Schu shines at Wembley
Posted by Sam Philip at 5:00PM on Monday 17 December, 2007 0 Comments
You'll never hear a German get so many cheers at Wembley. Despite the host of racing talent on display at the Race of Champions last night, it was all about Schumacher: a glorious return to the track for the greatest F1 driver in history.
And Schumi, for the most part, played the amiable retiree with aplomb, mugging at every camera, grinning like a Prozac addict as he chatted with other drivers, attacking the winding track like a ruddy beserker.
Even when he stalled on the lights in the first leg of the Race of Nations final with Heikki Kovaleinen in the next lane, he exhibited a cheery, crowd-pleasing spirit, waiting for the Finn to catch up behind him before setting off on a cat-and-mouse pursuit around the track. Kovaleinen eventually squeezed past again after some pantomime toing and froing that would've made the Chuckle Brothers proud.
But, from under the smiles and the goofing around, that Schumacher ruthlessness crept through. Just once, and just for a second. At one race apiece in the best-of-three final against Mattias Ekstrom, the two drivers were down in the pits, about to be strapped in, when Schumacher decided he should be driving the other car.
In that instant, Schumi transformed from genial crowd-pleaser to terrifying racing machine. Only for a second, mind. You had to be watching closely to see it at all, but it was definitely there: a constricting of the pupils, a tightening of the muscles.
You know that bit in the first Lord of the Rings film (I'm sorry, it's my one fantasy epic reference for the year, I promise) where Bilbo transforms, just for a tick, from genial old hobbit into evil wild-eyed maniac when he sees the ring? It was like that with Schumi: "Oh, a racing car title. I should very much like to hold it again one last time..."
And you know what? It was in that second that I realise I miss him, miss that combination of impossible racing talent and near-pathological win-at-all-costs mentality.
All of which, of course, made it even better when he eventually lost to Ekstrom. One can only take so many German victories at Wembley.
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