Those magnificent MEN
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The 36 year-old Michael Schumacher's track record of 83 wins from 212 starts has elevated him to God-like status, writes D. Ravishankar.
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"This is the sport I love. It is my job. Accidents happen every so often, and for me it's natural. Driving a car on the road is for me at times more dangerous than what I'm doing. I'm confident in what I am doing and the rest is fate."
- Michael Schumacher.
THE driver line-up for the 2005 F1 season is a star studded one. Michael Schumacher, in his Ferrari, will once again be the cynosure of all eyes. Last season the German blazed to victories in the first five Grand Prix races in Australia, Malaysia, Bahrain, San Marino and Spain.
Jarno Trulli, the Italian who turned out for Renault last year (but has since switched loyalties to Toyota) broke Schumacher's winning streak at Monaco but the German was back on the podium for the next seven races. Arch- rival Kimi Raikkonen halted Michael's winning spree in the Belgian Grand Prix. Schumacher's team- mate from Ferrari, Rubens Barrichello, kept the Ferrari flag flying with wins carved out Italy and China; but the irrepressible blonde German was back to grab the title in Japan. The concluding event at Brazil went to Juan Pablo Montoya and the Williams BMW ace sent millions of his countrymen delirious with joy upsetting Schumacher in the last fixture of the 2004 GPWC.
The new McLaren team of Rikkonen will look to match Ferrari this season.
Apart from those who broke Michael Schumacher's winning sequences last year there will also be the French Canadian Jacques Villeneuve. Son of the legendary Giles Villeneuve, star of the late 1970's Jacques is not a daredevil like his father. The senior Villeneuve was known to go for broke and soon became a crowd favourite. The junior Villeneuve made an astounding debut taking pole position in Australia in 1996. The title was decided in the final round and Jacques finished second overall.
Villenvue however is on a comeback trail. Keeping fit playing ice hockey and skiing Villeneuve paved his re-entry into F1 signing a two-year contract with Sauber Petronas. Trulli's maiden success at Monaco must have surely given the maverick Italian a huge confidence boost. Trulli made his debut in F1 1997 at Melbourne for Minardi Cosworth and finished sixth. From Melbourne in 1997, Trulli has compiled 129 starts with the sole win last year. He has turned out for the Renault, Jordan, Prost and Minardi teams. A temperamental person, Trulli split ways with Briatore of Renault and quickly signed a deal with Toyota. The 36 year-old Michael Schumacher's track record of 83 wins from 212 starts has elevated him to God-like status. Schumacher made his debut 14 years ago at the Belgian Grand Prix for Jordan. The German got his big break in freak circumstances when Jordan's driver Betrand Gachot ended up in jail. Schumi got the test drive and impressed the bosses at Jordan enough to sign the deal. Though Schumacher retired from his first race at Spa he soon began to collect points from his placings. He finished third in 1992 with 53 points and fourth in 1993 with 52 points, and had now begun to attract the attention of other teams. He soon turned to Bennetton. Michael won his first World Championship title in 1994 for his new team and retained the title the next year. However Michael had to wait for five years before he again won the overall title.
Montoya
In 2000, Schumacher won nine GPs and with 108 points was the World Champion. The 2000 win was the first of Schumacher's five in a row smashing the previous best of Juan Manuel Fangio. The race for the champion constructors is as fiercely competitive as the drivers' contest and here Ferrari seems to hold all the aces. Last year's track record of winning 15 of the 18 races and podium finishes on the remaining three is an unparalleled feat. The highlight of last year was that there were no technical failures. Winning last year's title by a margin of 143 points, the Maranello based racing car manufacturer is committed to carrying on Enzo Ferrari's ambition to the maker of the fastest cars in the world.
The insignia of Ferrari, the prancing horse on the yellow shield was a badge presented to Enzo Ferrari by Francesco Barraca father of an ace Italian pilot after winning a race in 1923. That symbol has proved to be a lucky mascot.
Jenson Button had a great 2004 season would like to perform more consistently
British American Racing was floated in 1997 and much was expected of the racing team. Villenvue, the then reigning champion was signed up. Ricardo Zonta was Villeneuve's teammate and the team looked all set to make an impressive debut in Melbourne in March 1999. However the team could only achieve seven finishes from 32 starts and zero points. Villeneuve apparently found it difficult to cope with the hard-to-handle car. The team's fortunes took an upswing with Dave Richard, founder of Prodrive taking over as team principal. Honda joined in and the chassis development programme was intensified. Tyre makers Bridgestone too was roped in as a sponsor and BAR-Honda was on its way.
The team now has potent strength with Englishman Jenson Button and Japanese Takuma Sato in the driver's seat. BAR finished an impressive second in the constructors' tally last year and will look ahead to the future.
The Jordan racing team was established by Eddie Jordan, a former racing driver like Enzo. The Jordan team operated from a lock-up unit at Silverstone circuit in Northamptonshire. It moved to a factory across the Silverstone circuit and had a wind tunnel five miles away at Brackley commissioned in 1998. The Jordan team has grown from 43 employees to 200. But Jordan's tally of just five points in the 2004 table indicates it has some way to go.
Fenando Alonso
The McLaren team was set-up in 1963 by Kiwi Bruce McLaren who began production of a prototype, which was ready in 1966. Bruce made his debut at Monte Carlo that year. In 1968 Bruce bagged his first win steering a McLaren Ford. McLaren's tragic death at the age of 33 in a testing accident at the Goodwood Circuit was a big set back, but his team continued McLaren's legacy. Significantly McLaren has the highest number of race wins of any pair in the F1. The duo of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost compiled 14 wins the 1988-89 season. McLaren's golden years were between 1988-92 when the team won four consecutive drivers' championships. McLaren's hopes for this year rest with its ace drivers Finland's Kimi Raikkonen and Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya. Incidentally, Senna - contemporary racing's most charismatic driver - was a McLaren star at the time of his tragic crash at Imola.
Formula One 2005
