You’ve all heard of Formula One motor racing at some point. From the late greats Fangio and Senna, to the 2014 crowned World Champion Lewis Hamilton – almost choke typing his name! But that’s another story for another time.
On the last day of December 2013, Michael Schumacher, notably the world’s most celebrated racing driver in history, was out skiing with his son and friends, when he fell and hit his head off piste. Almost immediately there was a media lock-down on his prognosis, and news through the year has been less than forthcoming.
I think of fans who religiously followed Schumi through his F1 career, starting in karting, rising through the ranks, racing for Benetton, then his rise to fame with Ferrari where he clinched 7 world championships before retiring briefly, then making a comeback to race with Mercedes with Rossberg alongside. There are those who could afford it, and would travel faithfully to each circuit through a racing calendar to watch their hero race, set and break records at one point almost on a weekly basis, these people were called Tifosi – more commonly identified as the ever-present sea of red at any F1 racing weekend.Since Michael’s retirement, interest world-wide waned a little, but its a huge sport, with insurmountable dollars being thrown at it by sponsors, and it will continue it’s legend on the racing world. That said though, with the media respecting the family’s wishes to give them space while Michael recovers, having spent what we know of possible the past 11 months in a coma, allow me to ask you this question:
Is it a fair assumption to say that the Tifosi, racing fraternity and world at large be left in the cold with the lack and absence of frequent updates, images and eventual realistic prognosis of their hero?
