Arrivederci Michael! Missing you already!

Hello my beloved readers!

I am in a bit of a daze today coz I stayed up last night to watch the final race of the F1 season till 3am and the bloody gardeners decided to wake me up with their bloody gardening at some unearthly hour today morning. Like seriously...very inconsiderate I think! I did go back to sleep almost instantly, but thats not the point, is it?! Anyhoos...lack of sleep has definitely upped my weird factor for today...

So! Michael Schumacher...the greatest driver of all time hung up his helmet after the race at Interlagos yesterday. And what a bloody good race it was...Sure we qualified only in P10 and we had that stupid tyre puncture but if one can get past our bad luck, well...it was nothing but sheer brilliance from my all powerful, all mighty beloved Schumi. Not only did he zip past the rest of the field to climb his way from 17th to 4th at the end of the race, but THAT move on Mr. Kimi Raikkonen was complete nerve...a totally stupendous, bring-it-on-kimi-i-don't-care-if-u-have-my-seat-for-next-year-but-this-is-mine! move which to me was more of a omg-plz-plz-don't-collide thing...That was one of the most breathtaking overtaking manoeuvers I've seen in a very long time. As far as I'm concerned, all the grit, determination, passion and never-say-die attitude that has made Michael so great was demonstrated in that one move...Fookin' fantastic! As Byron Young from The Daily Mirror said of Michael in regards to yesterday's race..."There was to be no final miracle from the man who could drive on water. But he went mighty close..." Very well put, Mr. Young.

4th place was the best that we could manage yesterday, but since the tide was against us all along, just seeing Felipe so happy and Michael so content (given the circumstances!) was enough to satisfy the most avid Ferrari fanatic (namely me!). Also, I was very pleased to notice that all the news headlines (I watched the sports headlines on ALL channels...just my way of clinging onto my favourite driver and his momentous occasion) focussed more on Michael's move on Kimi and how fantastic Michael really is, rather than highlighting the fact that Alonso just clinched his 2nd consecutive world championship! Apparently, Frank Williams once commented that Michael was so good that he would be a contender even if he was in a pram...I am very inclined to acquiesce to that.

I keep this blog more of a reminder to me of things- of that have had a profound effect on my life and things that I would like to remember. I really do think that my memory is on a slide down. Would be a bit of a shame if after calling myself "Schumi's biggest fan ever", I didn't have an idea of his stats...so here they are...more for my benefit than yours...

* Most world titles: 7 (1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004)
* Most wins: 91
* Most wins at the same race: 8 (French GP)
* Most wins with one team: 72
* Most pole positions: 68
* Most podium finishes: 154
* Most points scored: 1,369
* Most fastest laps: 76
* Most consecutive seasons with a win: 15
* Most ‘clean sweeps’ (pole, win, fastest lap): 22
* Earliest title winner: 2002 (in July, with 6 races remaining)
* Longest spell with one team: 11 seasons (Ferrari – 1996-2006)
* Most time between first and last race wins: 14 years, 1 month and 1 day
* Only driver to have finished every race on the podium: 2002

Now its all done, and I would like to bid "Cheerio" to my 'ol friend Schumi whom I've known for a wonderful spell of 10 years. Goodness knows if I'll even catch a glimpse of him again, but it has been an absolute honour to see Michael in action. I must give an honourable mention to my friends PJ and Leenz too...the former for apologizing to me when Michael crashed out at the Melbourne GP, the latter for giving Schumi the credit he rightly deserves and more, and both for supporting my addiction to Michael, Ferrari and F1 over the time I've known them (even though both are officially in love with Kimi!!)...Very noble I think...

As for our future, well...Michael's out to enjoy retirement...I hope Felipe and Kimi will keep the Ferrari passion alive. As for me...my cry remains unchanged..."Forza Ferrari".

PS. I like Ferrero Rocher's so much!
PPS. I'm going to miss Michael so much! :(