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  1. Join Date
    Oct 2002
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    377
    #1
    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!

  2. Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Posts
    400
    #2
    The editor got into some heat for this writeup...

    An Anti-Schumacher Conspiracy?
    Interesting editorial. Reminds me of Ralf Schumacher's comments on the British press being virulently anti-Schumacher, and this editorial clearly demonstrates where Ralf was coming from.

    Schumacher is in a business to win, Jan Ulrich did what the unwritten convention of the Tour dictated. Schumacher defended his position. Jan would have raced Armstrong if there was nothing wrong with his bike. There really is no comparison to the two situations.

    You blame the TV coverage as if you are the only one with the ability to see. What a nice and pleasant arrogant attitude you have there. Speed showed the incident at least three times. I caught all three. And since I was watching the race replay I took special care to observe the incident (knowing the baying of the British press had already started). And I saw nothing wrong with the move.

    Alonso came up sharp and hard behind Schumacher and he blocked the move. Alonso backed off, as Schumacher would have done had their roles been reversed. The onus of the overtaking manoeuvre is on the driving who is behind, the lead driver doesn't have to move over.

    Montoya's move was scrutinized because he was the following driver. And he did touch with Schumacher. Are you really so blinded by your dislike for Schumacher that you can't even see the difference there?
    Hasan Abbasi


    …Sean Hughes sounds like just another of those Schumi-bashers, whose favourite pastime is to keep flogging the dead horse of the Hill and Villeneuve incidents.

    If, on the one hand, he says that the stewards examined the Montoya incident and cleared him then why rant about Schumi when he too has not been penalised?
    Prashant Vaishnav


    Senna Wasn’t Whiter Than White
    Yes, I'm a Schumi fan, but I was also a Senna fan before his untimely death.

    As I'm sure you are aware, Senna made more than a few "questionable moves" such as when he took Prost out on the first corner to win the championship in 1990 at Suzuka, so I'd suggest you avoid bringing him into the frame.

    Senna was a superb driver, but he would do anything to win, as I believe Schumi does. As for Alonso, if he wants to play with the big boys he needs to learn fast and hard.

    As for comparing the sportsmen-like behaviour of the Tour, perhaps you should watch cycling in more detail. Pushing, shoving and blocking are part of the game. Ullrich did wait for Armstrong and also Mayo, but Mayo then stole the "time bonus" from Ullrich by outsprinting him to finish second.

    All's fair in love, war and the race for a championship? Just sit back and enjoy the racing.
    R Young


    ...And Nor Is Any Driver In F1 History
    If Mr Hughes wishes to dredge up of Schumacher's history of misdemeanours, perhaps he could be courteous enough to also dredge up all of Formula One's greatest drivers’ lists of misdemeanours.

    I think he would find that, whilst Schumacher's would certainly not be the shortest of lists, I don’t think it would be the longest either!

    Schumacher is certainly not the first to employ such tactics to win a championship and he certainly wont be the last. That’s Formula One, and if Mr Hughes doesn't like that perhaps he should stick to the Tour de France.
    Mat


    …Do you remember this?:

    Montoya not only squeezing but touching wheels with Michael at Brazil after the safety car restart - pushing him onto the grass.

    Montoya pushing Raikkonen onto the grass at Hockenheim last year.

    Alonso forcing Coulthard to take to the grass this year.

    I could go on, but I'm sure you are already seeing a pattern emerging here, in that the majority of drivers in Formula One will sometimes perform a borderline manoeuvre. That's half the reason we watch the sport. If they all went pussyfooting round opening the door for each other it be more like synchronized-racing.

    On the question of Michael driving into Frentzen at Canada, have you ever raced single-seaters? I have, and it's sometimes nigh on impossible to know if someone is alongside you. On top of that can you imagine the first lap of a Grand Prix, all those drivers trying to squeeze into a space designed for only the first few. You can? Then why write your article?
    Graham Butler

    Ed writes: Schumacher actually emerged after a pit-stop and hit Frentzen who was on track.


    A Different Interpretation Of History
    For your information JPM ran into MS's left rear tyre from behind in Brazil last year.

    It occurred at the end of one - and only one - consistent sweeping move to the left by both cars and JPM never had any part of his car alongside the Ferrari. It can be seen clearly from the onboard video footage on MS's car. Either Sean Hughes hasn't got his facts straight or he is simply lying to incriminate MS. Either way it is a perfect illustration on how British press has build their myth about the evil Schumacher lie by lie.

    Sean Hughes also fails to produce evidence that Alonso was in fact alongside MS in the first place and that Alonso wasn't left a car-width of the road. It takes a clean shot from the side and a straight head-on shot to establish both. I guess that he has the same oblique shot from the front including telelens foreshortening that I have reviewed my video of the race dozens of times frame-by-frame without being able to reach a 100% conclusion.

    So bring on the evidence, Sean, or shut up!
    Morten Krause Nielsen


    …Sean Hughes, did you write a similar article about Raikkonen forcing Schumacher in Melbourne to drive over the kerb on the grass, which resulted in damaged car? I bet you saw it as the best move of the year!
    Andrej Andolšek

  3. Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Posts
    400
    #3
    Biased, but I don't really blame Hughes.

    Popular opinion will always tend to favor the underdog, everyone wants to see David slay Goliath. If he writes favorably about M.Schumi it's just another Schumi article, if he bashes the guy he gets readers, and reactions.

  4. Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Posts
    377
    #4
    sabagay...

Two Nutters On The Hangar Straight