Rogue Profile of Michael Schumacher

Schumacher lead out the final lap of the American race in commanding fashion with
his faithful lieutenant, Rubens Barrichello in tow. Given that that the sport
had been trying hard to break the United Sates market, it had been a great race
for Formula One. Schumacher slowed as he approached the finish line, intending
to set up a great photographic opportunity for the world’s press but a misunderstanding
between the two drivers lead to disaster.

The two Ferraris had raced from the start. Their strategy had been perfect.
One or other of the red cars had led every lap of the race, it should have been
a glorious win but in his efforts to make headlines Schumacher made a mistake.
The German miscalculated where the finishing line was, slowed too soon and that
allowed Barrichello to sneak ahead by a hairsbreadth, when Schumacher himself
had intended to take the flag.

It was the closest finish in Formula One history, (0.011s) but it was a travesty.
The previous record was set by Elio Di Angelis when he edged out Keke Rosberg’s
Williams in the 1982 Austrian Grand Prix in a breathtaking battle. (Di Angelis
took the flag by eight hundredths of a second.) That was a contest between rivals.
This was a misunderstanding between teammates.

In the post race press conference one American journalist asked Schumacher
a sticky question.

“Why shouldn’t fans, paying good money, feel resentful and offended
by such a manipulated result?”

Not for the first time in the 2002 season Schumacher looked uneasy and he stated
that he had gifted the win to Barrichello as recompense for the Brazilian’s efforts
in Austria where he gave his win to Schumacher to aid him to his fifth world title.

“Today he deserved to win,” Schumacher said.

This was confusing in the extreme given that just ten minutes before the press
conference the German had told the world’s press that he had intended to set up
a dead heat between himself and his teammate. Given Schumacher’s body language
when he climbed from his car this clearly was not the case.

Through his actions and words Schumacher had yet again cheapened the sport.
In the age of millisecond timing it would have been virtually impossible to engineer
a dead heat. Schumacher’s attempts to drown his mistake in a sea of lies were
arrogant in the extreme.