(The article is submitted by Pritish Khale- an extremely passionate follower of Formula 1 racing. We thank him for his article about the return of Michael Schumacher.  Its filed in reflections section – where we post articles which are different from our strategy or business section.)     Can you believe it? Almost everyone is talking about it. The information media is going bonkers about it. The pundits have already done SWOT analysis of it. Ever since He made the official announcement yesterday, everyone is going ga-ga about it. At the end of the day, what matters most is that He is back. Yes, it may be only for the remainder of the season but Michael Schumacher is back at the wheels of His beloved Ferrari.

On August 25, 1991, a certain 22 year old German got a chance to drive for Jordan F1 team thanks to some slick talking by His manager, Willi Weber. Apparently, He was replacing a Belgian who had to do some prison time for his misdemeanors. What followed for next 15 years was an act of brilliance, dedication to sport, team loyalty & doing what He loved doing the most – Driving to perfection. Now, 34 months into His retirement and He gets a call back; this time, to replace an unfortunate Brazilian.

Coincidence? May be. Because this time, slick talking Willi Weber assured that He won’t come out of retirement and drive and Willi was 200 % sure about it. Because this time, He will be driving for a team which has lost, rather, not found their bearings till now. Because this time, He will be racing on a track where he has never driven before. Because this time, his first race after retirement will be on the week of August 23, 2009; exactly 18 years after his first race. May be we will see Him riding a folding bicycle on the track on the Friday of that very weekend “just to get acquainted with the track” and then we can say it is indeed a coincidence.

Now, every single one of His fans will expect Him to drive His heart out & produce the same magic from the word GO. I am pretty sure He will. I mean, mathematically, with 7 races to go, title number eight is a sure possibility. All He needs to do is win the remaining races by blowing His competition away. Besides, who is He competing with?

I am pretty sure Brawn GP drivers would have started fretting when they first heard the announcement, especially given their current slump. The Toyotas are struggling to keep their act together and BMW have announced that they will be out after 2009 and hence must have begun packing their bags already. The Spaniard and his French outfit mustn’t even have noticed because they must be busy loving themselves if not serving a ban come the immediate race. That leaves the 08’ Champion who, I feel was very lucky to win the title last year and has lot to prove when it comes to driving a not-so-friendly car. So, the only person worth mentioning is another German who, rather than threatening Him, is threatened by his team-mate’s sudden purple patch (a patch long due). Oh! I forgot to mention the 07’ champion i.e. His current team-mate. Anyways, Iceman is not a threat as he is already dreaming about his rallying career which takes off next season. So, title number 8??? Quite possible, isn’t it?

But, if this was an ideal world, Ferrari would have been leading the Constructor’s championship at this juncture; each team would have been running the KERS system mandatorily; double diffusers would not have been an issue at all and Max Mosley would have been ousted from FIA a long time ago when he tried to kill Ralf Schumacher with his “no tire change for the entire race” rule. Hell, He would have still been racing for Team Ferrari and may be, just may be, would have been wrapping up title no. 10 by winning the next race with a 5 pit-stop strategy. I mean, with mastermind Brawn at helm, the two did it with a 3 stopper and 4 stopper, so why not a 5 stopper???

Alas! This isn’t an ideal world. As much as I want Him to go flat out and win it all, something tells me it may not happen. No matter how great He is, the fact of the matter is that a 40 year old’s reflexes may not be as sharp as a they were 3 years ago, and mind you, back then, He made a mockery of the remaining grid at His last race. But my intuition says that He will be enjoying the sport even more this time around. Everyone believes that He will have to cope up with immense pressure but I feel He won’t be under any pressure. His ‘driving to the extreme’ then was for winning but now His ‘driving to the extreme’ will be just for the heck of it. Something tells me that He will be more open to the media now and when asked about His ‘extreme driving’ given the current scenario, He’ll nonchalantly say, “I love this sport and I enjoy what I do, so why not?” Then again, He may not do all that and take this stint pretty damn seriously and even sign up as a full time next season. He was never predictable, He will never be!

My personal message to all you avid F1 fans out there; watch Him teach the newbies how not to cry out loud if your car underperforms and still drive its wheels off & produce favorable results. Watch him for the knowledge He brings to the team by His minute observations. Watch him for His blistering in-lap, out-lap & the fastest lap and may be even the qualifying lap. Watch him do all that may be you will be lucky enough to see that giant leap on podium once again. Watch him bring back the glorious era of 1994-2000. Watch him and learn.

Finally, I’d like to quote a famous verse from Bhagwad Gita:“Yada Yada Hi Dharmasya, Glanirva Bhavati Bharatha;….Whose meaning in relation to Schumacher’s announcement goes like this:

“Since there is a decline in Sport (religion) and predominant rise of irreligion (Mosley antics, FIA-FOTA war, Lie-Gate, Stepney-Gate); to annihilate the miscreants (cry-babies on current F1 grid & Max Mosley off the course) and establish the principles (bringing back the lost interest in F1 & the art of driving flat out), I will descend myself”.

“SCHUMACHER, Uber Alles!!!”

- One of the million Schumi fans & a proud one too.

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