A Life Less Ordinary

For the last 12 months the question on everybody’s lips seems to have been “When will Michael Schumacher retire?”

Now he finally has sodded off back to Kerpen in Germany to sit and read his Sunday newspapers in peace, the question being asked has become “So when do you think Michael Schumacher will come back?”

I’m not asking it of course. My head is full of much more important questions such as “On a grey and overcast day, is there one big cloud in the sky or millions of ickle tiny ones scrunched together?”

The people asking if today’s newspapers are anything to go on are former World Champions Niki Lauda and Mika Hakkinen. Two people who well know the struggles of coming to terms with a life away from the Circuit. More important perhaps, two people who’s retirements were not as long as they had at first anticipated.

Mika of course is still racing in the Deutsch Tourenwagen Masters (DTM), were his will to win is as strong as ever it was. He did take a few years off after leaving the GP scene but ultimately the option to race in Europe’s premier tin-tops series proved too much for the two-time world champion.

Andreas Nikolaus Lauda (Niki to his mates) retired for the first time in 1979 to go and run his Airline in Austria. The possibility though of signing such a high profile driver did not escape the McLaren team - and when the Airline needed a cash injection in the early eighties - Ron’s phone call came at just the right time!

Lauda returned to the cockpit and proved he had lost none of the old sparkle. He beat Alain Prost to the title in 1984 by half a point. 12 months later Prost would have his day, and the raw speed of the French master probably confirmed to Lauda that it was time to go back once a for all to the Airline Business.

Nigel Mansell was another driver who could never escape the lure of the racetrack. He famously “walked away” from the sport on three occasions. His first retirement came in 1990 when angered at what he saw as team-mate Alain Prost’s preferential treatment at the Ferrari stable, Mansell announced he was quitting.

Mansell was eventually persuaded to reconsider by a generous Williams cheque and of course went on to take the World Championship in 1992 in the Fantastic FW14b. However Prost would again prove to be a thorn in his side as unbeknown to Nigel, he has been signed to the Williams Team for 1993. Mansell headed for the states, an Indycar Championship and Third place in the Indy 500 would Follow.

Mansell was to return to Williams in 1994 for a three race stint following the tragic death of the great Ayrton Senna. Mansell would win his 31st and final GP in Adelaide that year, out qualifying both championship contenders in the process. He tried to carry the momentum into a full comeback season at McLaren, but faced with a unspectacular car Mansell would lose motivation and leave before mid-season. Now of course his is still proving his speed by dominating two of the three inaugral GP Masters events

Of the other recent World Champions it is only Damon Hill who has successfully managed to avoid the pull back into the cockpit. He famously said that when he left F1 he would never race again. He has his new role as President of the British Racing Drivers Club and is in charge of bringing the Silverstone Circuit into the 21st century. A brief outing in a Renault F1 car in London and a test of a GP Masters car lead many to speculate on an iminant return, but Damon has stayed true to his word.

So will Michael Schumacher manage to adjust to a life away from the cockpit like his old sparring partner Damon Hill, or like many others, will the draw of Racing eventually prove far too much for the old master to suppress?