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He is a champion among champions and possibly one that no one will ever come close to when it comes to achievements. Yet today, we know nothing of his present condition or what his future will be like and this has left many of his fans (this journalist included) in perpetual anxiety and little hope that their champion will be whole again. In a step to ease out the pain of his global fan base, Michael Schumacher’s website has been re-launched, 20 years to the date of his first F1 world title, to chronicle his many achievements and innumerable records.
It was on the November 13, 1994 at the Australian grand prix in Adelaide that a 25-year-old Michael Schumacher took his first world championship. It had been a grim year for the sport as it had managed to lose a new face in the form of Roland Ratznberger and its greatest son (at that time) Ayrton Senna in the same race within a span of two days. Anyone who won the season would always be remembered as a champion of a F1 season that saw the sport being turned on its head and pretty much the first winner in the abruptly heralded post Senna era.
He made a mistake on lap 32 and then came back on track and then turned into the path (some say deliberately) of his closest rival Damon Hill retiring immediately with the latter limping back into the pits a lap later with suspension damage. This move earned him the 1994 title and gave us a small preview of the ruthlessness that drove him to take victory after victory. However, a true measure of his talent was only seen in 1995 where he stayed on with Benetton (now running on Renault power) and won nine of the 17 races including his home German Grand Prix a full 5.9 seconds ahead of David Coulthard in the Williams Renault.
The rest of his four titles are well chronicled on television and something that every F1 fan in India, who watched his exploits on Star Sports over the last 15 years will be able to preach on for many decades.
Coming back to the website, it has now been redesigned to speak of all of the German’s achievements during his lengthy career as well as list out his statistics. There are also pictures and links to visit the official Schumacher online merchandise store.
It seems unlikely that Schumacher, due to the gravity of his injuries, will ever return to the track but we can hope that through his iron will to succeed and strong family support he will heal and return to normal life at some point in the future.
#KeepFightingMichael! /Forza Michael!
