium and to
listen to the German National Anthem without it being followed by
the Austrian one more time.
After a quick bit of Googling, I found many people who, like me,
are a little bit peeved that people can discredit and insult
Michael Schumacher for his return to Formula One. Sure he's not
winning, but he's giving it a damned good go. He could very easily
have pulled out last season and blamed his neck, but he stuck to
it, he persevered and showed the same levels of dedication that he
did once upon a time.