Michael retires....

[jot1]

A great era in formula 1 ends as the most successful racing driver of all time leaves the sport.
Bye Schumie, enjoy the rest of your life.

 

[pasag]

Probably the most successful sportsman of our generation. F1 will not be the same without him.

 

[superkingdave]

Michael, take your brother with you

 

[jot1]

Michael, take your brother with you

I agree! He never was in Michael's league!

 

[Matteh]

Finally, should have retired when he won his 8th. Have to say Prost/Senna were the best F1 drivers we've had in our generation so far.

 

[C_C]

Depends on what you term as 'better'.
Senna was faster and more 'brilliant' than Schumi...but lacked his McGrath-ish consistency.
Prost was mindbogglingly good in a good car and very very mediocre in a car thats not the best in the grid.
From what i've read, best driver ever, based on pure F1 driving skills, is between Schumi, Senna and Jim Clarke.

But yeah-end of an era. Dont think anyone is gonna come within touching distance of Schumi's wins or titles...though Poles is still a possibility.

 

[Matteh]

Depends on what you term as 'better'.
Senna was faster and more 'brilliant' than Schumi...but lacked his McGrath-ish consistency.
Prost was mindbogglingly good in a good car and very very mediocre in a car thats not the best in the grid.
From what i've read, best driver ever, based on pure F1 driving skills, is between Schumi, Senna and Jim Clarke.

But yeah-end of an era. Dont think anyone is gonna come within touching distance of Schumi's wins or titles...though Poles is still a possibility.

I'd have liked to see Schumi do a season lower down the grid like Hill had to in say a Midland and then see if he got as close as Hill to a win. Would have answered a lot of critics.

 

[FRAZ]

@ P_P !! Hello "I gotta differ because I have all the time in the world to waste ... Hello ... Even great people like Schummi are not left by criticism and stupidty by some .. Sena was good but Schummi is the greatest PERIOD
A great jolt you gave Jot 1 ... A great racer ..

 

[benchmark00]

@ P_P !! Hello "I gotta differ because I have all the time in the world to waste ... Hello ... Even great people like Schummi are not left by criticism and stupidty by some .. Sena was good but Schummi is the greatest PERIOD
A great jolt you gave Jot 1 ... A great racer ..

English posts only, please.

 

[FRAZ]

English posts only, please.

Mini - me you complete me ..!

 

[Matteh]

Schummi is the greatest PERIOD

Wrong...

 

[nikhil1772]

@ P_P !! Hello "I gotta differ because I have all the time in the world to waste ... Hello ... Even great people like Schummi are not left by criticism and stupidty by some .. Sena was good but Schummi is the greatest PERIOD
A great jolt you gave Jot 1 ... A great racer ..

Very true. And this is a very sad day. I cannot imagine F1 without Schumi.

 

[C_C]

I'd have liked to see Schumi do a season lower down the grid like Hill had to in say a Midland and then see if he got as close as Hill to a win. Would have answered a lot of critics.

He was basically doing that in his first year or two at Ferrari- especially the year Villeneuve won- his Ferrari was seriously off pace all that year.
Schumi maynot be as good an overtaker or as good a qualifier as Senna was...but he was just as good on the racing day IMO.

 

[Matteh]

He was basically doing that in his first year or two at Ferrari- especially the year Villeneuve won- his Ferrari was seriously off pace all that year.
Schumi maynot be as good an overtaker or as good a qualifier as Senna was...but he was just as good on the racing day IMO.

Poor comparision IMO. Ferrari were even then a big team, and were capable at least of getting in the points for every race. Arrows were lucky if they finished in the top 10 in a race.

 

[C_C]

Poor comparision IMO. Ferrari were even then a big team, and were capable at least of getting in the points for every race. Arrows were lucky if they finished in the top 10 in a race.

Well Okay, Arrows was way off pace compared to Ferrari when Schumi first moved in ( and Ferrari was purely hanging on by reputation alone back then). But the reason i quote that period is because Schumi took a very mediocre car and made it into a title challenger with an outside shot. Ie, the equivalent of maybe Raikkonen having an outside shot in this year's championship. So while Schumi never had a car just as bad as Arrows, it can be said that he extracted results from it that no one expected realistically.

 

[Matteh]

Hill + Frentzen in that season at Jordan. was possibly the 2000 season. No idea how, but they got it up there winning a couple of races. Just don't understand the hype surrounding a guy who wins because he has been in the best or a close second best car nearly every season of his career (lets say 10 out of the 14 seasons) and not suprisingly he won races and has consistently brought the sport into disrepute.

 

[C_C]

Hill + Frentzen in that season at Jordan. was possibly the 2000 season. No idea how, but they got it up there winning a couple of races. Just don't understand the hype surrounding a guy who wins because he has been in the best or a close second best car nearly every season of his career (lets say 10 out of the 14 seasons) and not suprisingly he won races and has consistently brought the sport into disrepute.

Well Schumi has had an easier time than most but the credit he gets,despite his questionable behaviour, is because :

1. He is acknowledged as the best driver there and is a master of the tough circuits like Spa, Monaco, Suzuka, Monza, etc etc.

2. He is also universally seen as the best 'wet driver' of his era and driving in the rain is considered a prime test for your skills.
Thats how Schumi gave himself a fighting chance vs Villeneuve if i recall correctly- it rained that season in 4-5 of the races and Schumi just made up the points by his significantly superior wet-weather driving than anyone else on the grid.

3. He's also made the most of his opportunities-sure, he's had a very good luck with cars mostly but 8 championships and 80-odd wins is definately doing your part of the job as well.

 

[Matteh]

He's been especially lucky in that Ferrari are devoted to giving his car the best treatment that they can whereas most teams tend to split their time between the two cars.

I still say that put him in the 80s and there would be no way that he'd be as successful as he has been. I'm not saying he'd be a flop, but with Piquet, Prost,Senna, Mansell etc. the wins and championships all got shared around, the top cars were closer to each other, more rivals for the championship. Lets face it over the years he's only had one person to fend off each year to try and win the championship, Hill/Villeneuve/Hakkinen/Alonso only now is there 3 people capable of winning, but McLaren have had a poor season.

 

[C_C]

He's been especially lucky in that Ferrari are devoted to giving his car the best treatment that they can whereas most teams tend to split their time between the two cars.

I still say that put him in the 80s and there would be no way that he'd be as successful as he has been. I'm not saying he'd be a flop, but with Piquet, Prost,Senna, Mansell etc. the wins and championships all got shared around, the top cars were closer to each other, more rivals for the championship. Lets face it over the years he's only had one person to fend off each year to try and win the championship, Hill/Villeneuve/Hakkinen/Alonso only now is there 3 people capable of winning, but McLaren have had a poor season.

Well from my understanding of the 80s, the top cars were most definately not as close together as you are implying for several years.
Brabham was a lightyear ahead with their turbocharged for a lil while...then Williams were the big cheese car-wise.
Cars infact today are much closer than back then- just that it has become so high tech that getting an exta 1% out of your car involves several millions of dollars in research instead of some bright guy having a bright and innovatice idea on the spot ala 80s...which has basically made the sport a lot more elitist manufactuer-wise.
I think his only serious challenge, driving-skills wise, through the 80s would be Senna and Prost when Prost had a good car. Mansell never impressed me much with his driving and i dont know much about Piquet.
Overall, i'd say his best record doesnt make him the best driver ever but he is in the top 5 alltime driver's list in F1 history somewhere based on pure merit alone.

But yes, one needs a helping hand or two to accumulate 8 (possibly 9!) titles and 80+ wins when the next best dude in the last 50 years is sitting at 4 and 50-odd wins. I figure if it were the 80s, Schumi would've gotten about the same # as Prost/Senna.

 

[SupaFreak2005]

Wow.. I thought he wouldn't have retired as yet...
With Alonso leaving Renault next year I was looking forward to Schumacher make a killing next year!
I hope he changes his mind