My Formula One Trilemma?

When the 2010 season was about to begin, I wrote of “My Formula One Dilemma.” I have not been able to blog about formula one again until after the season ended. But throughout the year, it was not really a dilemma for me. Rather, it was kind of a trilemma.

One, I am a Ferrari fan. Even if I prefer Massa over Alonso, when the season was about to end, I was rooting for the only Ferrari driver still capable of winning the championship. Still, I wanted to see Felipe Massa do well, perhaps podium after podium. But it was not to be so. Still I was happy that toward the end of the season, Alonso was a strong contender for the Driver’s Championship, even leading it going into the last race. I had hoped I would see the prancing pony fly again as Alonso won the Championship.

Two, I am a Schumacher fan. I first saw Schumi driving for Ferrari and it was then the ideal combination. Winning season after season, one would have hoped it would never end. However, this season, Michael Schumacher is driving for Mercedes. It was understandable since it was Braun’s team, the man responsible for all of Schumacher’s championships. I still think of Schumacher as the ultimate Formula One driver, perhaps even re-defining the sport. He can be likened to Jordan of basketball or Pacquiao of boxing. Schumi gave me my dilemma, as I blogged at the start of the season.

Three. As I watched the season unfold, race after race, I liked Sebastian Vettel among the new drivers. He is perhaps the driver I liked who is not even connected to Ferrari. Even when a lot of people began to be fans of Lewis Hamilton, I was not one of them. I did not see him as a possible successor to Michael Schumacher. But when I saw Vettel win for Toro Rosso, I saw promise in him. However, he is not Ferrari, so somehow there was that wish that he would drive for the team from Maranello.

Now, the 2010 season is over and Sebastian Vettel is Formula One World Champion. I am happy for him. I am happy for the sport. And I really enjoyed watching the races. Perhaps Vettel driving for Ferrari along with Schumacher would be my “dream team” though I know that Red Bull would not so easily let him go and perhaps it is good for the sport that Vettel would lead Red Bull to dominate Formula One the way Schumacher did when he was at Ferrari. But technology is developed season after season and perhaps nobody would dominate the sport, but rather there would be strong contenders such as Vettel, Hamilton, Massa, Alonso, Kubica, and others. It can be likened to NBA which has so many superstars after the dominance of Michael Jordan playing for Chicago Bulls. So the trilemma can easily become a quadlemma, and so on.

I don’t mind my Formula One Dilemma. I don’t mind my Trilemma. I enjoy watching the sport, and I see myself enjoying the sport for some years to come. For now, congratulations, Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull.

[Ernest Serote. Puerto Princesa City. 15 November 2010]