Schumacher Puts His Neck On The Line
Recovery from injury at 41 was against the odds but the former champion is no ordinary man.
As if Michael Schumacher did not have enough to think about, he will have mixed feelings over an alteration to the race track on which he will make his Formula One comeback this weekend. A new half-mile loop to the circuit at Bahrain will bring six additional bends, six more places per lap to add strain to neck muscles already due to receive a tough work-out during the course of a 192-mile race, Schumacher’s first since October 2006.
It is true the seven-times champion has gone racing during his three-season absence but the difference between a kart or motorbike and the punishment dealt out by a grand prix car is comparable to that between a punt on the Cam and the Olympic coxless fours.
The irony is that a motorcycle racing accident could threaten one of the most celebrated comebacks in the history of sport. Schumacher says he has received the medical all-clear over damage to the seventh vertebra and a fracture at the base of his skull, roughly the size of a thumbnail but in a place supporting the weight of the skull. The G-forces unique to Formula One will seek out the tiniest weakness in this, the most vulnerable part of a racing driver’s body, particularly for a man of 41, twice as old as some of his rivals.
Dr Riccardo Ceccarelli, from the Italian sports clinic Formula Medicine and formerly of the Toyota Formula One team, explains the potential hazard that Schumacher will face as he embarks on a 19-race season covering more than 7 000 miles of racing and practice. “I know of no other sport that places such big demands on the neck muscles,” says Ceccarelli. “A head and F1 helmet together weigh about 6kg. Add about 4g as experienced when cornering in a grand prix, and the neck has to support 24kg.”
Schumacher will face 16 changes of direction on each lap in Bahrain, the saving grace being that only two of the corners are fast enough to register 4g. But it will be a different story on 4 April in Malaysia where the effect of numerous fourth- and fifth-gear curves at Sepang will be aggravated by intense heat and humidity.
Famous for introducing levels of fitness never dreamed of when he arrived in Formula One in 1991, Schumacher will be as well-prepared as it is possible to be. Having been tempted back by Mercedes Grand Prix, formerly known as Brawn and, before that, Honda and British American Racing (BAR), Schumacher has been fortunate in having access to gym equipment designed specifically for the neck and thought to be unique among F1 teams.
“It’s known as a rehabilitation machine,” says Anthony Davidson, the former test driver with Brawn, Honda and BAR. “It was made in Germany and deals with neck injuries. We took it a step further and used it to build muscles on the neck because that’s the area of a F1 driver’s body that takes the most punishment. When Michael joined, he asked me to bring him up to speed on how it worked. What did he think of it? I don’t know. Michael doesn’t give much away.”
For the full story visit the guardian.co.uk
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