A legend retires

[Skybird]

One may like him or hate him, he surely polarizes F1 fans, but his acchievements are without rival in this sport, his professionalism is only met by a small handful of drivers, his records stay beyond doubt, and his abilities and skills can hardly to be ignored. Without "Schumi", Formula One will no longer be what it has been in the last ten years.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/5332630.stm

With Schmacher's win today, Alonso must feel more hunted than ever in this season. his lead has molten down to just two points. I think the guy in red will leave the circus with one last triumph at the end of this season, saluting his fans with a final 8th championship title!

[DanCanovas]

i will really miss him. it wont be the same without him. it will take a long time for the sport to gather itself with no Schumacher.

[Bellman]

A true giant who we shall miss for his consumate professionalism and magical driving abilities.

Well done Schumi :|\\

[The Avon Lady]

Will my keyboard's remaining 11 function keys continue to work? :cry:

[Polak]

Schumi, a good F1 driver.
The one I have my eyes on now is Robert Kubica!

[XabbaRus]

Without "Schumi", Formula One will no longer be what it has been in the last ten years.

Yea maybe we won't have one guy out in front all the time ;)

On a side note until they get rid of pit stops and actually design the cars so they can pass on track a la late 1980's early 90's then F1 will still be a processional race if you can call it that. The phrase I hate hearing the most is "he won't take any chances now, he'll be happy to settle for 2nd with 10 laps to go." They don't race any more they pass in the pits, check out the way they dive in when stuck behind another car instead of trying to pass.

Did anyone see the Malaysian MotoGp with Rossi duelling with Capirossi. That is what racing is about the lead swapping vehicles close to each other and either using skill or taking advantage of a small error.

Anyway shame he didn't stay to race with Raikonnen in equal equipment.

[Perilscope]

One may like him or hate him,...
I like Shumi, and even more the Scuderia. The F1 and Ferrari won't be the same now and for a while, anyway personally speaking.

I think the guy in red will leave the circus with one last triumph at the end of this season, saluting his fans with a final 8th championship title!
I whish him an 8th championship, even more so because it will be almost impossible for the next two decades for someone to beat it, even forever, who knows?
Ferrari and him forged something that it will be remembered for a long time, long, long time... controversial or not, it was unforgettable. Just like I will never forget Ayrton Senna.

[STEED]

The King of Kings is going, leaving a great big hole in F1 and no one has got the guts and bloody determination as Michael Schumacher has. It's going to be a very long time before we see another driver of Schumacher's class.

[Skybird]

Decisive part of his driver's brilliance is his technical competence, he is said to know the technology better than any other driver - and even more important, he is able to communicate to the technicians what he wants them to do with the car and how it feels and why it feels the way it feels. This competence is worth pure gold, and it seems it will be saved for Ferrari - he is confirmed to stay with the team anyway, just in what function is not yet clear. But since the team effectively got formed and determined by him, he can very much define his future role as to his liking.

[Sailor Steve]

Hey, quit while you're on top, I always say.

On a side note until they get rid of pit stops and actually design the cars so they can pass on track a la late 1980's early 90's then F1 will still be a processional race if you can call it that.
As far as I'm concerned that decline started with the installation of wings in 1968. Schumacher is the best driver, but having the best car helps. When was the last time a driver won a championship on pure skill, driving a car that everyone considered inferior? Fangio in 1957 comes to my mind (Maserati 250F against the much better Ferrari 246).

Anyway, I'm not denying the man his obvious talent. Go Schumi!

[Bellman]

Schumi has my respect and admiration but cannot match my esteem for Ayrton Senna whose dash, verve, elan and daring charged the adrenalin.

A fanatical supporter of F! for many years my interest has been drained by pit passing and 'Team orders'
We are left with poor sport beyond the first five minutes after the race start !

AS: '' If I am going to live, I want to live fully. Very intensively, because I am an intensive person.
It would ruin my life if I had to live partialy.'' (Talking about the risk of serious accidents.)

His fans loved him and still do.

[Skybird]

Schumi is a great admirer of Senna whom he described as his personal idol and example to follow. He later broke in tears about his death during a press conference, and dedicated his first world championship title to him. I do not think that it was stage-acting.

[CB..]

definitely be sorry to see him go even tho i'm not a fan ..on the rule changes etc i think last years were the most entertaining..the one set of tires for the entire race gave every-one a half decent chance ..it took the edge of the ace drivers and gave the smaller teams a slice of the pie..
every race was a surprise..you never knew who was going to win...i guesse the american debacle killed that idea tho..:hmm: :shifty:

i reckon it makes far more sense to go back to last years rules as it encouraged the smaller teams and brought in a number of new sponsors and teams who could even with limited finance and resources could reasonably expect to be on the same lap as the leaders at the end of the race picking up points in the process....if we allow the big money teams to dominate then it stands to reason that it wll allways be a two or three horse race....which is not good racing by any-ones standards..

and the qualifying...i'm lost don't watch it any more...it's just plain odd..

[XabbaRus]

The thing with Schumi and Ferrari is that his team mates could never compete with him on an equal level with team orders and equipment, Ferrari like in Benetton he got the whole team behind him, you might say it was one of his gifts but I'd love to see him race Raikonnen or Alonso in the same equipment.

AS for his integrity, I know to get to the very top you have to be rutheless but he was unsporting about it, ie taking out Damon in 94 to get the championship.

One could mention Senna taking out Prost, but as Villeneuve said Senna did say he was going to do it.
I dunno, although it is in some ways a shame he's retiring I can't say I'm sad to see him go.

[Sailor Steve]

One could mention Senna taking out Prost...
I'm glad you did, but I still feel like I'm putting my head on the block here. I've never liked Senna very much. I always felt like when he was in the best car he won, and when he wasn't he didn't. I just don't have a lot of respect for a 'sportsman' who guarantees a championship by intentionally ramming the one driver who has a chance of beating him.

[XabbaRus]

Just like Schumacher did to Hill, same could be said about Schumi, when in the best equipment he won, granted there were a few times when his car was apig, but I think most drivers would have found it a pig.

Interestingly about the 94 season, Schumacher actually had teh better car for most of the season, near the end Williams caught up.

I think out of the current crop of drivers finding one who could take an inferior car and win in it are few and far between, I think Alonso is one. He has driven very well in a Renault that is off the pace at the moment.

[Sailor Steve]

Well, part of the problem is the cars, not the drivers. Todays cars are so sophisticated that with just a little training *I* could take one and post times that would make a Fangio or a Clark green with envy. Of course I wouldn't come close to the times put up by the slowest drivers out there today. The cars are just so good that it's hard for a driver to push one any further than it can already go, hence the lack of passing on the track. When the cars had half the deceleration that they do today (or even worse) it made a huge difference in the way they were driven. I've seen old video clips of drivers passing by going off the track onto the grass. Can't do that with today's slick tires, or downforce.

[Skybird]

Well, Schumacher hit Hill, and Hill hit Schumi, and Villeneuve hit Schumi, while Schumi was hit again by Hill, and struck back and Villeneuve, and Montoya - well that Kamikaze really hit all and everything if it had four wheels and not his team'S colours (and one time even if it had his team's colours). Never understood while he even was allowed to drive on a formula one track, instead of making a therapy to learn controlling his temper.

This is a nice thing to be turned into a new bumb-thread, and quite litertally, this time. The worst hitter I have ever seen without doubt must have been Damon Hill. A Tommy versus a Jerry - what else could be expected than the usual hack-'n-slay :lol:

i see no wroing in foriming a whole team up around oneself, like Schumi did at Ferrari. Becasue he was not given that privilege for free, but he earned it by hard work and the accpording success before. I think of it as the fruits of previous labour. If he wouldn't have been that good, Ferrari - when Schumi came it was a primadonna itself - would have refused to dance to his music and rythm. But he brought them into shape by taking command, over three or four years. That alone is a huge acchievement, too.

[XabbaRus]

The difference Sky between Hill hitting Schumi was that it wasn't a deliberate attempt to take Schumi out. It was a dumb dive down the inside when he should have waited since he was in the faster car.

Granted schumi may have made less of those mistakes but he still made them and some were outright cheating.

You can build a team around you but the real test is that your team mate gets teh same machinery and support, that is what racing is about.

Formula 1 has become to sterile rules and personality.

[CB..]

kinda says it all ..if over taking was an easy thing they would not have to resort to these "take out" tactics..course it would still happen...it's big buisness after all...for me reverting back to the one set of tires per race rule..even tho it was a strange rule even vaguely counter intuitive..and thereby hangs the rub IMO...why have a hugely advanced and expensively developed racing car then limit it with restricted tire changes...may as well use a less advanced car to start with...bingo....all the teams were on an even footing (quite literaly) forcing the uber high tech guys to drive tacticaly and slower than they might normaly have done in order to conserve their tires..whilst the lower tech teams who are slower to begin with now find them selves in the pack..certainly meant the race coverage was allways worth watching ..and the skill involved in winning was something that required considering the race as a whole rather than pit stop to pit stop as it is usually..

bring it back...it was perculiar to say the least but it worked...i don't think the glut of new sponser and teams would have appeared last season and this without the huge encouragement it gave to the usually allso ran teams and drivers...and without new teams drivers and money it just becomes a show case for the big money manufacture....may as well be watching an extended advertising feature not a genuine race..

[Dowly]

Well, part of the problem is the cars, not the drivers. Todays cars are so sophisticated that with just a little training *I* could take one and post times that would make a Fangio or a Clark green with envy.

Niki Lauda made the same statement few years ago, when he actually got into the car and went to the track, he spinned all the time.;)

I´m both sad and glad, Schumi decided to quit. Now, it´ll give me much more pleasure to watch the races, honestly not knowing who´s gonna win.

[joea]

Well, part of the problem is the cars, not the drivers. Todays cars are so sophisticated that with just a little training *I* could take one and post times that would make a Fangio or a Clark green with envy.

Niki Lauda made the same statement few years ago, when he actually got into the car and went to the track, he spinned all the time.;)

I´m both sad and glad, Schumi decided to quit. Now, it´ll give me much more pleasure to watch the races, honestly not knowing who´s gonna win.

It's both car and driver, IMHO. Anyway I too am glad, I think Schumi was great but it will give a chance to others now.

[Bellman]

F! stopped chiming for thousands of supporters the day Barrichello was ordered to give way for Schumi. The Forums went mad - many walked never to return to the commercial rip-off and charade that is F1 now !

Oh for the days of wheel to wheel Senna dicing !

[Perilscope]

...many walked never to return to the commercial rip-off and charade that is F1 now !

I agree... a little bit, rip-off and charade or not, do not forget all the technology and steps F1 as done for the automotive industry, and that since the beginning. It's certainly not the Champ series, NASCAR, F3000, WRC or whatever you want to name that technology is pushed to the limit, and one day or another those tech's finds its way in your daily passenger car for you're own benefit. And that, for better gas consumption because of intake manipulation, better gas, new materials, better brake, better anti skid system, better tires, better everything for crying out loud, well almost.;)

If F1 die fault of support, where or who will push it to the limit the way they do it?
It’s the same thing if NASA wasn't around, just imagine the aeronautic world without it?
As we say in the nature world, never wipe out the top predators, no matter how much you hate it or fear it, it's not sound for everything below plain and simple.

However I am shooting myself on the foot here because I never watch F1, thus, not supporting it with the ratings, I only went twice at the track here in Montreal. I just content myself knowing who won via news. Wath do you want me to say it's boring to watch the race nowadays, well except for the start...:D

[Konovalov]

I get more enjoyment racing GP4 with a 2005 season add-on. :smug:

[STEED]

I get more enjoyment racing GP4 with a 2005 season add-on. :smug:

Now that's one smug man. :up:

[stabiz]

I wont miss Schumi a bit, I think its time for him to go to the shed and be ashamed. His career would be much more astonishing without the numerous black spots that will mark him as the least sympathetic racer ever.

He is without doubt a great, great driver, and he sometimes drove well beyond the the limits of the car, but ... also a crazy egosentric.

By the way, Willi Weber is qouted on saying Schumi quit because Ferrari would not give him a indisputable Number 1 status after Kimi arrived (probably something Kimi made sure was in his contract, hehe). This is really crappy, if true.

Anyway, I willl never forgive him for:

*Adelaide 94
*Jerez 97
*Barrichello-gate in Austria (probably better to hang this one on Darth Todt and Sauron Brawn)
*The awful "dead heat" finish on Indianapolis
*The utter crap about starting under yellow flags on Monza (2003?)
*Monaco 06 qualifying


The debacle at Monza this weekend didn`t give ham a good send-off either. I am no Renault-fan, but Alonso is fighting more than Ferrari, it seems. First the mass dampers get banned, then they resurface Monza (Michelin not performing well on newly resurfaced tracks), and finally an at best strange punishment for Alonso post qualifying.

Mark Webber: "He (Schumi) is surely getting alot of help."

[Lurchi]

He is without doubt a great, great driver, and he sometimes drove well beyond the the limits of the car, but ... also a crazy egosentric. Egocentric? Of course, like almost all great champions, Senna (who is my all-time favourite driver) was not different. On the other hand Michael spends a lot of money for charity.
... Schumi quit because Ferrari would not give him a indisputable Number 1 status after Kimi arrived (probably something Kimi made sure was in his contract, hehe). I never heard of that and i don't see any reason why he should be afraid of Raikkonen. Kimi is a good but not an exceptional driver. In fact Schumacher beat all of his teammates, even former ex-Champions like Piquet when he started his career with Benetton and he fought against such great drivers as Hakkinen. Schumi quit because he is tired, won everything, his friends Todt and Brawn leave Ferrari too and because he wants to spend more time with his family, that's it.

Anyway, I willl never forgive him for:
*Adelaide 94 Normal race accident - overstated incident because it decided the championship. Damon was silly to get in there. Hill would never have the slightest chance to fight for the championship without the harsh decisions against Schumacher which cost him 3 races.
*Jerez 97 Yeah, this was Schumachers biggest mistake, idiotic and unfair.
*Barrichello-gate in Austria (probably better to hang this one on Darth Todt and Sauron Brawn) F1 is a team sport. Things like this happen all the time. Ferrari's main fault was that they did that in such a clumsy manner. The decision itself was reasonable. This is a business and Ferrari is a company with lots of employees whose lifes depend on the success of their F1 team. They do F1 to promote their cars and not for fun.
*The awful "dead heat" finish on Indianapolis It is not Schumachers problem if Michelin fails to deliver working tires. Shame on the other Teams who quit racing after the first lap.
*The utter crap about starting under yellow flags on Monza (2003?) Mmmh i can't remember that ... what happened there?
*Monaco 06 qualifying Probably another silly action by him, ok. On the other hand as an obvious Schumi hater :) you should be happy about that. Otherwise he would be probably in lead with a few points already.

All in all i would say there are not so many "dark spot" when i consider all those 15 years :up:.

And you are joking by saying Alonso fights more than Schumacher right? I mean Michael has made a very bad start into the season. Noone (including me) gave him a chance to fight for this year's title. But instead of complaining he worked hard and Ferrari improved considerably. This is one of his strengths - he NEVER gives up. Alonso is a great driver who almost makes no mistakes and who is -without doubt- quite a worthy champion. That Schumacher manages to keep the championship an open issue is an great feat and he also bet Raikkonen (he should be sooo afraid of) at Monza too. I think that Kimi will have his hands full by beating Massa next season ...

Many say that Schumacher only wins if he has the best car. I don't think so but one should also not forget that Ferrari was not the team it is now when he joined in 1996. His first two seasons were horrible with lots of breakdowns. The actual Ferrari teams is to some part his creation.

He could have taken the easy way by using his Mercedes connections and join McLaren which were the best team at that time. But no, he chose the difficult way and became a legend by doing so ... he is a great sportsman!

[Bezoomney]

Great, now someone else gets a chance!

[Skybird]

There are certainly drivers who are good enough to make it to the top and win the title (next year :smug:). Question is who is there who is able to dominate the scene for such a long time, win the title not once or twice, but seven (or eight :smug:) times and has the competence and the drive to form a team that supports his ambitions and serves his purpose? I neither see such a candidate, nor such a team. However, for the audience it would be better if the dominant position of Ferrari in F1 policy-making would be cut back. By rules and regulations, distributiojn of money and such things, it is very much a formula ferrari currently, the other teams just being invited guests. Same reward for same racing acchievements must become the rule, without any bonusses for Ferrari (sometimes in the past these bonusses outclassed the gains of the winner, even if Ferrari was many places behind). There is one man who helped massively to get this system installed, so...

... get rid of that greedy old man named Ecclestone!!!

[CB..]

i don't think anyone really minds that the big teams like Ferrari etc hold sway at the top....the drawback is the unpassable gap between the big glamour teams with nearly unlimited resources and expertise..and the rest of the teams....quite frankly i wonder sometimes why given the expense they bother at all...the result is allways the same..they finish so far out of the running that they are nothing more than random traffic getting in every-ones way....back markers ....we kid ourselves that next season these teams will have introduced new tech that will bring them into contention, but we all know that so will very one else...it's no wonder the rules constantly get changed...no one wants to see the sport limited to an overly strict set of rules....but...short of limiting the teams to driving the exact same car ..it requires a bit of imagination..lest we end up with the class system on the race track....(ala Le Mans) which in efefct is what we actualy have right now...in effect.....the big teams race EACH OTHER...the lesser teams race EACH OTHER...the fact that this happens on the same track at the same time is mere co-incidence..saves having two or three seperate races...but the effect is the same...if it wasn't dangerous (and whose to say it wont become so if the performance gap gets too large) you may as well stage a GT car race at the same time and be done with it...LOL
now if they split the TV coverage so you could choose which team to follow thru the race then it might be interesting to watch...but sat there watching a ferrari or a renault battle for browny points gets dull

[Immacolata]

The King of Kings is going, leaving a great big hole in F1 and no one has got the guts and bloody determination as Michael Schumacher has. It's going to be a very long time before we see another driver of Schumacher's class.

The man was a relentless bastard, shying no means to achieve his goal. Great for a warrior, but in F1 sports it became a bit too much IMO. I'm kind of glad he is retiring, was getting a bit dull untill the latter seasons. I shall shed no tears by his depature. Never reached Senna to the socks.

[XabbaRus]

Agree with you there Sky,

Also need to sack Max Mosely. there is rumour Jean Todt could become president of the GIA if and when Mosely steps down.

To bring back good racing they need to simplify the rules, also let them design cars that don't rely so much on aero for grip, that means bringing back full slick tires, and maybe flat bottomed cars. Speeds can be kept down by reducing HP.

The tubs though are so strong it is more likely they will survive a fast crash into the barriers, Senna wasn't killed by the impact but by a stearing rod in the head and then a wheel whacking him.

Also the cars should be designed so that a race can be completed on 1 tank of fuel, or just make the races shorter. I don't think with modern fuel cells that the safety concerns would be to great.

Maybe limit tyre stops to won per race, additional stops only if damages etc.

[Skybird]

There is only one true art of driving a car to the driver's skill limits and hardware's limits anyway - Rally! :D Seeing it on TV makes my tongue rolling down to the ground what these guys are able to do with their planes. Ah, cars, I mean.

[stabiz]

He is without doubt a great, great driver, and he sometimes drove well beyond the the limits of the car, but ... also a crazy egosentric. Egocentric? Of course, like almost all great champions, Senna (who is my all-time favourite driver) was not different. On the other hand Michael spends a lot of money for charity.
... Schumi quit because Ferrari would not give him a indisputable Number 1 status after Kimi arrived (probably something Kimi made sure was in his contract, hehe). I never heard of that and i don't see any reason why he should be afraid of Raikkonen. Kimi is a good but not an exceptional driver. In fact Schumacher beat all of his teammates, even former ex-Champions like Piquet when he started his career with Benetton and he fought against such great drivers as Hakkinen. Schumi quit because he is tired, won everything, his friends Todt and Brawn leave Ferrari too and because he wants to spend more time with his family, that's it.

Anyway, I willl never forgive him for:
*Adelaide 94 Normal race accident - overstated incident because it decided the championship. Damon was silly to get in there. Hill would never have the slightest chance to fight for the championship without the harsh decisions against Schumacher which cost him 3 races.
*Jerez 97 Yeah, this was Schumachers biggest mistake, idiotic and unfair.
*Barrichello-gate in Austria (probably better to hang this one on Darth Todt and Sauron Brawn) F1 is a team sport. Things like this happen all the time. Ferrari's main fault was that they did that in such a clumsy manner. The decision itself was reasonable. This is a business and Ferrari is a company with lots of employees whose lifes depend on the success of their F1 team. They do F1 to promote their cars and not for fun.
*The awful "dead heat" finish on Indianapolis It is not Schumachers problem if Michelin fails to deliver working tires. Shame on the other Teams who quit racing after the first lap.
*The utter crap about starting under yellow flags on Monza (2003?) Mmmh i can't remember that ... what happened there?
*Monaco 06 qualifying Probably another silly action by him, ok. On the other hand as an obvious Schumi hater :) you should be happy about that. Otherwise he would be probably in lead with a few points already.

All in all i would say there are not so many "dark spot" when i consider all those 15 years :up:.

And you are joking by saying Alonso fights more than Schumacher right? I mean Michael has made a very bad start into the season. Noone (including me) gave him a chance to fight for this year's title. But instead of complaining he worked hard and Ferrari improved considerably. This is one of his strengths - he NEVER gives up. Alonso is a great driver who almost makes no mistakes and who is -without doubt- quite a worthy champion. That Schumacher manages to keep the championship an open issue is an great feat and he also bet Raikkonen (he should be sooo afraid of) at Monza too. I think that Kimi will have his hands full by beating Massa next season ...

Many say that Schumacher only wins if he has the best car. I don't think so but one should also not forget that Ferrari was not the team it is now when he joined in 1996. His first two seasons were horrible with lots of breakdowns. The actual Ferrari teams is to some part his creation.

He could have taken the easy way by using his Mercedes connections and join McLaren which were the best team at that time. But no, he chose the difficult way and became a legend by doing so ... he is a great sportsman!

I am not talking about last years Indy race, but the one Schumi tried to cross the line "at the same time as Barrichello". Ridicolous, and the fans booed like hell.

Regarding Monza, I think it was because of 9/11, and Schumi proposed all drivers would maintain positions in the first corner. Thank God Villeneuve told him to stuff it.

How could you compare Schumis Monza-drive with Kimis? They are in different cars, you know that?

Schumi also has it contracted that he is numero uno as long as he is in Ferrari, Massa and Barrichello can vouch for this. (Barrichello has critizised Ferrari for this recently, by the way)

I bet this is what took them so long to finalise the driver lineup for 2007.

Schumi has never had a top driver as a teammate, so your comparison is weak. Of course Piquet was great, but he was clearly over the hill when he raced the german.

As for the rest? Herbert, Irvine, Salo, Massa and Barrichello? Not a top driver among them. (Barrichello is currently being thumped by Button, by the way)

Alonso:

"He's been the most penalised and is the most unsporting driver in the history of Formula One," Alonso said in daily sports paper Marca on Tuesday.

Alonso even claimed that French football legend Zinedine Zidane, who capped his retirement from football with an audacious World Cup final headbutt on Italian rival Marco Materrazzi, had gone out with more glory.

"Despite his headbutt, Zidane even left with more glory," added Alonso.

In Saturday's qualifying Alonso was relegated from fifth to tenth on the grid for an infringement which Renault contested vehemently, and he then failed to finish the race on Sunday when his engine blew.

Alonso now only has races in China, Japan and Brazil, the season-ender on October 22, to defend his title against Schumacher.

The Spaniard did give his German rival some credit, however. "He's been the best driver in the sport, and competing against him has been an honour," said Alonso.

[Skybird]

"The greater the success, the greater the envy." Simply that. Was Schumi a saint? No. Was he so much worse than others? No. Have their been others hitting and shooting guys of the track more often? Definitely. The question if it is intenion or not often is decided by a fan's preferences for this one driver and against that other driver (which has been very often in the many duels between Hill and Schumacher, the press in both countries making use of these duels and events to blow them up to a matter of almost war between British and Gemran people - nonsens).

There have been many occasions when Schumi needed to role up the field form behind, and battled with an inferior car, or was attacked and hunted by the pack. Alraedy before he joined ferrari. Plenty of opportunities that showed that it was not only about a good car, but about a driver's skills and nerves and mental endurance to see his success through. Personally, I do not like Schumacher, I do not find him sympathetic. But that has nothing to do with his capabilities. And as long as someone cannot rival these and cannot display that he has what it takes to do like Schumacher did, over such a long period of time, pulling out open bills and hand-picked examples of how bad Schumacher has been will classify for just one thing: being a bad looser even when the challenge is gone since long.

His many records (he holds almost all records you can imagine) speak for themselves. I am sure that now that his retreat is decided, he will take special motivation from that and that this championship also will be his'.

As for the other German F1 drivers, I feel sorry for them. They will always be compared to him, and necessarily fail to pass that comparison. they can't win this. Best thing would be if most drivers of the currently active generation would leave within the next 1-2 years and the complete field would be replaced with toally new ones, along with a new set of rules.

[Bellman]

I will never forget the excitement of seeing Schumi drive in the rain - miraculous !

I will never forget the massive 'quiet' contributions Schumi has made to the Macmillan Cancer Relief charity.

Remember the best of a great man who strode over the scene like a Colossus for many years. Forget the rest !

[stabiz]

A simple black & white world is much more pleasant to deal with, I guess.

[Bellman]

:lol: Yep - I'm sure many here could write a full criticism of Schumi, particularly those like me who have been turned off the sport.

Verbal diarrhoe is not my style Stabiz - but please dont let my brevity deter those who wish to make Lillipution splurges ! :lol:

[Lurchi]

How could you compare Schumis Monza-drive with Kimis? They are in different cars, you know that? Really? Oh yes, he drives a McLaren which is a crappy car - so crappy that he was able to make the pole with it. And you forgot Schumachers strongest teammate, Martin Brundle but he bet them all. The Ferrari he drives now is partly his work, the team was not in good shape when he joined in '96. His number 1 status is well-earned but of no real importance because such a big team as Ferrari is able to provide the same material for both drivers. And your argument about Michael's teammates is also weak, because i can say the same: Barrichello is over the hill too.
Never reached Senna to the socks Mmmmh, in the 94 season Michael did very very good against the much more experienced Senna until Imola. His Benetton with a V8 Ford was inferior to the Renault V10 in power but Schumacher was able to compensate this. Anyway, Senna is my all-time favourite driver and both Senna and Schumacher are very similar in their driving and character. Senna's death betrayed all fans of what could be one of the greatest duels on the racetrack.
I will never forget the excitement of seeing Schumi drive in the rain - miraculous !
Oh yes, in Spa it was - from 16th place to victory, he walked over water. Another parallel with Ayrton Senna who was a great rain driver too. And yes, Schumacher is an egocentric about his sport but not when it comes to charity ...

[stabiz]

Oh well ...

[Bellman]

Colossus magnitudinem suam servabit etiam si steterit in puteo. Seneca.

[stabiz]

The die is cast.