WINDSOR'S WISDOM
Who has been your driver of the year?
This is another thing I’ve never really understood. What does this mean?
I began asking myself this question in 1966, when, magically after winning the 1965 F1 World Championship and the Indy 500, Jim Clark in 1966 slipped to something like second or third in the Autocourse rankings. That was ridiculous.
Were Jim’s drives at Zandvoort and Brands Hatch in an under-powered Lotus worth anything less than his wins the previous year at the same circuits? Of course not. He was the same driver – perhaps a better driver, given the benefits of experience.
And so it is with Michael Schumacher. Is Michael a worse driver than he was in 2005? Definitely not – and anyone who thinks otherwise in my view has no understanding whatsoever of the art of driving.
On the contrary, you could argue that Michael again broke new ground this year.
Here he was, a seven-times world champion with nothing to prove, driving an uncompetitive car with as much speed and aggression as anyone on the grid.
Name another driver from the past with a similar record who showed the same enthusiasm for racing in the midfield this late in their career.
Of course Fernando drove brilliantly – as did Kimi – but their results are accurately reflected, I think, in the points standings.
If anything, then, accolades like “Driver of the Year” should include a sub-clause which says something like “Awarded to the driver who, for reasons beyond his direct control, has not been acknowledged by F1’s point system”.
I’m not trying to avoid the question here; I’m trying to clear up something that over the years has become a cliché.
Oh yes – and under these conditions my winner of the title (unquestionably) would be Michael Schumacher.
full article here: http://www.itv-f1.com/Feature.aspx?Type=Windsors_Wisdom
