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Originally Posted by Matt
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I'm getting an idea here maybe you don't like Alonso??
Schumacher didn't really have a choice, Alonso had the correct line into 130R.
It's a corner that has always been taken flat by the best driver/car combos, therefore MS was going in too tight to get round. So he would have had to lift anyway. Alonso also is an incredibly brave driver. Telemetry showed he went into the corner flat at 208mph.
It was high speed game of chicken and MS didn't have the balls, to be honest. If they had made contact, it would have been "plane crash" wreckage.
In fact, when you think of McNish's accident at that corner, the car was destroyed completely. He was by himself.
It fascinates me as a question tbh. How many of these examples have been the underdog against the benchmark? Is that why they are memorable?
Drivers that dominate rarely have to pass anyone. Maybe thats why Senna's first lap at Donington was so memorable. He showed overtaking skills that had been forgotten, due to him being in a slower car.
Personally the Hakkinen move wasn't that impressive. He had a clear straight line speed advantage because his car was set up for dry conditions. Schumi had gone for a semi wet set-up and was defending. Too hard the previous lap!!
My favourite was Mansell around the outside of Berger. Similar performance cars against a driver who wasn't scared to mix it. The previous lap Berger had pushed into Mansell into the first corner. If ever you could read a cars body language, this was it. Mansell's Ferrari looked angry, darting about everywhere and into what was a top gear corner he drove around the outside of him.
It made me hold my breath! Stunning.
Let's not forget, the following year, a certain Senna overturned his car through the same corner trying to take it in 6th gear...
Last point. Ickx. Lauda, 1974; Villeneuve/ Arnoux 1979; Piquet/Senna 1986; Mansell/ Berger 1990; Senna/ Donington 1993; Villeneuve/ Schumi 1996; Hakkinen/ Schumi 2001; Alonso/ Schumi 2005.
We all talk about overtaking being non-existant now, but these examples stretch over a period of 31 years. Was it ever that much better? These are memorable because we are talking about the best drivers in the world capturing our attention. If overtaking was that plentiful, would it really be remembered?
Isn't this why we sit unhappily through a boring Grand Prix, 17, 18, 19 times a year, in the hope that we witness one truly unforgettable moment?