Motorsport: Not a retiring nature

Michael Schumacher

Regardless of who wins the Formula 1 world title this year - the race between Germany's Michael Schumacher and Spain's Fernando Alonso closed to a fascinating two points before the China Grand Prix at Shanghai tonight - it is clear the legacy of "Schumi" will continue even past his retirement.

For one thing, retirement or not, Schumacher is still demonstrably the most popular person in F1 with the fans, hugely outdistancing Alonso in a recent F1 poll of 90,000 of the sport's followers internationally.

He is also popular with sponsors. Rival drivers, media and others may not hold the tall German in the same regard but none of that has diluted the Schumacher appeal for fans.

While the survey does give details on why Schumacher is so revered, it is clear his damn-the-torpedoes, they-shall-not-pass, bloody-minded driving style (which sometimes sees him offside with drivers, officials and media) is a delight for F1 followers.

They gave him 30 per cent of the vote on the question: Who is the most popular driver? His 2007 replacement at Ferrari, Kimi Raikkonen, was second with 17 per cent, Britain's Jenson Button was third and Alonso a lowly fourth with only 7 per cent of the vote.

Schumi will also not notice much of a salary drop in retirement. His three-year deal with a German car parts manufacturer will see the Bank of Schumacher swell $12 million; existing contracts, each worth $9 million a year, have been extended with Shell, Omega and a finance house. So that's $39 million for him to struggle along on, then.

Yet, he is also the man who gave $15 million to the tsunami fund. Not a bad donation for a man often depicted as a cold, calculating Germanic type.

So why is Schumacher sometimes derided as "not as great" as drivers such as Ayrton Senna, Juan Fangio, Jim Clark and even Alain Prost?

The figures which frame his competitive life are mind-boggling: more world titles than anyone else (seven and maybe eight after this year); more individual GP wins; most wins in a season; more pole positions - the list goes on and on.

On statistics alone, Schumacher is the greatest, easily. But he also has the highest number of penalties ever in F1 and is often criticised for the ruthless streak which many categorise as cheating. They include incidents like his wilful effort to stop his car on a qualifying lap, in an attempt to stop Alonso taking pole. In 1997, he tried to shunt Jacques Villeneuve off the track and was disqualified. In 1994, he did the same thing to Damon Hill.

The guy doesn't like losing (or being passed) and it is this perceived lack of sportsmanship and fair play that has stained Schumi's reputation. Certainly other drivers don't like it.

"I don't ever recall him ... admitting he did anything wrong, even when the stewards had penalised him," said Scottish driver David Coulthard recently.

That's a prevalent view among the other drivers. They admire him as a technician but many give the impression they don't much like him as a man.

Alonso: "Michael is the most unsporting driver with the largest number of sanctions against him in the history of F1.That doesn't mean he hasn't been the best driver."

Which is what the fans think. However, many think Schumacher's eighth world title might slip a little further from his grasp after tonight's race at Shanghai. Alonso won this race last year and Schumacher has never scored at Shanghai, finishing 12th in the inaugural race and spinning out last year.

But all the hoo-ha about his retirement is out of the way now. Schumi is focused as only he can be and he dismisses the idea Shanghai is a "bogey circuit", citing Ferrari's 2004 victory.

"It is true that this race has never gone particularly well," said the German. "However, Rubens [Barrichello] won the first ever race and this means our car should do well. I am sure things will go well this time."

So are the fans. And the sponsors.