Mark Hughes: F1's Inside Line

If the glut of Lewis Hamilton books coming onto the market is turning you off, there's a new book on Michael Schumacher, by James Allen, called The Edge Of Greatness. It's amazing how quickly the most successful driver of all time was forgotten once the season began without him.

Even when he was present at the races in his role of Ferrari advisor, it was in stark contrast to when he used to turn up suited and booted. Then, he would have to run across the paddock between motorhome and garage, dodging film crews and photographers along the way.

This year he could simply walk briskly, largely unhassled. He was no longer the star of the show, no longer surrounded by that special aura - even though, had he still been in the car, there's every reason to believe he could have taken his eighth world title this year, and beaten Kimi Raikkonen as a team-mate, thereby deleting one of the key criticisms thrown at him: that he never had an absolute ace in the same car alongside him over a season.

The other key criticism of course, is that he was too inclined to play foul whenever the competitive intensity of the moment became too much: Adelaide '94; Jerez '97; qualifying in Monaco '06. His straying into the dark side is a main theme of the book, though the narrative takes the reader right from the start in karting, through to his retirement last year, without getting bogged down in the detail of where he finished when.

In his role of broadcaster James has the unenviable task of a) filling the shoes of the best-loved motor racing commentator of all time and b) to deliberately be the guy asking the questions, because there's no point providing the clever insightful answers when you're standing next to Martin Brundle - that's his role.

But in his role of journalist, James is freed of all that baggage and can just get on with doing a damn good job, and that's what he does here. The book is well researched, has an easy-going readability and also uncovers a few key points not previously widely known, which is some feat, given the saturation coverage Schumacher's career received.

Although Schumacher has not contributed directly to the book, Allen has drawn heavily on insight from key people who have worked with him, notably Ross Brawn, and also his rivals - Mika Hakkinen, Rubens Barrichello, Mark Webber and Eddie Irvine, among others.

And as a little taster of the sort of fascinating detail they can bring, consider this from Irvine:

"My reaction time was better than his. You might think that reactions would be a skill you'd need to be a top F1 driver, but it's a skill Michael doesn't need because he doesn't have it! Once, when they put some straw bales on the straight at Jerez as a makeshift chicane, I was standing down there... and you'd see the cars coming up, they'd see the gap, then turn.

"Michael came up and turned before he saw the gap because he knew by the time he got there it would be there. And he didn't turn in as sharply, so he turned in a lot faster and slid into where he knew the gap was going to be... That is Michael's amazing talent. He didn't rely on his reactions because they are not there, I know that."

Frank Dernie also tells a very illuminating tale about a Jerez test, when a bunch of famous golfers made a visit to the paddock. While other drivers simply shook their hands and got on with their day, Schumacher was immediately milking them for information about any special preparation or diets they had to aid concentration.

There are some direct insights from Michael too. Some of these are very revealing. But for personal reasons, to do with validation of my own observations, my favourite is his account of when he made his decision to retire.

Here's what I observed and wrote in the Autosport race report of Bahrain '06, months before any retirement announcement: "Michael seemed curiously delighted, despite having finished only second. Sure, it came after a great performance that told him the new Ferrari is going to give him a much better season than 2005. But still, second is second.

"Yet there he was warmly greeting not only Alonso but also the other podium finisher, Kimi Raikkonen, chatting and laughing with the dignitaries - natural and unforced. Like he'd been released from some sort of torment, like maybe he'd made a decision that has hung heavy on his shoulders."

Here's Michael: "The first notion I had for stopping was at the first race, in Bahrain, on the Saturday shortly after qualifying... I just had a feeling that this would be a good time to stop. And after that, this feeling hardened more and more." So you actually read it in Autosport first!

It's great that he got out still at the top of his game, but inevitably you do wonder 'what if?' about the sort of season we might have just had with Schumacher in it. Sure, it was a fascinating season regardless, but reading this book and getting a fuller insight from those around him of his strengths and weaknesses throws up a tantalising picture.

His few weaknesses tended to be triggered by precisely the sort of confident attack that's personified in Lewis Hamilton. A season with Alonso, Raikkonen and Hamilton all going wheel-to-wheel with the great champion, the man trying to deny the years but armed with an awesome arsenal, is something we're just going to have to imagine.