The Writing on the Wall
	by Biranit Goren, Israel

Once upon a time, Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard were friends. They lived in the same apartment building at Monte Carlo, worked out in the same gym and hung out at the same places. Once, in the Monaco Grand Prix of 1996, David Coulthard even raced to third wearing Michael Schumacher's helmet, colours and all, because his helmet was malfunctioning. Once upon a time. David Coulthard and Michael Schumacher are no longer friends, it seems, but the idea that the Scotsman might have wanted to kill Schumacher is ludicrous. Coulthard should be insulted, no doubt. But the apology he deserves from Michael Schumacher, is not for what Schumacher did or say on that Sunday afternoon at Spa, but rather for what he did not do or say later on - and that is calm down his violence-prone fans. Schumacher need not apologize for his outburst, because a man's behaviour should not be judged at a moment of anguish. Indeed, it is somewhat hard to comprehend what Michael Schumacher must have felt when he crashed into the back of Coulthard's McLaren, probably ending any hopes of a World Championship for the 1998 season right there and then. It must have felt like such frustration, that could almost justify any irrational reaction later on, say, in the pits. Those who condemn Schumacher for his outburst at the McLaren pits are hypocrites at best - human nature does not translate heartbreaks into logic. However, that does not justify or explain why Michael Schumacher has not condemned, 10 days later, the reaction of his fans - the famous Ferrari Tifosi - who threw cans at Coulthard as he arrived at Monza for his team's testing session there last week, who hung up posters calling Coulthard a killer and who threatened him with vengeance. Five years ago, a fellow countryman of Schumacher, by the name of Guenter Parche, stabbed the No.1 Women's Tennis Player Monica Seles in her back, causing her to retire from the Sport for two years. Parche, deemed mentally unstable by the German Court, admitted he did this because he was Steffi Graf's fan. Graf was ranked back then number two, second to Seles. The ongoing rivalry on court between the two sparked the whole tennis world and attached millions of viewers to the screen every time the two appeared in the same Grand Slam. Graf was in no way responsible for Parche's maniacal actions, but it did not change the fact that she carried, for a very long time, a heavy burden of shame for the actions of someone who deemed himself her fan. And when Seles made her return, two years later, Graf - who was ranked first by then - willingly agreed to share her seed with Seles. She also lost her first Grand Slam final against Seles, which must have made her, at last, a very happy woman. The fact is, she never played better as she did after Seles returned. Michael Schumacher should remember the Seles incident. Not only does it involve another top sports-person from his country - Graf is German too - but it was also by far the most talked about incident in the sport arena and in Germany at that time. And if, by chance, Michael Schumacher forgot about it, someone in Ferrari or around him should have reminded him of it. No World Championship loss can equal the burden and weight Schumacher will carry for the rest of his life, if something happens to Coulthard this coming weekend, or hence forth. What is no less troubling, is the silence of the FIA on the matter. One would expect the FIA to have condemned the actions taken against Coulthard at Monza last week, even to warn the coming Monza crowd that any act of violence will result in the banning of Monza from the future Grand Prix calendar. In football, for example, it is common practice that teams get penalized for their fans' actions. Teams have been known to suffer penalties of disallowing them to play at their home fields, or confining them to play with no crowd for a period of time, following riotous behaviour on part of their fans. The same should - must - be applied to Formula One. It must be applied especially in the case of Ferrari and Michael Schumacher, where the word fan is a clear derivative of the word fanatic. And anyone who's been to Monza in the last couple of years knows full well that the place lacks real security. In 1996, 170,000 fans managed to fill a 120,000 seats track. And for every steward around the track, there are 1,000 fans that can outsmart him and find the loophole in the fence. Again, go back to 1996 and view the pouring of the crowd onto the track as Michael Schumacher crossed the finish line first. And into this 'den of lions', walks David Coulthard this weekend. A word of caution - do not confuse the red carpet which awaits him there, with the typical VIP welcome. The Tifosi are merely echoing Schumacher's outburst at the McLaren pits, where he blamed Coulthard for trying to kill him. Therefore, it is Schumacher's responsibility to calm the Tifosi down and have them repeat after him: no violence can be condoned, no Grand Prix incident - deliberate or not - can justify abusing physically or verbally another driver. The fact that Schumacher has not conveyed that message yet to his swaying fans, deems him responsible for any occurrence that already happened, and what's worse - for anything more serious that might happen. And the same goes for every Ferrari team senior, and every FIA executive figure. They already have something to be ashamed of. I just hope they won't have something to regret.

Biranit Goren	© 1998 Atlas Formula One Journal.
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