Man or Machine (revisited)


There has been a lot of talk among our small group of friends about Michael Schumacher. And in particular - his ability (or inability) to win. He is a true champion, no doubt about it. The records speak for themselves. He won the drivers championship not only with Ferrari but with Benetton as well! He holds the records for the maximum driver's championships, maximum poles, maximum podium finishes, maximum wins in a season, maximum.......well almost everything. And in 2002 he finished every race on the podium, with 11 victories out of 17 races! He is the highest earning sportsman by more than double! Phew!

One aspect that still baffles me quite a lot is "Is it the Man or the Machine" in Formula 1. With all due respect to the winners, I am quite sure that this still is a sport where your equipment decides your success. True, your ability is tested; but that is quite meaningless if you are in a slow car. Or in an unreliable one. Eddie Irvine is a classic example. He was among the top three drivers during his time with Ferrari. But after his shift to Jaguar he slipped right down to the bottom rungs of the sport. But his skill was good enough to get him a podium finish with relatively much slower Jaguar in Monaco. But his success rate was much lower than when he was with the scarlet red Ferrari team.

Coming to the most important and popular person in motor sport, Schumi, he began his career with Jordan as a replacement driver. He performed exceedingly well in his debut. In Shumi's first two seasons with Benetton he drove to his potential but was unable to deliver because of the limitations in the car compared to the Williams and McLarens. The '94 and '95 season saw him win the drivers championship for Benetton. Some reasons for that might be: In '94 the Benetton was the fastest car on track by far. It was so fast that its raw speed fuelled thoughts among people, that the team had found a loophole or a way to violate the FIA regulations. '94 also saw F1 lose one of it's heroes Aryton Senna. Now, there was no more competition for someone of the class of Michael!

In '95 the richest company wanted the best! Michael joined Ferrari and has never contemplated leaving it since. But Scuderia, with not even one Championship win till that time, couldn't give Michael the machine he needed to win. Improvements in the car were made constantly and by '99 they had the car to show the world that they were the best. Unfortunately a brake failure saw Schumi crash, break his leg and lose out on more than half the season. By the turn of the millennium it was Schumi all the way. Schumi and Hakkinen, his only competitor, were in a different league all together. But Mika got the better of Michael. In 2002 Ferrari won 15 out of 17 races. Schumi won 11 of those. This was the time Kimi, Montoya, Alonso were getting the hang of F1 'and learning their first lessons'. Then came Ferrari's (temporary) slump. In '04 Michael managed to hold off Kimi to win the championship by one point. The car they released for 2005 was the "pits"! The tyres didn't help make things better.

2006. Things weren't looking too bright for the Ferrari - Michael combination, with Renault winning the first three races. In San Marino, the race held last weekend, Schumi drove magnificently in the middle portion of the race where the Ferrari was much slower than the Renault of Alonso. This is the best I have seen him drive in a long long time! This is why I became his fan. To hold back a faster car (moreover that of Alonso) takes some doing! And he did it with relative ease. Is this a come back. Or is this a one-off? Let's wait and watch! Alonso will give the "speedmaster" a run for his money.

Getting back to the main argument. The "Man or Machine" issue can be looked at from another perspective. That Formula 1 is a team sport and the driver is only a part of this big team. So, the "Man" and "Machine" are essentially one. Then why does the driver get all the credit? Doesn't every man doing his small part deserve a share in the glory that the driver gets, for the sleepless nights that they have put in to get their "Machine" in top form to get their "Man" to the top?

Talent is one thing, and having the car to show it off is another! If the right combination can be found, they will be invincible. Like the Ferrari - Schumi one. Another is the budding combination of Renault and Alonso!

Any guesses for the victor of 2006
GO ALONSO!

Extacy...... Aman is successful!

Phew! That should tell you how relieved we were. Wow! Our next expression.Now, That was extacy. I can't forget the feeling that swept over Nir, Danjan and me when we saw Aman take off for the first time. The landing was even more elegant. That was the reward for the hard(ly) work we had put in since about a month and a half.
Guys who have read the previous post on Aman! I had told you that I would keep updating you about Aman. So, here is.

Well last Sunday, it was a small step for Anjan, Nir, Megh and I but it was a giant leap for Aman. The previous day there was a "Niranjan's - Believe it or not"! He took the plane to Bangalore by train. The next day, we went to the Jakkur Air Field on the outskirts of Bangalore. This was the first time I would see remote controled planes fly. I had been waiting for this day from the time we started with the project. It somehow eluded me everytime. There, waiting for Adarsh (our project guide), were about 25 people. He is the trainer for everyone there. They get their planes and Adarsh fills them with the passion he has for this relatively expensive hobby. Age is absolutely no bar. I saw there people from the age of 10 to 65. The aspect that struck me most was that, even the old are interested in this kind of a leisure activity. Everyone there is friendly and willing and in fact wanting to help each other.
Staring with Suman, who lent us his transmitter and receiver for the project. Sharath helped us with the final settings in our model. All this time (the busy) Adarsh was testing and teaching other people with their models. We were getting quite angry and iritated with him because he wasn't even running-in our model; something we had to do before flying it. We had reached Jakkur at 9 and it was close to 12:30. Finally, he did come and got us started up.
I will not bore you guys with how the running in is done. Anyway, we used twofull tanks of fuel for tuning the engine. Now was the time. After a few final checks (without which the plane would have crashed - The clevices on all the control surface were loose). Thanks to Niranjan, we corrected it and got underway. I was quite circumspect about flying the plane that day, because we had a broken nose wheel. But Adarsh's confidence rubbed onto us. He gunned the engine, like that way you would have seen in the old films. By rotating the propeller! Then came the longest 10 secs in my recent past life. It was time dilation to it's perfect ultimate. Aman gathered speed and zipped along the runway without any sign of the nose wheel wobbling. We (Nir, Anjan and I) kept chanting in our minds: TAKE OFF, TAKE OFF......... And take off: it did! It seriously did. A feeling of relief came upon me and I felt that the time till now wasn't a waste but Project Aman was successful. Yeah!
Taking off was actually only to prove that the plane is flyable. Then it was all up to Adarsh to see what the plane could actually do. In the first sortie he did just the basic stuff, nothing special. Then came the landing, the next point of choking (for us at least). It was as smooth as greased lighting! At that point we were in seventh heaven. And all sated(in spite of not eating since 8; it was around 3:30)! In the second sortie, Adarsh then flew the plane to it's limit! Rolls, Vertical Charlies....... the works.

After a "clean" landing

After all that was done with, we were already thinking of how to show-off .......LOL. We then made our ways home separately pooped and drained. I was so tired, on the way to the railway station, I slept in the auto for 10 mins. But in the train Niranjan and I couldn't hide the excitement and didn't doze off even for a few seconds. Well that day had taken it's toll on us..... on me at least. I have been sick with a very high fever since two days. But the satisfaction is unfathomable.
I will keep updating you guys about Aman, that is, if you are interested. Well, even if you aren't I will write and force you to read ;)
So much for this time!