Today is going to remain as one of the most memorable days of my life.
I have seen Gilles win in Canada in a Ferrari, I have seen Enzo Ferrari,
I’ve seen Lauda and Reutemann at the height of their careers and now
mates, today, I shook hands with Michael Schumacher.
What a fantastic day! Where to start…
Yesterday (I mean Thursday night) I get a call from my brother in law
who owns a windshield company here in Montreal and does work for Ferrari
Quebec dealership. He told me that a windshield of one of the
motor-homes had cracked and they wanted him to go on early morning to
change it. He had two passes one for him and one for an assistant but
since he could do the job alone he was giving me a call to go with him
if I wanted to. IF I WANTED TO?!!! So after barely sleeping all night we
went there early Friday morning and with the pit passes they directed us
straight to the motorhome areas.
Right when we got there, I caught a glimpse of both lads going into the
garages but wasn’t sure, anyway my brother in law told me that we could
go in afterwards because his contact was also going to be there. So he
got to work and after finishing, oh by the way, I don’t think this was
the big motorhome but to go on with the day, after finishing we went
straight to the garage. I couldn’t believe it, fantastic!
So we went in there and right before going in we were stopped by
security and searched for any cell phone camera or ordinary ones but we
volunteered both our phones and my disposable camera right there, just
lets get in man! We went in and the first thing that I saw, the first
glimpse was the rear end of one of our cars. Oh mama, droooool… mates
our cars are one mean lean sexy machines! Really a work of art, this car
is for the museums for sure.
First person that we met, and he left everything and came to us, was
Todt. The man, came over and thanked us for doing a fast job and then he
apologized to say that he had a lot of work so he must be going, but
that gesture of him to take the time to thank us (we should be paying
him to do this job!!!) really flattered us, me in particular. I couldn’t
resist it I told him that I am a big fan and would there be any chance
to meet the lads? He said sure Rubens is outside but Michael is right
over there. “Right over there” was barely 3 meters from me!! I couldn’t
believe I hadn’t seen him I was so overwhelmed with the car and Todt
that I felt like a jacka55 and before we said anything else, Todt called
him over and said exactly “Mike you have to say hello to this fan”
Exactly like that. That’s when I think I realized I had stopped
breathing and my brain was suffering from lack of oxygen
Mates, you are not going to believe this, the guy came over and
introduced himself and shook our hands and asked how we are. After the
exchange of courtesies I told him what a big fan I was and how I
respected his work. He replied “Thank you for your support Pedro” and
then without any small talk he pat me on my shoulder and laughingly
asked me how come I was a big fan but was wearing this faded almost moth
eaten t-shirt, and guys I had barely replied that this was my lucky
shirt when my brother in law jumped in and said that I’m one crazy fan,
wearing the same shirt for 12 years and not having sex on GP weekend for
fear of jinxing it. They both started laughing and right before I killed
my brother in law with my bare hands, Michael turned to me and said it’s
about time you have a new shirt to double the luck and he opened one of
the lower cabinets and pulled out the yellow polo and gave it to me and
joked that if I sold it now I would probably make “big money”, that’s
where I saw what he was aiming at and I told him that the best way to
honor his kind gesture is to wear it and see my son wear it too and
besides I told him ebay doesn’t need any luck, I do. I’m glad he got the
joke otherwise I was going to feel a bit awkward there! He also said
that he can give me only a shirt no new wife but he can suggest some new
sex positions maybe what I need to do was change the position not stop
altogether on gp weekends
Mates that was it, afterwards I saw Rubens but couldn’t shake hands and
JPM whom you know how reacted in my other post. Idiot, I’m a fan all I’m
going to do is wish him good luck, I’d do it to any driver I would have
seen. ****ed me off greatly but ok I guess.
Michael is a good man. There is no luck mates, there is no monopoly
there is no cheating. All the while we were in the garage, the mechanics
were coming to him with data and he knew every bloody detail. Every
little thing about the car that guy knows and to top it off, his
conversations with the mechanics were always encouraging tone and a
thank you or a thumbs up and the end of each one. That’s why he gets
results, that’s why he’s the best because he motivates everybody and
values every single work out there. More than that, he knows that to win
the race on the track, you gotta win the race in the garage, during the
long hours of detailed work on the car and the team and mates. Seeing
him work with the crew you get the impression that they’re one loop of
chain all blended together and I guess that’s why he’s so confident on
the track because he knows exactly what the crew inside the garage is or
what it can do because he has set it up himself. I respect this man.
Oh and in case anybody’s wondering, I’m sleeping in my shirt.
