Wazcal
09-30-2003, 02:50 PM
There's no doubt about it, to win a championship you gotta be good.
VERY good.
Everything has to be in place. All the right people working together like a well greased machine. Motivated, committed and unafraid. Focused, with one goal in mind. The prize in the sky.
But even with all those ingredients, and many more, is it enough ?
Does it guarantee a championship ?
Probably not.
There's an undefinable factor. An influence, a force that no one can control. It's not destiny. It's not karma. It's simply luck. That lucky bounce, the fortunate deflection, the rebound. Being in the right place at the right time, or in some cases, not being there at all. And sometimes it's simply one person's misfortune becoming another's good fortune.
We saw a classic example of this at the U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday. It seemed as though all the pieces were in place for Juan Montoya to take charge of the Championship and the points lead. He's been on a roll (no pun intended). Steadily chipping away at Michael Schumacher's points lead, Juan put his Williams-BMW on the second row in 3rd position of the starting grid.
Michael, on the other hand, hasn't had much to cheer about lately. Outside of a much needed win at Monza, his results have not been championship calibre. At least not the Ferrari/Schumacher results we've become so used to the last several seasons. For crying out loud, he'd only won 5 of the 14 Grand Prix this season ... what's that all about ? (pun intended) As a matter of fact, it has seemed as though the magic has left the Scuderia. Their apparent domination of Formula One vanished. They had become normal. At best, a contender. A point well noted when Michael qualified 7th, back on the 4th row of the grid.
When they lined up on the bricks Sunday it was the third Championship contender, Kimi Raikkonen, that had the pole. Oh, did I forget to mention him ? Yeah, so did the world press and all the so called experts. It has been Montoya this and Schumacher that, all the while the young Finn has been quietly and effectively keeping himself in contention. Relying on an early season points scoring binge, better qualifying results and improved reliability from his Mercedes (Ilmor) powered Mclaren, Kimi has been consistently scoring points. Often finishing ahead of the 5 time Champ.
So there they were, all lined up in staggered rows of two. The lights went on, the lights went out ... away they went.
No, I'm not going to give you a lap by lap description of what happened. But I will tell you this. As a result of weather, incidents, decisions (both good and bad), penalties, mistakes, great driving and ...
And ...
AND ...
you know I'm gonna say it ...
LUCK,
Michael won the U.S. Grand Prix, Kimi finished second and Juan ... well, let's just say Juan finished. And is no longer a Championship contender.
Sure, there was allot involved. Some of which will be the topic of discussion for quite some time. But looking at it from a distance, it has luck written all over it. Good for Michael and Kimi, bad for Juan.
So now all the wave riders are saying that the Ferrari mystique is back, and Michael, with his commanding 9 point lead, will claim his unprecedented 6th World Championship at the final Grand Prix of the season in Suzuka in less than two weeks. A scenario that this old Ferrari fan truly hopes will happen. But not one I'm counting on.
I can't help but remember the not so distant past. Hunt/Lauda, Prost/Mansell, Senna/Prost and Villeneuve/Schumacher to name just a few. And what true racing afficionado can ever forget Graham Hill's emotional Championship run in a very tragic 1968 season. Examples of times when what seemed impossible suddenly became etched in stone.
Oh no, I for one am not convinced that the luck of the 2003 World Championship has completely played itself out. There's a potential for more ... much more.
The young phenom, who has a chance to become the youngest ever World Drivers Champion, is going after the old champ with everything he has. The old champ still has that fire down below, and is once again rolling up his sleeves. All the ingredients are there. Two great drivers on two great teams going head to head with each other, both reaching out for a piece of motor sport immortality.
And still, the question remains. Which one will be the recipient of a favorable nod from good old lady luck.
We soon shall see.
VERY good.
Everything has to be in place. All the right people working together like a well greased machine. Motivated, committed and unafraid. Focused, with one goal in mind. The prize in the sky.
But even with all those ingredients, and many more, is it enough ?
Does it guarantee a championship ?
Probably not.
There's an undefinable factor. An influence, a force that no one can control. It's not destiny. It's not karma. It's simply luck. That lucky bounce, the fortunate deflection, the rebound. Being in the right place at the right time, or in some cases, not being there at all. And sometimes it's simply one person's misfortune becoming another's good fortune.
We saw a classic example of this at the U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday. It seemed as though all the pieces were in place for Juan Montoya to take charge of the Championship and the points lead. He's been on a roll (no pun intended). Steadily chipping away at Michael Schumacher's points lead, Juan put his Williams-BMW on the second row in 3rd position of the starting grid.
Michael, on the other hand, hasn't had much to cheer about lately. Outside of a much needed win at Monza, his results have not been championship calibre. At least not the Ferrari/Schumacher results we've become so used to the last several seasons. For crying out loud, he'd only won 5 of the 14 Grand Prix this season ... what's that all about ? (pun intended) As a matter of fact, it has seemed as though the magic has left the Scuderia. Their apparent domination of Formula One vanished. They had become normal. At best, a contender. A point well noted when Michael qualified 7th, back on the 4th row of the grid.
When they lined up on the bricks Sunday it was the third Championship contender, Kimi Raikkonen, that had the pole. Oh, did I forget to mention him ? Yeah, so did the world press and all the so called experts. It has been Montoya this and Schumacher that, all the while the young Finn has been quietly and effectively keeping himself in contention. Relying on an early season points scoring binge, better qualifying results and improved reliability from his Mercedes (Ilmor) powered Mclaren, Kimi has been consistently scoring points. Often finishing ahead of the 5 time Champ.
So there they were, all lined up in staggered rows of two. The lights went on, the lights went out ... away they went.
No, I'm not going to give you a lap by lap description of what happened. But I will tell you this. As a result of weather, incidents, decisions (both good and bad), penalties, mistakes, great driving and ...
And ...
AND ...
you know I'm gonna say it ...
LUCK,
Michael won the U.S. Grand Prix, Kimi finished second and Juan ... well, let's just say Juan finished. And is no longer a Championship contender.
Sure, there was allot involved. Some of which will be the topic of discussion for quite some time. But looking at it from a distance, it has luck written all over it. Good for Michael and Kimi, bad for Juan.
So now all the wave riders are saying that the Ferrari mystique is back, and Michael, with his commanding 9 point lead, will claim his unprecedented 6th World Championship at the final Grand Prix of the season in Suzuka in less than two weeks. A scenario that this old Ferrari fan truly hopes will happen. But not one I'm counting on.
I can't help but remember the not so distant past. Hunt/Lauda, Prost/Mansell, Senna/Prost and Villeneuve/Schumacher to name just a few. And what true racing afficionado can ever forget Graham Hill's emotional Championship run in a very tragic 1968 season. Examples of times when what seemed impossible suddenly became etched in stone.
Oh no, I for one am not convinced that the luck of the 2003 World Championship has completely played itself out. There's a potential for more ... much more.
The young phenom, who has a chance to become the youngest ever World Drivers Champion, is going after the old champ with everything he has. The old champ still has that fire down below, and is once again rolling up his sleeves. All the ingredients are there. Two great drivers on two great teams going head to head with each other, both reaching out for a piece of motor sport immortality.
And still, the question remains. Which one will be the recipient of a favorable nod from good old lady luck.
We soon shall see.