In God’s absence

Massa, at USGP Friday morning Practice.(Courtesy : Praveen Chavannavar)

Kimi, You and I are over. My trip to the US Grand Prix at Indianapolis this year made it abundantly clear on how big a hole Schumacher had left behind. My heart was plenty saddened by Kimi’s Non-inspired driving and Massa’s talent limited race. Not only could they not out qualify the McLaren’s at qualifying, the two Ferrari’s simply peeled away during the race. And while you can argue that Ferrari’s were inherently slower then the McLaren’s, Kimi’s abysmal start that lost him two spaces and then his turtle like climb back to regain his starting grid position left me with a horribly empty feeling. Schumacher would not just drive the car but talk to the machine constantly. If the F1 car was at its limits, then Michael would coax her into giving him a fraction of a second more. Besides braking later and staying on the Throttle longer, he would constantly massage the steering and electronics to attain a driving fluidity that even the God’s possibly lack. Perhaps, there will be none like him again. And while I still skip a beat at the sight of red streaks passing me by at 330 km/hr, it is certain that my screaming has reduced. The technicality of the sport, the electronic wizardry and sheer stretching of vehicle dynamics still amaze me just as much. But for witnessing the human element of watching superior race driving I must resort to memories of times long gone. Of a time, when a German showed the world, what it is to drive a car at the limit irrespective of the friction coefficient of the road.