F1 | Schumacher, a blast from the past in a hurricane of emotions

The date of September 15th had been circled in red by all Formula 1 fans, and not only that, who were awaiting the release of the Schumacher docufilm on Netflix so they could enjoy it. A few days after the launch, so far perhaps a thousand have seen it and become excited. Because it is a film that reconciles us with a historical past, where the Circus was the center of the world of motorsport and where he was there to punctuate every Sunday: the Kaiser.

There's no point in looking back, all of us shed several tears as we reviewed all those feats that for over twenty years gave us a spectacle that today we can label as unique and inimitable. Because Schumi was like Paganini, he didn't repeat. If anything, he gave different emotions and victories each time, which however had as a common denominator that talent for which nothing was impossible. Even winning by dominating races driving a single-seater inferior to the competition.

Schumi's career was made up of important and risky choices, such as that of moving from the extraordinary Benetton to the modest Ferrari in the mid-90s. Perhaps few would have taken on that burden, because we know very well how intolerant Italian critics are towards everything and everyone, but that great champion Schumi was able not only to accept the challenge but also to win it (re)bringing Ferrari back to the top in a decade to the world of motor racing by racking up victories and titles. “If he decides to join Ferrari he will go down in history as the driver who helped raise it from the ashes”, Niki Lauda's words in this sense were prophetic and put Schumacher in the position of being considered a true secular divinity by Maranello and by his fans.

From Suzuka 2000 "nothing will be as before". Jean Todt was right. But the certainties had been preceded by the doubts of Todt himself ("We wondered if Michael was the right driver to win again", Todt himself admits in the documentary film) then canceled by the facts and sometimes accompanied by episodes that highlighted (Jerez 1997, even before Adelaide 1994) the darkest side of the champion. Seeing the film again was like experiencing them for a second time.

From the professional Schumi to the private one, two worlds that the German managed to keep separate even though his popularity was certainly not easy to tame. That privacy which has always represented, rightly, an insurmountable wall to overcome. And this is what should happen today too, while Schumi continues to compete in his most important race since 29 December 2013. Corinna's final words ("He has always been the one to protect us, now we are the ones to protect him") make us understand how the roles have been reversed, but respect for that desire to protect must remain the same towards a pilot who was the idol of millions of kids who grew up in his myth. One above all is Sebastian Vettel, also present in the film, who represents for Mick Schumacher what Michael represented for him.

A documentary film that should be seen by all those who were not lucky enough to admire him on the track, to really understand who Michael Schumacher was but above all to understand the difference between that Formula 1 and the current one.

Piero Ladisa

Follow @PieroLadisa