CHENNAI: Old habits die hard, they say. One of the first things that Sachin Tendulkar did when he landed at the Madras Motor Racing Track for the MRF Challenge 2016 was to head to the paddocks and then look for the section marked ‘Schumacher’.
He had done the exact same thing when Formula One first came to these shores with the Indian GP in 2011. Back then, he was looking for a man, who by then was a ‘dear friend’ — German legend Michael Schumacher. Six years later, Sachin was looking for his son Mick.
Sachin’s and Schumacher’s are stories that have often seemed curiously intertwined. The German made his Formula One debut barely a year-and-a-half after Sachin made his Test debut, and they both went through their peak together. In 2002, they struck up a friendship after Schumacher gifted the Master Blaster a Ferrari after the latter equaled Don Bradman’s record of 29 centuries.
The German’s last F1 race came barely six months after Sachin had played his last ODI. And a month after the batting great quit the game for good, Schumacher suffered a horrific skiing accident that has confined him to his bed ever since.
In the meantime, Mick has taken baby steps along the path that his illustrious father trod on, just as Sachin’s son Arjun has done. This is his second season in the MRF Challenge, and also he raced in the German and Italian Formula 4 series last season. After finishing third here, he will now race in the European Formula 3 circuit. But everywhere the 17-year-old has gone, he has been hounded by the press and fans alike, an unfortunate consequence of his famous surname. Perhaps no one will understand the tragedy of that better than Sachin, who has seen the crowd that Arjun often attracts.
“I’ve heard about him through his father, and Mick is the same age as my children,” Sachin said after his brief chat with Mick. “I’ve seen his family photos and the way he spoke about his family since those days. It’s always nice to have youngsters who want to go out and compete hard and play any sport to the best of their abilities. Mick is without doubt one of them. But I would say that he should not be constantly pressurised like this, and should be left alone to enjoy his driving.”
For his part, the Schumacher junior too enjoyed his conversation with the cricket legend. “He really enjoyed meeting him,” personnel from Mick’s camp said. “They talked about the championship and how Mick was enjoying racing in Chennai and India.”
And maybe the Switzerland-born racer would have taken home a couple of racing lessons from the batting great as well. For as soon as the track was free, Sachin got into a car and did more than 10 laps at not too bad a pace.