He was never complaining about it. That's just good tv/internet and rumors. He's not going anywhere in November! Another season of torture for Tifosi12 lol!
Personally I believe that all tifosi should be grateful for the dedication and glory that Schumi brought to the Scuderia... Once family, always family... Frank
Touche, my friend... I must admit that it just looks WRONG not seeing Schumi in a Ferrari cockpit... In all honesty I just wish he would have stayed retired and left 06 as his parting shot and leaving as a legendary figure with untold WDCs and wins left in him... At least tifosi know that we got abolutely the cream of Schumi's career, instead of the curds that Mercedes is getting As a tifoso, which would you rather have had?... I am personally glad we got the cream portion of it Frank
Take the longer view Grasshopper. While in your brief experience the Schumi years were long in mine they were just a pleasant interlude. Now please take your ball and get off my lawn
At least when tifosi go to sleep at night they can go to sleep knowing that the GREATEST team of all time was our "dream team" of Todt, Brawn, Schumi, Byrne... They wrote a chapter that set new standards and will probably NEVER be matched... It totally eclipses the 54-55 Mercedes, Lotus, McLaren-Honda... I personally don't think we could have achieved that with any other driver. NO driver has EVER had the sustained success that Schumi had. Many drivers had a few years at the top, but Schumi ruled over the sport for arguably 15 yrs... We will never see that level of dominance again, and thanks to Schumi, whenever the most dominant teams are discussed, everyone will have to concede that the Schumi led Ferrari was the best of the best... that's something that we can go to sleep with every night and no one can take that away from us. For that, I and many other tifosi will always be eternally be grateful to Schumi... Frank
He knows how to develop a winning car. I am told his practice laps provide play-by-play commentary to engineers regarding what the car is doing like no driver has ever been able to do. Schu has never had a very successful first year with a new team and the car always needed to be heavily developed. That's how he brought Ferrari out of the hole, and now other drivers are reaping the benefits which I am happy for them, but they are no Schumachers, not even close. Alonso is a hired gun. He was just like Schu was his first year with Ferrari. Doesn't care about Ferrari, just wants to win. Who doesn't? The difference is Schu developed Ferrari into a winning team. Alonso had a couple very successful earlier years but he never built up a team the same way Schu had. If anything, Alonso has proven he doesn't know how to do this considering how terrible the last few Renault chassis have been. We'll see what Alonso brings to the table next year as I believe that will be a much better judge of how he can develop a car than this year.
I'm 46 yrs old and have been following F1 since 78 (32 yrs). First time that has been considered as a short-term fan... wow! If I am not welcome here, then it is definitely time for me to leave I have enjoyed this forum and interacting with everyone! Forza Ferrari! Frank
Completely agree. It was a a big fat domination steak with mushrooms all over it and the battle was always for 2nd place. Hungry now....
Yes, now stop upsetting Frank.. Mr Viz : I wasn't born yesterday, you know. Mrs Viz : More's the pity, we could have started your personality from scratch..
+1 I could not care less for whom MS drives today, or tomorrow for that matter. He drove for us, he won for us, and he's a legend for us. Right now, he just wants to have fun, and see if he's still good enough to be WDC again in the next 3 years. I recognize that and respect that. That's the least i could do, after taking the Scuderia out of the doldrums. If, in the next 3 years, Ferrari loses the WDCs, MS would be the man i'd vote to win it.
Its my ball and I'll tell you when you can leave It is because of his greatness and the memories of those glorious days that it is hard for me to watch his stumbling (so far) comeback. It would have been so much better to remember only the Championships.
As an American I started following F1 because our great Mario Andretti was competing in F1 and it was exhilarating to see an American win the World Championship in the beautiful JPS Lotus in 78. Every year since the late 60s I have watched the Indy 500, so he was someone I could relate too. I was of course aware of Jackie Stewart and had heard of the Ferrari driver Lauda being burned, but really started following it when Mario was winning races in the Lotus... Then came Gilles... how could I not fall in love with a driver that literally drove the wheels off the car and fought tooth and nail and gave it everything he had EVERY time he stepped in the car? Then I saw footage of the fight between him and Arnoux in 79 and I was absolutely hooked. I have followed the beautiful red machines ever since. I was absolutely devastated when he was taken from us in 82. To this day I STILL think it is wrong what Pironi did to him at Imola. Gilles was a fighter on track, but was honorable and a gentleman. He was p***ed at being wronged by Pironi, and I have to admit I was happy when Pironi had his accident later that year (I considered it karma). I have followed Ferrari since. I saw Scheckter as a Jackie Stewart type, serious, focused, consistently racking up points towards a championship, but not the daredevil Gilles that I practically worshipped. Arnoux, Alboreto, Tambay were competent but nothing more than that. Johansson did not deserve the seat either at Ferrari or later at McLaren (where he was blown away by Prost). Berger was a great playboy, but I never really saw him as WDC material. I loved when Mansell came over from Williams and loved his passes. Not the most cerebral of drivers, but the man had balls of steel! The great Prost came over and almost took it all, until Senna turfed him at Suzuka. Then he complained about the car and we unwisely (IMHO) sent him packing...We had another dry spell with Berger and Alesi. Alesi was passionate, but just did not have the consistency to mount a serious WDC challenge... which brings us to Schumi. Schumi I was never passionate about, but I was VERY happy when we got him and somehow just knew when he had the rest of his team with him that it was just a matter of time... Was he controversial? Absolutely! Was he ruthless? Absolutely! But he lived, breathed, and slept Ferrari and threw himself into our team and culture with everything he had. I do not see how a man could have done more or given more of himself to our team. I greatly admire him and respect him and appreciate all that he has done for the Scuderia after us tifosi having to go through year after year of mediocre results and the occasional win here and there (except for Prost in 90) until he came along... The only driver that has ever stirred the kind of emotions in me that Gilles did was Senna. In fact Luca has revealed that Senna spoke to him in 93 (IIRC) that he did not consider his career complete until he drove for Ferrari during his career...at that time they just did not have the car that Williams did and he was hungry for another championship capable car after 2 yrs of being dominated by Williams (92 and 93). I would have loved to have seen what he could have done with Ferrari and believe that he could have taken us to a WDC/WCC instead of the wasted years with Berger and Alesi... Ashame that the 2 drivers I admired and worshipped for their passion and fighting spirit, Gilles and Ayrton, both danced on the razor's edge where few dared to step on or even approach... both men were so obviously up in the air without a safety net. Both of their deaths left me absolutely devastated. With both it was almost as if I had lost a family member. I have never felt that way about any other drivers before or since. A bit about my history as an F1 and Ferrari fan... Frank
It is too bad so few of you seem to appreciate the possibility that perhaps he enjoys the pure joy of driving. I race and sometimes win, but almost always enjoy the fight for every position and the dynamics of the car moving under me. Why give all of that up simply because I do not win or do not have the pace I once had? Why deride someone for doing something they love and doing it well (albeit not as well as at an earlier time)? Finally, pro racing exists in large part to entertain the spectators (perhaps soley since that is where the money comes from, directly or indirectly) and he serves that role as well as perhaps anyone on the grid.
He is going to test the new car. What happens thereafter is anybody's guess. You saw mine. Are you kidding me? This was/is the most joyous season in a long time. Nothing is more fun than watch him getting clobbered race after race by Nico. Even if he beats Nico next year, he'll still face Vettel/Hamilton/Alonso. No torture expected. PS: Apologies for the hating comments, but I had to respond to the "torture" line. Just ignore me. Back to your love fest. No need for a flame suit: The majority of F1 fans felt that way evidenced by constantly dropping TV audience numbers. They were lowest in 2004 and started to come back in 2005. Except for Germany for obvious reasons.
Geeee.....poor MS....how humiliating being beaten by the very best of the best drivers in the world. *shakes head*
Andreas - not a love fest. While I respect your opinion, considering your passion for Ferrari, and what the Kaiser did for Ferrari, it's been rather disheartening seeing you take enjoyment at his lack of success. (I still find it odd that you said you will turn against Alonso after he wins a title for Ferrari) not trying to change your line of thinking, just re-iterating what alot of people here have said along with me all year. Kevin
A rather cynical attitude. While it is naive to think that F1 is a series reserved just for the best of the best and not a playground for those who can buy their way in I would like to hold Michael to a higher standard. To do otherwise cheapens him, his accomplishments and the sport.
