Editor's Desk: Ten years without Michael Schumacher

Today marks ten years since that fateful day on the slopes of Meribel when Michael Schumacher suffered that skiing accident after which we have never seen him again.

After Schumacher’s eight-month stay in hospitals, he was transferred home in September 2014. Since then his family has fiercely guarded his privacy, only a few people privy to his situation, and that is something we fully respect and understand, although we’d be lying if we said that we didn’t care to know a bit more about him.

I was too young to have followed Michael’s career from the start or his first two Formula 1 Championships with Benetton, but I started watching and got hooked on F1 somewhere around 1996.

That was the time when Michael switched to Ferrari and started that epic journey. Taking the Scuderia back into the winners’ circle. It was when he was battling with the likes of Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve, and admittedly not always so chivalrous in his battles.

I got mesmerized by the Ferrari-Schumacher combination, becoming a Tifosi and a Schumi fan… I still am despite all the disappointments on both sides, Ferrari’s failure to win again and Michael’s accident that relegated him into the shadows of not only F1 but even day-to-day life.

When I started following F1, people were still talking about Ayrton Senna. His death. It was 1996 when F1 kicked in for me, it had been only two years since he was taken from us, and I was always in awe of the man, the legend.

But at the time, in Schumacher, I found the driver I felt would go on to build a similar legacy to the Brazilian. He could become the Senna of my time and I would feel the same as the great Brazilian fans did when their hero was around.

Too many disappointments in the buildup to 2000

And it was a tough and trying journey, believe me. There were too many disappointments on the way, missing out on F1 Titles to Hill, Villeneuve, the two years in a row to Mika Hakkinen in 1998 and 1999, not to mention Michael’s (at times) questionable on-track antics.

But nothing mattered to me, except seeing Ferrari win with Schumi, and finally, all that faith was rewarded in 2000, the breakthrough, and then that imperious streak up to the end of 2004.

My mates and I – who were no fans of Michael – would debate about F1 in 2000-2004, and how predictable it was, as we knew who would win every weekend as is the case with Max Verstappen these days. Lewis Hamilton before him and Sebastian Vettel before him.

While my mates would complain about the pr3edictability of F1 when Schumie reigned, I had a simple answer: “I don’t care! I waited since 1996 for this, I will enjoy it while it lasts. Now you wait until he’s not winning anymore.”

While there is an abundance of reasons why Schumacher is considered one of the greatest drivers to grace the F1 grid, for me there was no tangible reason why I was a fan.

There is no doubt about Michael’s talent, and we know how he changed the sport, taking fitness to another level, how he went into details with the car, how he dealt with his team, the care he offered them, his relentless hard work testing from morning till dusk at Fiorano. The list goes on.

But for me, those were just facts that supported my arguments against Michael’s naysayers, I couldn’t give a palpable reason as to why I supported him, maybe his leadership and charisma trickled through from TV (my only means of following F1 then).

An untimely retirement in 2006

It was pure heartbreak when he retired at the end of 2006, or when Ferrari retired him to bring in Kimi Raikkonen. In retrospect, he was nowhere near the end of his F1 career simply not racing anymore. I felt an empty void when watching F1 after that.

When he returned with Mercedes in 2010, I tried to be reasonable by not keeping my hopes high. He was older, and building up a new, midfield team. Nevertheless, I watched every race in anticipation of a strong result, but other than his final pole at Monaco and his podium in Valencia in 2012, the whole comeback was a heartbreak.

However, I found one positive from the whole Mercedes journey: I saw a whole new and different Michael in the ‘second F1 chapter’. You could sense that he was more relaxed, enjoying himself.

I couldn’t recall any occasion before his Mercedes days when Schumi would be in his car getting ready to set out on a qualifying lap, or on the starting grid of a race, when he would wink, or smile and even look at the camera when it closed up on him.

During his ‘first F1 chapter’ he was tense and so focused that he didn’t give any attention to anything that was not related to going as fast as possible. At Mercedes, he seemed to be accepting the fact that he was helping build a team. And was enjoying his time in the process.

Simply put, it was a nicer Schumie that we saw in those brief Mercedes years, but for me that didn’t matter, he was Michael Schumacher and I remained a huge fan. I don’t care, I’ll admit I was a fanboy.

A different legacy after the second F1 stint

While it broke my heart when he left F1 the first time, it was somehow a relief when he retired for the final time. The success Mercedes went on to achieve after him gave me satisfaction that while he didn’t personally win, he laid a foundation that left another legacy, a different one nonetheless.

But now after his skiing accident and consequent absence, there are so many questions or topics which I would’ve liked for him to tackle, about racing, the young guns, being a team owner maybe, hybrids, Newey, Verstappen anything and everything about Formula 1.

I would’ve also loved to see how he would’ve managed Mick’s F1 career. I don’t think he would’ve agreed to put him at Haas under Guenther Steiner’s watch, or he would’ve at least stayed around to make sure what ended up happening to his son didn’t.

But this is life and these unexpected things happen. We have to deal with them, but my only regret was that I wasn’t able to attend a grand prix when he was still racing and maybe get an autograph or a selfie. I simply didn’t have the means.

Ten years on from the skiing accident, I can only say #KeepFightingMichael. And to his family, Corinna in particular, full respect for never giving up on my King of Formula 1.