THE LEGACY OF WOLFGANG VON TRIPS

Wolfgang von Trips, minutes before his demise 

"I wanted to win, but not at this price." - so remarked the 1961 Formula One champion Phil Hill. It was a dream victory to have secured his maiden world title in Formula One driving for Ferrari and to top it, in front of the several thousands of Tifosi at Monza, Italy. Hill won the title by leapfrogging his teammate by one point. Wolfgang von Trips, his colleague and the points leader coming into the race needed a third placed finish to secure the driver's title, a first for a German driver. His race ended on lap two, and a little later, his life ended too!

DEATH AT THE TRACK

Growing up as a racer, Von Trips was not new to accidents. In fact, he survived so many accidents before maturity and consistency became an integral part of his driving. And these new attributes were on display when he was part of Ferrari's dream team of 1961. Phil Hill, Richie Ginther, Ricardo Rodriguez, Giancarlo Baghetti and Wolfgang von Trips won five of the seven races Ferrari took part in and the team and its drivers were clearly miles ahead from rest of the pack.

Coming into the penultimate race at Monza, Von Trips was leading the championship by four points over his American teammate Phil Hill. They were friends off the track, but on the race day they were fierce competitors as both wanted to be the first from their country to win a driver's title.

Von Trips was in the best position to claim the win as he qualified in the front row with the fastest time and all Hill could manage was fourth. Thousands of fans had gathered with a prospect of watching one of the Ferrari drivers winning the title.

The race started - Von Trips had the worst start and by the end of lap one he was placed sixth and ahead of him were - Phil Hill who led the race, followed by his other team mates Ginther and Rodriguez; then came Jim Clark, followed closely by Jack Brabham and Von Trips.

Von Trips relying on Ferrari's superior speed got past Clark and was chasing down Brabham. Clark with a lighter fuel load was not in a mood to give up that easy and his pace and car handling kept him within few metres of the German. As they duo approached the Parabolica curve, Von Trips slowed down a bit to position himself better to take the tricky right hander. Sensing an opportunity, Clark tried to overtake Von Trips from the left and at this instant, Von Trips moved slightly to the left to cover his position and next moment - bang!

The left rear of Von Trips made a severe high speed contact with Jim Clark's right front wheel and in the next few seconds, it was a catastrophe. The Ferrari took the aerial route, found itself inverted and with no seat belts, Von Trips was thrown off the car and he fell down with a great impact. The car with a high momentum went on to strike the fence where spectators were placed, hit some of them before flipping back on the track.

Von Trips died on the spot and so too eleven spectators. Three more died the next day and one after five days.

THE AFTERMATH

"Trips was head of me, driving on the centre of the track. Suddenly he slowed down. Since my Lotus was faster than the Ferrari, I tried to overtake him. In the same instant the Ferrari surprisingly pulled to the left, and a collision became unavoidable..." - this was Jim Clark's take on that dreadful incident.

Recollecting the incident after 50 years, the second placed driver that day Dan Gurney gave an account on what happened and what was the attitude back then in an interview with Daily Mail: "'I had a very good seat for watching what happened. I was probably running in about 10^th place in my Porsche. There was a great group of drivers, some of whom were braver and less experienced than they should have been so the chance of something like that happening was pretty great." 

Phil Hill knew there was a huge accident, but the race continued. He completed the race in a little over two hours before he enquired his manager about what had happened.

"And Trips? Is he dead?"

"Come on,” said the manager. "They want you for the awards ceremony."

In today's world, it is unimaginable to think of such a response. But the times were different and as Dan Gurney points out - "We were born at a different time and basically were raised during the time of World War Two with many of us involved, or very close to being involved in it. It seemed to be the general outlook, people didn't complain about things and they had a World War Two attitude."

Robert Daley, who was a journalist that day recalled - "The emotions are still right on the surface. I was the same age as these guys and they were dying all around me."

In his book 'The Limit', the author Michael Cannell covers Phil Hill's triumph and the 1961 Formula One season - " I always felt like this was a proxy war. The British, Italians, Germans - they were still in some way fighting World War II. They were putting their handsome young men in the most sophisticated machinery and sending them out to their deaths."

LEGACY

Wolfgang von Trips belonged to one of the respected families in Germany. The Von Trips family lived in Castle Hemmerbach since 1751, and Von trips grew up in this grand building, with his ears attuned to the sounds of the Silver Arrows at the Nürburgring, which was very close to the castle grounds.

In 1961, a month prior to his unexpected demise, a fan club was formed in his honour and continuing the name of this great German post WW II, the members constructed a go kart facility in Horrem. With time, the virus of karting spread across Germany and with constant support from the Von Trips family, came a new facility in Kerpen-Mannheim.

Michael Schumacher's dad Rolf got involved and leased the facility for some time and that is where the Schumacher brothers first got the taste of racing. Other German drivers like Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Nick Heidfeld and the four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel are all the products of this facility. Michael Schumacher re-started the passion and went on to complete the unfinished job of Von Trips in becoming the first German driver champion of F1 and the trend continues......

ON AN END NOTE

Wolfgang Von Trips on the brink of becoming the first German to win the championship was eager to get the 1961 Italian Grand Prix off his back. He was visibly nervous and he disclosed his feeling to Robert Daley and his wife over tea on the eve of the Grand Prix - "Every driver has a place deep inside him where he's afraid of death." He went on to add - "This could all end tomorrow, you never know." 

C'EST LA VIE - VETTEL & FERRARI AT THE BELGIAN GRAND PRIX

Image Source: The Guardian 

Sebastian Vettel had to bow out of the Belgian Grand Prix while he was fighting for the third place. Behind him was Romain Grosjean and he looked good to overtake the Ferrari and steal the last place on the podium from Vettel. With Mercedes not losing its might in the championships, one can assume, a third place finish to be a winner. And Vettel was within this reach and they were on a one-stop strategy with the hard tyres 27 laps old. And then, the Ferrari fending off Grosjean's Lotus had to take some defensive lines and this went on for about five laps and boom! - off it went Vettel's rear right tyre and there was no option but to retire as he had a good 5 km or so to cover to reach the pits. Whose fault was it?

NOT FOR THE FIRST TIME AND DEFINITELY NOT THE LAST TIME

It was not the first time a driver had to retire in Formula One - there have been many occasions when F1 cars have retired when the car was within kilometres from winning before hell broke loose. In the recent past, it has happened to Mika Hakkinen at the Spanish Grand Prix 2001, the car ceased to move because of engine related problems and he retired on the last lap, while leading the race. Kimi Raikkonen was leading the 2005 European Grand Prix and for the last twenty laps he went on with a flat spot on his front right tyre. He raced on over the course of twenty laps (rules stated no tyre change unless punctured) and this affected the suspension and the tyre came off on the last lap. Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren took a gamble. The team and the driver collectively took a decision to ride on their luck hoping it would pay off. Fernando Alonso would have won the race as he had a better car behind Kimi or if Kimi could have held him off,  McLaren would have celebrated the victory. You play the sport with high stakes at times!

When it comes down to going for glory or nothing, you gotta be prepared that - the other side of victory is defeat. To give one more instance of riding on one's luck - Ferrari and Michael Schumacher at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix decided not to pit for new tyres when it was clearly visible the car lacked grip and losing time. Ferrari wanted to gain more points as Schumacher's rival Fernando Alonso (yeah, again) had retired from the race. Ferrari relented and ended up losing Michael Schumacher as he damaged his suspension trying to defend from cars overtaking him.

For Ferrari and Vettel, yes it was unfortunate that tyre gave up the way it did. Twenty seven laps on a single set of hard tyres was not the way other drivers chose. The car was handling fine and I was confident he could have made it but for the pressure exerted by Romain Grosjean in the dying stages of the race. Vettel up until then was happy to be placed third and chose not to pit for new tyres - the script was perfect, just that the Grosjean factor was not considered. The four-time champion could have let the faster car go instead of defending  - but a racer that he is, it is not easy to let go someone without fight in that heat of racing. Vettel pushed his luck, while Ferrari crew could only watch and hope the result to be in their side and in the end it didn't pay off. Tough luck!

Post race, Vettel went aggressive on Pirelli and suggested the tyres must never come off as long as drivers raced within the track limits. However, this isn't an ideal world where things happen as we wish it has to, there will be anomalies and Vettel's tyre burst was one such case. He was fighting for the third place in a race where Ferrari looked out of sorts - Vettel took the gamble and in the end it didn't go his way.

When reporters asked Pirelli head Paul Hembery about Vettel's reaction - he brushed away and told drivers undergo a lot of things after such intense battle before showing surprise about being unaware of Ferrari's single stop strategy compared to rest of the drivers. 

While Vettel has come to terms with the issue of tyres, the world of motorsport mourned at the loss of a former F1 driver Justin Wilson. He drove in the 2003 season in a specially customised cars designed by Minardi and Jaguar as he was very tall for the normal design. He passed away after sustaining head injuries in a IndyCar race.

Graham Nash once quoted - “Life is not perfect. It never will be. You just have to make the very best of it, and you have to open your heart to what the world can show you; and sometimes it's terrifying, and sometimes it's incredibly beautiful, and I'll take both.”

Formula One and motor racing is dangerous and yet people have great ambitions to be part of it, safety marshals risk their lives in doing their job by the track side and many others including fans who are in the circuit - why?

Hindsight is vision 20:20 and decisions are not made all the time looking backwards, some decisions are made on the go looking at the present - it works at times, and in other times it doesn't. If it pays off - life is beautiful; when it doesn't - life can be cruel. C'est la vie, Voilà Formule Un! 

THE KILLER YEARS OF SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS

Image Source - http://bit.ly/1PDjTFE 

"There is so much more to racing when it is dangerous, because the exhilaration of success is far higher" - Sir Stirling Moss summed up what was Belgian Grand Prix like when it was twice the length as the current track distance. With an average speed of over 255 km/h (in the 50's and 60's) on a 14.1 km circuit, it was a daunting challenge for the drivers who lined up each year to race at this Grand Prix.

NOT SAFE ENOUGH  

What was considered as exhilaration in the 50's was looked from a different perspective from the mid-1960's. Drivers got together, talked openly about the safety standards about the track. The aspect of 'thrill' was there - but a lot of the drivers didn't want to see one of their colleagues die on the track. The word 'future' didn't exist in the vocabulary of many drivers as they knew all can go wrong in a matter of one second of misjudgment.

The tickets during those days clearly inscribed the words - "Motorsports is dangerous" and yet thousands of people flocked in each year and stood close to the racing tracks, completely aware a slight accident can claim their lives too.

It wasn't a test of who survived from the accidents - instead motor racing was (and is) all about pushing a car to its limit and yet come out alive and celebrate if victorious.

In case of the Belgian Grand Prix, the track comprised of public roads, not an ideal environment for speeding cars - however those were the norm during those days. Since the start of the championships in 1950, each year the car went a touch quicker as competition for the top spot intensified. Naturally, the drivers too went at high speeds and what remained constant was the track and its set up with a minimum focus on safety procedures.

In 1969, several of the drivers boycotted the scheduled Belgian Grand Prix complaining the track was way too dangerous. They had their way in the end and organisers installed the Armco barriers for the 1970 Grand Prix with the previous edition being cancelled. In spite of this added protection, the drivers still felt the circuit was very fast, dangerous and this resulted in the cancelling of Spa-Francorchamps as the venue from 1971 for a period of thirteen years. In 1983, the race distance was halved, a major chunk of the circuit was removed - and with run-off areas, barriers, and other safety measures, the Spa-Francorchamps returned and has been a regular feature since the mid-1980's.

JACKIE STEWART SURVIVES THE SCARE

The old circuit at Spa-Francorchamps - pacy and intimidating

Many drivers who raced in the 1950's and 60's have been open in saying the roads of Burnenville, Masta Kink and Stavelot happened to be one of the fastest and intimidating parts they had to encounter, even more challenging than Eau Rouge. A long fast right hand corner in Burnenville leading up to Malmédy was one such part which was challenging and marked the start of the dangerous path in the old circuit.  

And then came the most frightening of all the corners - the Masta Kink. Drivers had to be more brave than skilful to take this corner without leaving the throttle. The Masta Kink was a tight left-right chicane and cars approached it at the top speed well over 270 km/hr. The key element was the speed as this chicane was sandwiched between two unbroken straights each measuring 2.5 km. Hence the entry speed and exit speed was crucial to maintain the overall lap time.

Jackie Stewart in 1966 had his car severely damaged after his BRM crashed a telephone pole at Masta Kink. With fuel dripping all over him and coupled with broken ribs,  he was unable to get out and was stuck in his car. Fellow BRM drivers Graham Hill and Bob Bondurant had also gone off the circuit and the duo came to Stewart's rescue. With no medical support unlike in the modern era, it took a spectator's tool kit to separate Stewart from his car. Jackie Stewart admits, he was lucky to survive as he was half-drenched with fuel and was stuck inside the car for close to 25 minutes. The steering wheel had to be taken off to relieve Stewart and this incident paved way for detachable steering wheels.

AN ADVOCATE FOR SAFETY

Since that incident, Jackie Stewart always tapped a spanner to his steering wheel and off the track became actively involved to improve the safety standards in Formula One. With each year, his fame as a driver grew and so did his voice and his several messages had profound effect on increasing the track safety standards. It was him who led the driver's concerns and eventually had Spa dropped from the F1 calendar till the time it was deemed safe.

There were other races such as the touring races, endurance races that took place in the old circuit in the 70's and finally in 1979, the circuit was modified and it took a further four years for Spa-Francorchamps to make it back to the F1 calendar.

The modified circuit which helped Spa Francorchamps to make a comeback

The beauty, the charm and the nostalgia associated with Spa-Francorchamps is still there without those thrilling sections from the old track. The track revisions has had a positive effect on the organisers and thereby to Formula One - as this circuit's evolution links the several dots the sport has joined over the years.

END NOTE

I was lucky enough to drive on those roads that were deemed dangerous. Burnenville and Masta Kink are now just a pale shadow of what it represented. Since thirty five years, these have remained just another European village roads where speed limits do not exceed more than 80 km/hr. Even today, drivers are excited to go quicker and they get the same exhilaration when they win - but they have also seen a generation growing up who sacrificed their lives to make this sport safer and a lot more secure.

I love this sport because the talk is not about accidents, deaths or safety alone - there is a lot more that's discussed and written about. Formula One is no longer a threat to life as it once was (in spite of Jules Bianchi's tragic incident) - it has evolved and values safety more than few individual's exhilaration and kicks they derive by making sports dangerous. A lot has changed from those killer years when a normal race seemed like a death race. It is no longer a question of hope when a driver sets out to race, he/she is now confident about safety. Yes, being very safe that takes the sheen if one looks at it from excitement point of view alone - however, is it worth rooting for a sport that swallows lives week after week and make money out of it? 

THE CULT OF EAU ROUGE - BELGIAN GRAND PRIX

Eau Rouge - the iconic corner in Formula One 

Pouts of rain in the middle of European summer is not an unusual sight and in spite of few days of 'harsh heat', there are more cooler days and that was the case when I reached the town Spa. It was more than a drizzle as a few people working around me have just put on their rain jackets while few visitors took to  umbrellas and went on with their business as usual. I parked my car, asked my mother, if she wanted to come outside? She was comfortable being seated inside the car along with my sister and their newest companion, Abhinav. Tripti, my wife, as usual was always game to my crazy habit of visiting F1 tracks - be it 'contemporary 'or in ruins. We took our umbrellas with us ( just in case) and both went about walking perpendicular to the race track and entered the tunnel over which the cars at a great pace approach 'Eau Rouge'.

THE NAME

Located in the Ardennes and in the province of Liège, its famous municipality Spa is known worldwide for many reasons. A popular place and a well-known site for healing cold springs, the name itself has become eponymous with any place having a natural water source with special health benefits is known as 'spa'. For the lovers of detective fiction, it is worth noting the birth place of Agatha Christie's petit and the central character Hercule Poirot was born in Spa.

Since the mid-1920's, Spa and the nearby towns of Stavelot, Masta and Malmédy all played its part in hosting the Belgian Grand Prix - an annual motorsports event involving cars. After close to 90 years since its inception, there has been just two major revisions to this track one in 1946 and the other in 1983. While the circuit in its totality is one of the best we have in motorsports and specially in Formula One, a tiny part of this track - Radillon Eau Rouge happens to be my favourite.

Tripti and I had walked all the way from the La Source hairpin through the parking garage and the storage areas of the pit lanes towards the 'iconic section' of this track.

The name 'Eau Rouge' translates to 'red water' (French to English), is a small stream that flows through this part of the circuit and joins the river Amblève near Stavelot. Due to the reddish oxide deposits, the stones and the riverbed appears red and hence the name. The corner 'Eau Rouge' was so named as it is in that place, the track crosses the stream for the first time.  

DO YOU HAVE YOUR HELMET?

"I can let you inside the track if you have your own sports car and a helmet." - a security official told me. My basic French skills was enough to strike a ice-breaker conversation and soon enough my inability to speak in the local language was evident and he switched over to what he called 'broken English'. We spoke about this part of the track and he explained to me what it was like to be there standing and working when cars are zooming past him. I too shared my views on what I thought about the track just as I saw few cars speed past me to encounter the challenging corner in F1.

I am not sure what worked in my favour, the security official was kind enough to let me walk very close to Eau-Rouge. Just as I was separated by just a few metres from my favourite corner, my mind went blank and I am sure about it as I just recall staring at it - the elevation, the width and imagined all those times when I saw multiple times F1 cars going past it.

So what is it that makes Eau Rouge a cult figure in Formula One? Let me explain it in as few sentences as possible. In the 1993 Belgian Grand Prix, Alex Zanardi (yes, the same guy who injured and came back strongly to win Paralympics medals) had an horrendous accident at Eau Rouge. Following this, there were speculations whether a chicane would replace the existing design of 'Eau Rouge'. When asked, Ayrton Senna just didn't respond, he made a statement - "If you take away Eau Rouge, you take away the reason why I do this (race F1)". Thankfully, sense prevailed, and those speculations remained just that.

TRAVERSING THE OLD CIRCUIT

While I was visibly disappointed about not walking or driving on Eau Rouge (as there was a testing day for cars), I was told the other farther parts of the circuit was open and can be accessed. I asked him about Blanchimont, the Pouhon and Stavelot - he gave me a smile and nodded a yes.

It was time for lunch as well and I drove along the old-part of the circuit - Haut de la Cote, Burnenville before heading to the centre of Malmédy for a pit stop. The lunch was quick as we bought few sandwiches and off we went on to the road leading to Masta, Holowell leading up to Stavelot where the current track re-joins.

I took a diversion which led me to the smaller roads in the direction of Pouhon and from there a 5-minute drive towards Blanchimont - the fastest corner in F1 (taken at 250 km/hr). I parked my car in between the sections of Fagnes and Stavelot. My son had just woken up from sleep and I took him out and showed him those few cars on the track from a distance. I am not sure whether he would follow F1 in the future, if he does, then he already has been at the 'Mecca of Formula One circuits'.

WHY IS IT THAT POPULAR?

I spent close to three hours encircling the track and now it was time to head back home. Thanks Amma, Tripti, my sister Rashmi and our little darling 'Abhinav' for having the patience to be part of this 'crazy' road excursion. I had fun explaining why this track remains so dear to me.

The highlight of this Spa trip happened right at the beginning while at Eau Rouge - While I still stood looking at Eau Rouge, the kind security official came to me and pointed towards a building and asked me to go on top of a pit block - to have a look at the same thing which I was staring at. He told me I would enjoy it. And so, it was, the whole view of cars speeding towards Eau Rouge. The sounds of the throttle, the minimal adjustments and a tiny room, in fact no room for error as one takes the corner head on with 100% commitment, flat out before finding yourself on the Kemmel straight.

Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 World champion spoke greatly about Eau Rouge and these were his words - " Eau Rouge is probably the most exciting corner in modern F1. It has a little kink to the left and then you start turning right as the track starts going up. You pull a lot of 'G' force through there and the car scrapes the ground, so you get a little bit sideways. At the same time you don't see the exit of the corner so you're just turning right and then suddenly you're turning left and at that point the car gets very light. All that - flat out! It's a really exciting corner to do. Going flat-out there doesn't actually make your overall lap faster, but it does make you feel proud. Pride is stupid, but it is important!" and......

I now understand what he meant by that. 

FOR OLD TIMES' SAKE

The German team Mercedes do not have a home GP to show their prowess - 

The economy dictates the geography of business and for Formula One, it is following this world norm. With the costs of hosting a Grand Prix increasing with each year, there are countries that are prepared to shell out these exorbitant amounts of money in order to be a part of this 'global machinery circus'. And from next year, the number of races go beyond 20 for the first time. With Azerbaijan slotted as 'European Grand Prix', Formula One has again demonstrated that it is a sought after brand - but at what cost?

I am all for globalisation of the sport and coming from Asia, I am happy to see many of the races coming where the money is. However, I am also of the opinion that, there must be a balance - preserving the tracks of the yore with modern tracks in emerging countries. There is a German team that's been dominant for the past two years and yet there is no clarity regarding the future of German Grand Prix. In fact, this year, the scheduled German GP was cancelled as authorities did not have enough funding to host the event. Thankfully, there will be a German GP for next year, but who knows whether it will see the light of the day!

The FIA is headquartered in Paris, France and has another office in Geneva, Switzerland. A federal law prevents Switzerland from hosting motor-racing events since the tragic incident of Le Mans 1955. What's stopping France to be one of the annual hosts? France, a place where motorsports was born, where Grand Prix was first coined - it is unfathomable to see France not having a place in the calendar.

Yes, we all get the thing - no money, no place - but is that what the sport is all about? What is the point of hosting races where there is no significant national interest or no clear automobile future? The investors would love to get their returns for what they have contributed - but what is the limit? and FIA, it is happy to be receiving all the money generated from the sport and take interest only in making regulations - and even that they need support from the commercial partners and the teams.

What do I propose? - You want twenty races, or even 21, feel free to include it. However, for old time's sake - have races in Germany, France, Britain, Belgium, Monaco and Italy. Out of these six places, only Monaco and Italy have had no problems in hosting the races regularly. Look at tennis, there are many new ATP and WTA venues - but they have preserved the golden quadrilateral of the Grand Slam. Why can't we have a similar one in Formula One?

If you want people to appreciate Formula One in the long run, do not stop at halfway mark of going just to new markets; do make an effort to remain in countries that made this sport popular. 

IT HAPPENED IN AUSTRIA - THE UNPOPULAR TEAM ORDER

Far from tears of joy! Image Courtesy - ESPNF1 

It might be a super-hero movie cliché but there is a lot of merit to this line - 'you always have a choice'. Looking back, if Michael Schumacher felt Rubens Barrichello deserved the win (at the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix), he would not have crossed the finish line ahead of his Brazilian teammate. The two Ferraris might have been stranded few metres before the chequered flag, egging each other to cross the line first. Nothing of that sort happened - in a matter of few seconds, Michael Schumacher benefitted from the team orders. Team orders are fine, but personally I felt, this was one occasion where the Ferrari think tank went a bit overboard.

Having said that, Formula One is a team sport, it is a business with all the commercial jargons packed in and served to us twenty times a year. It is the ultimate prize in motor-racing and it is also an expensive affair. Teams invest a lot and everybody strives to win. Yes, it is all about winning - but at what cost?

PERILS OF A NUMBER TWO DRIVER

I am a Ferrari fan and an ardent admirer of Michael Schumacher. But on the Sunday of 12 May 2002, I didn't enjoy that particular victory a lot. Yes, it was 1-2 Ferrari, but there was more to it. Even in business, some situations are not crystal clear unlike the well-penned points in a contract and yes, Rubens Barrichello deserved the win irrespective of the championship situation. It wasn't the first time such a fate has met a driver. Team orders have been issued by all the big teams and in fact even Michael Schumacher was driver number two, helping Eddie Irvine during the 1999 season. Coulthard was the regular man Friday to Hakkinen on numerous occasions in 1998 and 1999 and not to forget, Damon Hill helped Alain Prost win his fourth world title in 1993. The examples can go on... but i hope you get the gist of what I am trying to say here.

IT HAPPENED A YEAR AGO

At the 2001 Austrian Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher was behind the race leader Juan Pablo Montoya trailing by 1.6s. The fight was getting intense and on lap 16,  Michael tried to pass into the right-hander at turn two; Montoya did well to block the racing line but went wide and didn't leave any racing line to Michael Schumacher, which forced both cars to go off-track. No damage done, however a line of cars - Barrichello, Verstappen, Coulthard, Raikkonen and Olivier Panis went past them. Schumacher summed up the incident - "The fight had been fair until the incident, then he tried to take me out at the corner, and I had to go on the grass because I couldn't turn in on him. He wasn't looking where he was going, he was looking where I was going'.

Montoya tries hard to stop a quicker Schumacher at the 2001 Austrian Grand Prix

Schumacher upped his pace and was in third position by lap 28. Coulthard in second position and the other Ferrari driver Barrichello, led the race. Schumacher soon joined this duo and 0.9s separated the top three places as Michael Schumacher was first to pit on lap 46 and two corners later ran wide losing few tenths of a second on his out-lap. A lap later, Rubens Barrichello pits and comes ahead of Michael Schumacher. The race was now in the hands of Coulthard and his team of mechanics. Coulthard stayed on track for two more laps before coming in to the pits on lap 50. Eight seconds stationary (it was the era of refuelling!!!) and emerged out of the pits as the race leader. Twenty one laps remaining, the championship contender from McLaren was in the lead with the Ferraris behind him. With Mika Hakkinen's woes continued, it was already established that, it was the Scotsman who would lead the championship battle from McLaren. The win for Coulthard would narrow Schumacher's lead in the title race.

The race order remained this way - Coulthard, Barrichello and Michael Schumacher. With less than three laps to go, Jean Todt called on Barrichello to inform him to give way for Schumacher to have those extra two points. Rubens waited...the cars were at the fading stages of the penultimate lap, the race order remained the same... all eyes were on Jean Todt as he discussed with Ross Brawn and called on Barrichello once again as the cars crossed the finish line for one last lap - "Rubens, it's the last lap, let Michael pass for the championship, let Michael pass for the championship Rubens, please".

Rubens did let Michael pass in the final corner and thereby picking up those additional two points. Yes, it was disappointing for Rubens but one has to remember, Formula One at that point was (and still is) a team sport and Ferrari were not the first ones to employ such tactics to help a driver win the championship. With Coulthard's unexpected victory, the points table was a lot closer. Michael Schumacher led the championships by four points to David Coulthard's 38 points and Rubens Barrichello had only mustered eighteen points. 'If I hadn't been close to Rubens the team would not have asked. Ferrari might have a different philosophy to McLaren, who have also used this strategy in the past. Imagine, how it would be if we got to the end of the season and lost the World Championship by two points'. 

There is a lot of merit to this argument (Eddie Irvine lost to Hakkinen in 1999 by two points) - but what happened next year at the same venue was nowhere close to this.

NEXT YEAR WAS NOT THE SAME

Strictly, there are no comparisons from these two races. In 2001, Michael Schumacher was dominant in most parts of the race and one might argue, barring for few racing incidents, he did deserve to win the race. Besides, the championship battle was tighter in 2001.  

In 2002, it wasn't the case. First and foremost, Rubens Barrichello did an excellent job of being the fastest driver in the warm-up, took the pole position and led the race for all laps but for the final corner when he had to yield to Michael Schumacher and this time, it was for the victory and no, there was no championship at stake. Yes, team orders has influenced results to benefit a team and a driver, but on that day, Schumacher coming in second place would not have mattered.

Rubens did everything right...which deserved him to win the race... Team orders went bonkers! 

Moments later, both drivers make a mockery of the ceremony protocol, Michael refused to stand on the top step and instead asked Rubens to stand. German national anthem was heard loud and clear across the track, while it was a Brazilian standing on the top step. When it was the time for Italian national anthem, both Ferrari drivers stood on the podium and there were no signs of joy or the excitement in spite of winning the race 1-2. And to end it, the trophy was presented to Michael Schumacher which he quickly passed on to Rubens Barrichello, who happily accepted it.

THE REPERCURSSIONS

At the end of the day, it was a bad call by the team. Ferrari was winning virtually every race they took part and media houses had to find something to pinch the Italian team. Crowd booed Michael Schumacher and he admitted in the press conference 'it was not a right choice' and 'he derived no joy from this victory and it was not the way he had envisioned to win in Austria for the first time'. It was a wrong choice though Rubens was aware what his role with Ferrari was when he had signed a fresh contract few days earlier.  

Barrichello takes home the trophy while Schumacher gets 10 points... Image Courtesy: Grand Prix Magazine

Michael Schumacher in his position within the team could have argued against the top management's decision to let him pass, perhaps he didn't push it hard as he still had to focus on driving. FIA summoned the team and drivers were questioned in a disciplinary hearing while many writers wrote the race being one of the sad days in Formula One. No, it was a far cry from being sad. If you want to term a sad day in Formula One, then look at the drivers who died racing. That is sad and cruel - and what happened to Rubens was just bad luck and a glimpse at the competitive and human side of Formula One. 

THE RACE THAT GAVE US THE NAME 'WALL OF THE CHAMPIONS"

Michael Schumacher was one of the three world champions to crash the wall, thereby got its name "Wall of the champions"

Hitting the wall! There is a huge difference using that term in running and motor racing. While it is a case of mental block in running and have all the time to get out of it, which is contrary to what happens in motor racing. In recent times, Formula One has done away with heavy banked roads, and thereby there is a decline in number of cars hitting the wall. However, there are tracks like the one in Montreal, where the 'wall' at the end of turn 13 has gained reputation for being a 'breaker' if a car hits it. Since 1978, a lot of cars have hit the wall, cars were removed or safely parked and race moved on. However, in 1999, 'the wall' got all the attention.

On that day, the wall which had 'Bievenue au Québec' (Welcome to Quebec) written on it had four hits, three of them driven by the world champions and gave birth to the term 'Wall of the champions'.

WALL OF THE CHAMPIONS

13 June 1999, sixth round of F1, Canadian Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher took his first pole position of the 1999 season. That race had four world champions - Mika Hakkinen (1999), Damon Hill (1996), Jacques Villeneuve (1997) and two-time world champion Michael Schumacher (1994 &1995). It will go down as one of the unique races in the history of Canadian Grand Prix as all four drivers made headlines though only one of them ended up finishing the race.

Prior to the 1999 race, the wall at the end of the final chicane and located opposite to the entry of the pit-lane was just another part of the track. Each year, one saw many drivers shaving their cars to the wall, just enough to avoid a crash. However, many drivers in a bid to make up time or extend a lead have crashed owing to imbalance of the car after exiting the final chicane.

FOUR HITS TO THE WALL

The race was an attrition and at the end of it, it had more number of retirements (12) than the finishers (10). On the very first lap, there were three casualties - Alexander Wurz retired due to transmission problems while Jean Alesi and Jarno Trulli collided with each other and took each other out of the race. Safety car!

Lap three, the first of the wall hitters, Ricardo Zonta, got his BAR-Supertec sideways in an awkward position which caused him to hit the wall. Zonta's car was parked next to the wall and this made the stewards to call the safety car back on the track.

The race resumed its normalcy on lap seven and there was no drama up until lap fourteen when the first of the three world champions, Damon Hill spun-off the track and hit the wall. He was not having a good season with Jordan and his woes continued as he had his third retirement out of six races. When asked about it, Hill replied - "Basically, I lost the control of the car and I hit it. There is nothing more to it, really!".

Then came the surprise, Michael Schumacher having led the race was beginning to up his pace in order to build a suitable gap as he was nearing his pit stop window. Each lap, from lap 25 was three-tenths faster than Hakkinen and with each lap, he was pushing his Ferrari really hard. On lap 29, just few metres away from starting the next lap, bang!. Schumacher lost control of his car coming out of the chicane and he was off the racing line, thereby the car was on the dirty part of the circuit, which is always slippery. The car slewed and before he could react, the car had hit the wall which wiped out his front and rear suspension. He shook his fists in frustration as he knew, he had thrown away this race! - "I lost control of the car because I went off the racing line and got on the dirt and ended up in the wall. This was clearly my mistake. I usually make one mistake a year. I hope that this incident was the last for the season".

Now that Schumacher was out of the race, this was now Hakkinen's race to lose. The first round of pit stops was not far away. While the teams and few drivers were getting ready for their fresh tyres and fuel, Jacques Villeneuve on lap 35 became the third world champion to hit the wall. Safety car for the third time on the track. "It was my mistake - I was simply going a little bit too fast. There was a lot dirt down on the track at that point, it was easy to make a mistake".

CHEQUERED FLAG UNDER SAFETY CAR FOR THE FIRST TIME

While the safety car was about to be called on-track, a lot of teams executed their pit stop and the cars were back on track without any significant changes. Lap 40, the safety car came in and within seconds, David Coulthard and Ferrari's Eddie Irvine both push each other out of the track, no damage done, and rejoin the track. All this meant, Mika Hakkinen was on his own now with no one to challenge him from the top runners. Heinz-Harald Frentzen was the last casualty of this race. He was running in second position before brakes failed and his car crashed a barrier. This incident put Giancarlo Fisichella to second place and Eddie Irvine third. With just three laps to go, safety car was called on to the track for the fourth time! In the penultimate lap, just before the final chicane, all cars had lined up behind one other. 

If safety car went in, that would have made a spectacular last lap, especially with the proximity of cars at the first and second turns and at the hair pin! Sense prevailed and safety car was not called in and race culminated with all cars finishing behind the safety car - making this the first instance of a race in Formula One completing under safety car regulations. Irony! as it was at the Canadian Grand Prix (1973), the safety car was first deployed in a F1 race.

Sixteen years hence, the circuit remains one of the most demanding for the cars and drivers. 'Wall of champions' still continues to play a significant role and it remains to be seen, if it has any impact on the outcome of this year's Canadian Grand Prix. 

F1 AFTER SENNA - 1994 MONACO GRAND PRIX

In memory of Ayrton Senna at the 1994 Monaco Grand Prix 

1988 Monaco GP, the McLaren team and their turbo engines in peak form; Senna drove around the narrowed streets of Monte-Carlo as if it were a series of qualifying laps. Ayrton Senna in his legendary MP4/4 dominated the Monaco GP weekend right from the time he stepped on to the track. At one point in the race, he had a lead in excess of fifty seconds. That's right, he had lead close to a minute over his teammate Alain Prost. There was no stopping him, until the time, owing to a lapse in concentration, Senna spun off the track, hit the barrier and his race was over with just over twelve laps remaining.

As Ron Dennis (team principal of McLaren-Honda at that time put it - "We were trying to slow him down, but when you back off in a racing car, you lose concentration; so there was just a lapse, nothing else. He was so angry – he didn’t come back to the pits, he walked away from the circuit and sat in his flat. He didn’t reappear until later that evening, and was massively angry with himself…"

After that incident, the next five races at Monaco saw all of it won by the legendary Brazilian.

THE MOURNING CONTINUES

If not for his 'fault' at the 1988 Monaco GP, he would have had seven wins in a row at the Principality, having won his first in 1987 while driving for Lotus-Honda. Two weeks before the 1994 Monaco Grand Prix, Senna as we all know died from a race casualty at the San Marino GP. This news came as a shock and many questions regarding the safety of the sport were raised. Life had to move on and to those involved with F1, each day stretched and was painful to see a star driver become a victim of the sport.

The very next race at Monaco, the post-Senna era had begun, whether people wanted to believe it or not. And the racing weekend, at Thursday's free-practice, ill-fate struck again. Karl Wendlinger, driving for Sauber crashed at the harbour after exiting the tunnel. The Sauber hit the barrier sideways with a lot of force and Wendlinger's head struck the barriers. It was a violent incident, he was taken to a hospital and was in a coma. His condition didn't improve for several weeks, and he didn't race for the rest of the year. Next year, Wendlinger was unable to regain his pre-accident form and never raced again in Formula One after the 1995 season.

THE KING OF MONACO...... IS NOT TO BE SEEN

One of Senna's six victories at the Monaco Grand Prix

The Formula One found itself in a strange, unparalleled situation. Since the 1982 San Marino GP, there was no World Champion present. The sport needed a new face to move on. FIA announced sweeping changes with regards to safety, which included the reduction of pit lane speed. It happened in 1960's when Jim Clark became one of the victims and many thought sport would cease to exist. There was an air of déjà-vu, the feelings were of the same when Senna became the Formula One's latest casualty. One person who had seen it all and was calling shots at that time and he still does - Bernie Ecclestone. "No one is bigger than the sport. We've all got to pick ourselves up and go on. The sport moves on and it must do so now." It all seemed logical, those words from Bernie - but if only humans were alienated from what we call 'emotions'. In spite of knowing what needs to be done, there are moments in life, unexpectedly things come to a standstill, where thoughts get blurred, life seems pointless and it makes us understand about existence and how it is not permanent.

At the 1994 Monaco Grand Prix, all knew life had to move on, but at what pace? and how?

NEW HOPE IN MICHAEL SCHUMACHER

No driver other than Prost or Senna had won this prestigious GP from 1983. Now, it was time for a change. Michael Schumacher, in his third full season took the first pole position of his career. Williams and Simtek, both teams started the race with just one driver. And Sauber, after Wendlinger's crash decided to withdraw from the race.

Overnight, Damon Hill was given the huge task of filling in Senna's boots for Williams-Renault. Not just Williams-Renault, the entire decision-makers in F1 had a huge task. The season, so far was dominated by Michael Schumacher and naturally, he was seen as the 'next' poster boy of Formula One.

But, was that tag, justified? At the start of the Monaco Grand Prix, he had raced only in 41 races, same number as Senna's wins in Formula One. Would he be able to make an impact, the way Senna did? There were more questions that were asked, though no one could give any satisfying answers.. However, for all these questions, one answer seemed logical... time! Like the age-old adage goes, 'Time heals everything'. With three wins from three races, Michael Schumacher was the clear favourite to start a new chapter at Monaco.

THE MARK OF RESPECT

First row empty start - 1994 Monaco Grand Prix

Michael Schumacher alongside Mika Hakkinen started from row two. The first row was left empty as a mark of respect for the departed drivers - Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger.

How do you remember 1994 Monaco GP? Will that be remembered as a race where Michael Schumacher secured his first pole position? Will that be recalled by many as first of five wins at Monaco for Schumacher? Will people remember this race where Schumacher achieved his first Grand Slam (pole position, fastest lap and leading every lap from start to finish)?

Though, I am a huge Schumacher fan, I would remember the 1994 Monaco GP as the first race after Senna. I have walked on the very streets where Senna went about his business at Monaco. I have stood for minutes starring at the first row - a place which Senna made his own. And it was a magnanimous gesture to leave that front row vacant, reminding the fans on track and to millions of viewers, what a void he had left!

The race in itself was a recovery from that huge hangover and whatever Schumacher and rest of the drivers did on track, didn't matter. Martin Brundle, the British racing driver and now a commentator never won a race. He was a teammate of Senna's while at McLaren. He finished second behind Schumacher in the race  - "This is a great day for me and I am so glad to achieve this for my loyal and patient fans. Today was one of the best days in my racing career. I made a perfect start and had a faultless race. It has been a very difficult time. When your five-year-old daughter asks you if it's true [Ayrton] Senna is dead it is difficult to reconcile things."

TWO DECADES LATER...........

The business of Formula One is such, there is no room for emotional decisions. The best way to recover from a sporting incident is to continue racing, ensuring one never repeats the same mistakes. The sport has become a lot safer and since Senna's demise, there has been no such casualties during the race. There have been accidents - but none claimed any lives. As Ecclestone pointed out, the sport has moved on, people have moved on and memories have faded. But when you are in Monaco and discuss Formula One, people who have been in the sport for a long time will always have a story or two about Senna and his heroics on those narrow streets.

Since that victory on May 15, 1994, Michael Schumacher went from strength to strength and stands tall at the top of Formula One with his achievements. However, he now finds himself in a state of transition, where each day, one cannot say what is going to happen. His family, his fans and a lot more people will move on..... but again at what pace? 

MIRACLE ON THE LAST LAP - 2001 SPANISH GRAND PRIX

"Just the other way around" - Michael says to Hakkinen 

The rushes of smoke billowing from the back of McLaren-Mercedes is still fresh. Mika Hakkinen, the driver in it was cruising as he prepared to drive the last lap with a lead over 40 seconds. "This is not the way I like to win" - these words from Michael Schumacher summed up the lap, race and the eventual victor of 2001 Spanish Grand Prix.

This was Michael Schumacher's 150^th  start of his career and being on pole position seemed like the best place to start the race in the Circuit de Catalunya. Unlike the previous year, Mika Hakkinen was having a horrid time behind the wheels and coming into that race he had scored only four points in as many races. David Coulthard, his teammate was in top form and was tied with Michael for the top place.

THE GET-AWAY AS USUAL

The race was held towards the end of April and so the temperatures were pleasant, hovering around 20°C. Michael Schumacher made his usual get-away without any drama as he eased his way to the first turn, and second turn and went about his regular business. From McLaren's perspective, it was Mika and only him to challenge Michael that afternoon. David Coulthard had to start from the back as his car stalled at the start of the parade lap and soon in opening lap of the race, he had a minor collision, as a result of which he had to pit to nurse his damaged front wing. It was catching up all the way through to the chequered flag for the Scotsman.

The battle for the front was between the maestros - Schumacher keeping Hakkinen behind him as they duelled closely through to the first round of pit stops. Schumacher first to pit on lap 23 and four laps later, the Finn came in for his fuel and fresh set of tyres. 'The strategy' of delaying the tyre stop didn't work for the McLaren team as the race order remain unchanged, though Mika Hakkinen had now set the fastest lap which was soon beaten by Michael Schumacher.

The gap between these two veterans constantly hovered around 3 seconds as Hakkinen tracked Schumacher and never let Michael get out of his sight. This was the case until Michael Schumacher came in for his second pit stop. 9.3 seconds stationary and out he went, lap 44, game on and from the looks of it, advantage Ferrari.

LOSING THE LEAD AND THE BACKING OFF

If one can make conclusions based on the events till that point, it was certain Michael Schumacher would go on to win the race. Hakkinen, until that point was trailing and never had any significant opportunities to overtake the #1 Ferrari on track. 'The Tactic' of staying on track a bit longer would ensure less downtime while refilling the tank. The plan worked for the Finn and the McLaren team, as he managed to stay six laps longer. Those six laps were enough to build a lead in excess of 26 seconds as he came in to his final tyre and fuel stop. My mind went back to that historic Japanese GP of 2000 when the roles were reversed as Hakkinen maintained his lead with only 15 laps left. In the meantime, Michael Schumacher was losing a second to Hakkinen on each sector.

A FINAL LAP TO REMEMBER

Ten laps to go and Michael Schumacher was already in cruise mode. A slight problem with the balance on his tyres was preventing him to go faster. With a large gap to the third placed Montoya, there was no threat and a drive at that pace (nearly four seconds off his personal best) would ensure the second place.

 The pace went down even further in the last four laps and he was driving to the chequered flag to secure those 6 points. Coming into the last lap, Hakkinen had a lead close to 40 seconds over Michael Schumacher and had lapped everyone but the second placed driver. The fourth consecutive Spanish GP victory looked set for Mika and it was just a matter of him driving the car for another 75 seconds. 

Then came the rattle, Montoya unlaps himself as he zooms past the slowing McLaren. It was time to win at ease as there was no hurry! Oh wait, Mika shakes his head as he turned into a corner, Hakkinen is slowing down and I was like - "Where is Schumacher?". Soon those were the words of the commentators as well as the TV producer got busy ordering his crew to shift cameras between the dramatic slowdown of McLaren to the slightly off-pace Ferrari. Faced with clutch problems, Hakkinen made few adjustments and a couple of moments later he realised he was unable to reduce the problems he was facing.

Holy smoke!! on the last lap 

Sparks ignited and then came the smoke, a thick one and the car was going nowhere. He slows it down, turns left to park his car and a rose from his seat with a shake of disbelief. Just as Hakkinen was stepping out of the car, Schumacher gets past him to become the new race leader.

POST RACE

A couple of corners to go, Schumacher and Ferrari and rest of us were all in a puzzled state as to what had just transpired. The dejected faces on McLaren pit said it all, what could you say to convince yourself that it didn't happen??? This is what viewers expect out of a F1 race, if possible each race.

Schumacher waved at his fans as he came around to complete his race, chequered flag and yet another victory. A shocked but relieved at this result, he went on to say - "I just saw Mika. Poor guy, I feel sorry for him. We had a huge problem with the third set, I had huge vibrations and that's why I slowed down because I was afraid, I have a tyre which is delaminating or something or going quite wrong - but anyway guys, it seems to be our day, we have been bloody lucky, nevertheless we have got a good car with all the changes (traction control and other electronic aids), we have to finish and we did it. Good job".

Hakkinen's His Man Friday Coulthard - but this time it was after the race 

Hakkinen took a ride back to the pits from his teammate and along the way, he waved at all those track marshals and few of the fans, who kept on cheering "Mika, Mika". Schumacher at the Parc Ferme, saw Hakkinen and ran to him in spite of FIA officials wanting him to finish the pre-podium formalities. They embraced a warm hug, few smiles and few words were spoken in a hurry about luck in F1 racing.

"I'm super-disappointed - goddamm it, you know, Jesus" Those came from Hakkinen.  

Schumacher later admitted he was shocked to see Mika retire and said "This is not the way I like to win, but it has happened in the past and these things happen in racing".

A driver like Schumacher would have loved a fight, however, equally he was philosophical about these elements like luck in racing. On that Sunday, 29th April 2001, the luck went his way and like he said, you lose some, you win some!