You gotta have your villains. I'm a big believer in this, that sport is better when you have something to root against as much as you support your own. Like the New York Mets dammit, or Manchester United. When Russell first moved to Merc he took over as my main villain, mostly, or entirely, due to his petulant radio messages. Hamilton down the years also fills this role. In both cases I objectively respect each of these guys, but the sporting fan in me likes to see them suffer. Michael Schumacher was my first F1 villain, and I don't like saying so now, that he has had his injury, but he was a super villain in my eyes when I first started following Formula 1. I remember a race at Spa in the wet. It was just coming down in sheets, and he was overtaking a car, on the straight after Pouhon. It was Coulthard I think and he lifted to let Schumacher past. But with so much spray Schumacher failed to notice and slammed in to the lead car, shearing off his right front wheel. He then drove on three wheels like it was a qualifying lap, back to the pits, jumped out and stormed down the pitlane ready to kill someone.
And I thought it was kinda your fault dude, overtaking is your responsibility, or at worst it's 50/50, and it was like, what an a-hole. But I respect his ability, his drive and determination. It's what made him multiple champion. They all have some of that.
Yeah, gotta have your villains.
