was wrong in my prediction, and as for Ferrari,
I will once again have to "wait till next year".
But hats off to Mika. My father told me that he
_knew_ Hakkinen had won even before Schumacher's
six-inch mistake. How? By watching that footage of Mika
walking over to Schuey on the track and shaking his
hand.<br><br>That gesture betrayed something--Complete Confidence
on Hakkinen's part. He simply knew he had the
winning machine and that he had the presence of mind and
spirit to be the one to bring that car over the finish
line FIRST. He also knew that Schumacher would prove
to be rash and uneven under pressure.<br><br>If so,
Schumacher proved him right in spades. What was the point of
whipping around that second parade lap like a bat out of
hell? He was the POLE-SITTER, for crying out loud, and
had the perogative of doing it calm and right on his
own terms. And though one must marvel at Michael's
pure driving skills, such as moving up 10 places on
the first lap, you had to notice him OD'ing on his
own adrenalin more than once. All through the race,
he got sidewise, locked up his brakes, cut corners
in the chicanes, bit off more than he could chew in
outside pass attempts, and all in all looked like a
desperate man. Which he was.<br><br>Attitude is
all-important, even when you are dealing with fallible machines
and fallible men. <br>In my life I may never get to
blast out of Stavelot at Spa at 190 mph; I may never
get to make an inside pass at Tabac in Monte Carlo.
But I can gain an insight from these men about
attitudes and will that can serve me in other areas. I like
to think that's why in the end we watch F1: if
you're not careful you may end up learning something
about life. And about winning, and doing it with
style.<br><br>In the end, we learned a lot from Mika Hakkinen.
Congratulations from this Ferrari fan.