Amid the ongoing controversy of Michael Schumacher’s victory at the Austrian Grand Prix, the world champion was named World Sportsman of the Year on Tuesday. Does he deserve the award?
Amid the ongoing controversy of Michael Schumacher’s victory at the Austrian Grand Prix, the world champion was been named World Sportsman of the Year at the Laureus World Sports Awards ceremony in Monte Carlo. Does he deserve the award?
The ceremony, which was billed as the sports world’s equivalent of the Oscars, took place on Tuesday night. Schumacher was at the centre of a controversy on Sunday when Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello was ordered to hand him victory in the Austrian Grand Prix. The contrived result sparked an outcry by the Press, race organisers, team bosses, former F1 drivers and Ferrari fans across the globe.
While there is bound to be ongoing debate whether Schumacher’s conduct at the Austrian Grand Prix was “sportsmanlike” or not, the organisers of the awards ceremony chose to honour the German for “a dominant 2001 season that brought him nine race wins and a fourth driver’s title”. Results speak louder than actions, it seems…
“Schumacher was even more dominant in his sport during 2001, confirming his greatness on the track by securing his fourth Formula One world title in eight years in record-breaking style. Posted a remarkable nine individual wins after triumphing in the season-ending Japanese Grand Prix, as well as piling up a record 123 points and the greatest number of fastest laps,” a spokesman for the competition said.
“His Suzuka victory, the 53rd of his career, moved him two clear of the previous record held by Frenchman Alain Prost. Won the first two races of the season, in Australia and Malaysia, and clinched further victories in Spain, Monaco, San Marino and France before sealing the world title in Hungary on August 19. Last December, was named Sportsman of the Year by the European Sports Writers Union and also world sportsman of 2001 by Reuters news agency and French newspaper L’Equipe,” he added.
French and Australian Open tennis champion Jennifer Capriati won the Sportswoman of the Year title. Schumacher’s rival, Williams BMW’s Juan-Pablo Montoya, was voted World Newcomer of the Year – ahead of injured England footballer Steven Gerrard and Belgian tennis star Justine Henin.
Meanwhile, Schumacher stated on Tuesday that Ferrari should not be blamed for introducing team orders, something some fans see as a negative measure, to the sport. The German said the much-talked-about team orders were meant to ensure that Ferrari would still be in a strong position if teams such as Williams BMW and McLaren Mercedes gained a performance advantage mid-way through the season, or the F-2002 was hampered by unforeseen reliability problems.
“I know that our position regarding team orders can at times be difficult to explain,” said Schumacher. “But you just have to think about it. It has to be said that we did not invent this type of thing. In Formula One there have always been lots of other teams who used these methods before us.”
“He (Rubens) was the best driver on the track. I had asked myself if we needed to take this course of action given the championship situation is in our favour and that our car, along with the Bridgestone tyres, is very competitive. All I can do is repeat that nothing is certain in this sport. For example, I could have problems with the car and might not always finish in the points,” he tried to explain.
“In two or three races, the situation could be different, even if at the moment it does not seem to be the case. And yet, I remember that in 1998, by the summer we managed to close on the McLaren, which had dominated the early part of the season in the way we are doing now,” the world champion said.
“Ferrari has learnt the hard way from three world titles lost by the slimmest of margins. They were bitter moments. Since then, we try to avoid a repetition of that situation and so, when one driver appears to have a clearly better chance of winning the title, we try and ease that process. It also happens in cycling for example. One must accept that sometimes one must take difficult decisions,” he added.