From Planet-F1.com:

Two Nutters On The Hangar Straight
23/07/03

Sean Hughes asks; who was the most dangerous bloke on the Hangar Straight this Sunday: The man with green underpants or the man with red ones?

There’s an old joke that’s based on an advertising slogan and it goes something on the lines of – what’s the difference between Michael Schumacher and a packet of polos.
Answer: People like polos.

This feature hasn’t been brought on by what happened on Sunday – though I’ve got to confess I didn’t realise TV reception round the world was as bad as it was. On the opening lap of the British Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher moved so far over to block Fernando Alonso that he ran him off the track and onto the grass. Judging from some of the letters in the letters column this week, viewers got such a dodgy picture of events that they didn’t realize Michael hadn’t left the one vehicle width that goos manners required of him.

…Or maybe there’s a lot of crossover between NASCAR and Formula 1 these days and people forget if we’re stock-car racing or in the elite motorsport category.

At the European Grand Prix, race stewards had studied the videotape closely to make sure Juan Montoya had left Schumacher a car’s width in order to make the corner in his audacious overtaking move. He had and it was fair. At Silverstone there was no generosity of spirit in evidence as Schumacher closed his rival out.

Not only was it shabby, it was stupid. He risked being spun round himself. We’ve all seen the on-board footage of the speed at which F1 cars can brake. Clearly from his own race behaviour this year Alonso is no angel, but that doesn’t excuse the move.

Nobody’s suggesting that a blocking move is illegal, but when you’re putting someone on the grass to do it you begin to wonder if there weren’t two nutters on the Hangar Straight on Sunday.

What’s more, it’s one in a long line of questionable tactics employed by Schumacher. Who can forget his behaviour at the Canadian Grand Prix one year when he warned everyone about exiting the pitlane dangerously, then roared out of the pitlane and knocked Heinz-Harald Frentzen off the road.

Who can forget his car-butt tactics against his brother during the Spanish Grand Prix, his clashes with Senna, his deliberate accident with Hakkinen from his F3 days, his double move against Montoya at the 2002 Brazilian GP which removed Juan-Pablo’s front wing, his swerve at Hakkinen going towards Les Combes at Spa, plus the two deliberate accidents with Hill and Villeneuve one of which netted him a World Championship.

If this makes uncomfortable reading for Schumacher fans, the fact is that Planet-F1 forum members could probably double the total between them. If Schumacher wants to avoid the dredging up of his history of misdemeanours then he should treat other drivers the way he would expect to be treated.

Or maybe he should watch the Tour de France. On Tuesday we got a rare glimpe of sportsmanship in a sport that’s far more gruelling and also has a multi-million global audience.

Lance Armstrong was attacking on the climb up to Luz-Ardeden and came too close to the crowd, clipped a bag, which pulled his bike over. All of a sudden the leader of the Tour de France, the man who’s won it for the last four years, was on the ground and in trouble.

The climb was the last major uphill section of the tour and the one place he could gain an advantage against his closest rival, German Jan Ullrich who managed to swerve round him. Ullrich was just fifteen seconds behind him in the overall times and if he’d kept going he could have taken the leader’s Yellow Jersey.

But he didn’t, it’s an unwritten convention that people don’t attack the Yellow Jersey if his bike has let him down or he’s come off the road. Though at this stage of the race they were very close to the finish where it could be said that the convention shouldn’t apply.

Ullrich slowed down, constantly looking over his shoulder to wait for Armstrong to rejoin the leading bunch of riders. As a result, he not only lost the chance to lead the race, he lost his own rhythm and once back in the group Armstrong attacked again and took more time off him.

Ullrich showed that there is still sportsmanship in sport. Schumacher should take note, it’s not whether you win. It’s HOW you win.

He’s well aware of who Jan Ullrich is.

In 2000, the year he won the World Championship for Ferrari after a nail-biting finish at Suzuka, German sports fans voted for Ullrich ahead of him as sportsman of the year. As for 2003, it's no contest.

Sean Hughes



I totally agree!