Newsgroup: it.sport.formula1.moderato
Titolo: [ENG] Nigel about MSC, Fangio & C.

www.autosport.com
Dear Nigel,
Comparing drivers from different generations is an incredibly tough thing to
do, I know. But how does Michael Schumacher stack up against the best of the
best? Where do you feel he fits in among greats such as Fangio, Nuvolari,
Moss, Senna, Clark etc? Do you feel he will become regarded as a legend in
years to come? And when do you think he might retire and give someone else a
chance?
Pat Hendrick, Andover, UK
Dear Pat,
Comparing drivers from different generations is more than incredibly tough -
to my mind, it's a virtual impossibility, and never more than in this era,
when the demands on a driver have changed so much.
Perhaps all you can realistically do is compare a man's abilities with those
of his contemporaries. Sadly, because of that terrible day at Imola in 1994,
we never got to see a real mano a mano fight between Michael Schumacher and
Ayrton Senna. Although they competed against each other for a couple of
seasons, Schumacher was not yet at his peak - and perhaps, by the time he
had got to that point, Senna would have been a touch past his best, and
therefore - being Ayrton - would have quit on the spot.
So how does Michael compare, relative to his contemporaries, with such as
Nuvolari, Fangio, Moss, Clark and Senna? Or, for that matter, with Stewart
and Prost?
First, and you may disagree with this, I do not consider the last decade to
have been a vintage one, in terms of the overall driving standard in F1.
Michael has had some worthy adversaries, including Mika Hakkinen (the best
of them), Jacques Villeneuve (when he had a proper car), David Coulthard
(when the mood takes him), Damon Hill (sometimes), Rubens Barrichello (when
he's allowed), and so on, and today he faces the next generation, in the
shape of Juan Montoya, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso, all of whom look
set for 'superstar' status.
Senna, though, had Prost, a true all-time great, and it was perhaps not
surprising that Ayrton's attention was always squarely focused on Alain, the
only driver he truly feared - the only driver, let's face it, who ever beat
him in equal cars. I remember once watching a qualifying session at Spa with
Denis Jenkinson, in which the pair of them inevitably qualified 1-2.
"Look at them," Jenks mused. "A pair of artists. We're incredibly privileged
to be witnessing an era with not just one, but two, drivers of that
quality."
I knew what he meant - but then throw in all the others Senna had to beat.
Think of Mansell, Piquet, Rosberg, Lauda, Berger, Alboreto et al.
We all have our theories about 'the greatest of all time', and for me that
is Stirling Moss, whom I consider to have been devoid of any weakness worth
the name. Look at the drivers against whom he raced: Fangio, Ascari, Brooks,
Behra, Hawthorn, Collins, Brabham, etc. For Fangio, the list is much the
same, give or take.
As for Clark, you had Moss (briefly), Gurney, Surtees, Graham Hill, Stewart,
and so on. Go right back to Nuvolari, and there were the likes of
Caracciola, Rosemeyer, Varzi, Lang, all absolute greats.
So where does Schumacher fit in? Unquestionably, he is among the greatest of
all time, and it is highly likely that he is currently setting records, both
for Grand Prix wins and World Championships, that will never be beaten. But
I think it's worth bearing in mind that there are many more Grands Prix
(counting for the championship, that is) than there used to be, and that
cars are hugely more reliable than they were even 10 years ago.
I think we should remember, too, that there are many one-time errors a
driver cannot make any more. For one thing, he doesn't need to worry any
more about watching a rev counter, for fear of blowing up the engine -
indeed, he doesn't have to think about shifting gears at all these days,
because it's done for him. Same with getting a car off the grid. And he
doesn't have to worry too much, either, about applying too much throttle out
of a corner, because traction control takes care of all that. Come to think
of it, he needn't concern himself any longer with arriving at a race set-up
which works equally well with full tanks or empty: thanks to refuelling,
these days a car - relatively - is either light or very light at all times.
On the other hand, today's driver does have to understand all manner of
electronic systems which used not to exist, and to know how to get the best
out of them. You can certainly say that racing is much more of a science
than it was, much more a matter of working with engineers. Schumacher might
be lost in an Auto Union, with 600 horsepower, skinny tyres, and no traction
control, but neither would Nuvolari understand much on a computer screen...
Do I put Schumacher up there with the likes of Fangio, Moss and Clark? No,
in the end I don't. I'll accept that he's among the best there's ever been,
but I think that he remains fallible under pressure (as we saw again at
Suzuka last weekend), that he makes too many mistakes - and that his driving
manners are often plain disgusting. For this last point alone, I would never
class him with men like Stirling or Jimmy.
Will Michael be 'a legend' in years to come? Undoubtedly he will - indeed he
already is. When will he retire? Officially, it's the end of 2006, but still
it wouldn't surprise me to see him go before then: JPM, Kimi and Fernando
are coming up on the rails, and he knows it. In January he will be 35, and
has enough money for several hundred years, after all.

 
Chapeau.