A Salute to the Champion

Yesterday was a day which many F1 fans, especially the tifosi's will all remember forever. Schumi stepped down from Formula one racing. Schumacher was one of the greatest drivers that Formula one has ever seen.
He has multiple records in his name. The following is the summary of his career

Grand Prix - 250
Wins - 91
Podium Finishes - 154
Pole Positions - 68
Championships - 7 (1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004)
First Grand prix - 1991 Belgian Grand Prix
Last Grand prix - 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix
First win - 1992 Belgian Grand Prix
Last win - 2006 Chinese Grand Prix
Schumacher was noted for his ability to produce fastest lap at crucial times at any given situation. He had the ability to push the car to the very limit and also his driving abilities in the wet conditions cannot be matched by anyone else. While Wet conditions are often thought of as the great skill tester of a driver in Formula One racing. Schumacher proved to the world that he is the master in that condition by having some of his best performances in such conditions, earning him the title "Regenkönig" (rain king) or "Regenmeister" (rain master).
Schumacher started his Formula one racing with Jordan and later moved to Benetton and subsequently won his first Formula one Championship in 1994, the same year when another great of Formula 0ne racing, Ayrton Senna died in a fatal crash at San Marino Grand Prix at Imola.
Schumacher holds a number of records to his name. The following are the list of records that he holds:

Most championship titles: 7
Most consecutive championship titles: 5
Most pole positions: 68
Most race wins: 91
Most consecutive race wins: 7 (in 2004 - European GP, Canadian GP, United States GP, French GP, British GP, German GP, Hungarian GP)
Most podium finishes: 154
Most consecutive podium finishes: 19 (from the 2001 United States Grand Prix, until the 2002 Japanese Grand Prix)
Most podium finishes in a season: 13 (out of 17 races in 2004)
Again in yesterday's race, Schumacher proved why he is a champion driver. Inspite of his bad luck striking him twice this weekend he managed to come 4th. During his final qualifier there was some technical problem with his car and hence he had to start the race from the 10th position. During the race he advanced to the 6th position and his left rear tire got punctured. Due to this he had to pit and he rejoined the race down at the 19th place. Again he advaced all the way till the 4th place with some breath taking overtaking past Fisichella and Raikonen on the way.
Schumacher all through out his career never complained about his team for whatever reasons inspite of Ferrari having some tough times during 2005 due to Bridgestone tires.
I am happy that one dream of mine came true. I was lucky enough to witness two grand prix and both of which were won by Micheal Schumacher. Both the days are really special for me. Especially the 2006 US Grand prix. 2006 was a neck to neck racing year between Micheal Schumacher and Fernando Alonso. Every fan's dream of Schumi winning the 8th and final Championship shatterred when the engine failed first time in six year for Ferrari at Suzuka Grand prix. Schumacher could not complete the race and hence lost out on the posibility of winning the championship in 2006.
Schumi, we all love you and salute you. Wish you all the best for all your endeavours in future. If not for you, I am not sure If I would have been such a fan of the sport, Formula one racing.

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