More than a half of the Formula One season is over but it has been in the news for more off the track reasons than on the track. FIA supremo Bernie Ecclestone and his right hand man Max Mosley’s over inflated egos had threatened — albeit for a short while — to derail the sport. Fortunately sense prevailed and as of now Formula One remains in one-piece after surviving the Battle of the Egos.

Although the sport has taken many body blows on the track and there is a sense of monotony developing amongst F1 buffs, thanks mainly to the introduction of FIA’s new rules and innovations, a sentiment which I tend to agree with. Not taking any credit away from Jenson Button and Ross Brawn’s dream start to the season, there is something missing from the sport, and in my humble opinion, it misses a larger than life character, which added spice to the sport.

Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Nicky Lauda, all former champions had that eccentric streak in them which added to the drama of Formula One. The legendary Prost-Senna rivalry makes you really feel that the current lot has a lot of catching up do in terms of racing as well as adding that ‘extra’ bit to the sport. And then there was Michael Schumacher, arguably the greatest driver of all time. Schumacher was somebody who was absolutely loathed by everyone barring the Ferrari fans for mainly two reasons. a) He was a great champion and b) He was a sore loser, at least in the early part of his career.

Schumacher wanted to win at all costs, and if he knew he couldn’t, he would make sure to thwart his rival’s attempts. Like the final race of the 1994 season, when he deliberately crashed into Damon Hill’s car, when he knew he wouldn’t be able to finish the race. The collision ensured that the title went to Schumacher. He repeated the trick again in 1997, this time against Jacques Villeneuve, though he lost the title on this occasion. Of course, a lot of people thought it was unsporting behaviour and condemned Schumacher for his actions. But such was his desire to win at any costs, that these things never mattered to him.

Can you imagine Kimi Raikkonen doing the same to Lewis Hamilton? Or say a Button doing the same to Sebastian Vettel? No. At least I can’t. The sport has become “too nice” for my liking. There are no rivalries at all in the sport, and that is something it needs very badly. It needs a champion who has to be hated so much that people switch on their sets in anticipation to see what he might pull off this time. Something Schumacher did regularly.

Of course, it would have all looked pretty juvenile if they couldn’t back it up with their driving on the track. You need someone to make those audacious attempts of overtaking that just simply take your breath away, something which came as easily to Schumacher as brushing his teeth.

The sport badly needs an icon, an eccentric genius who can infuse a fresh lease of life. Sorry Jenson, you might be winning race after race, but there’s no thrill and it’s all pretty bland. The sport misses Michael Schumacher. Sunday evenings have never been the same since he put his helmet away.