Michael Schumacher: the serial winner who murdered Formula One

You made the best statement todate on the problem. FIA and all it's rules. Let's make this change for saftey, let's make this rule for saftey, Let's make this rule for saftey etc. This all at the cost to the lower budget teams. Just when they get it close to being right, new rules.

FIA get your head out your A$$ and lets go racing.

 

UH HELLO, McFly, McFly.................................... that IS what Schmacher did do. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Benneton didn't win a championships until Schamcher came on the scene. They haven't won once since he left either. To top it off Michael did it using a Ford V8, running against the V10's and V12's of Honda, Renault, Ferrari, and McLaren. Then after he won two Championship he left for Ferrari, that hadn't produced a drivers championship in well over two decades. Guess what, Ferrari now is the winningest team in F1 history. So it IS Michael that is great. The team is great because of what Schumacher brings to the table. He gets everyone to raise their game. When Michael got there Ferrari was a joke. Now look at it, they have the most reliable engine in F1, the pit times are consistantly at the top, the chasis is and handling of the Ferrari is the best, just look at the replays of the cars going over the corners, even the tire manufacture as raised it's game. Michael causes everyone around him to play at 110% They just keep getting better. Does Jaun Pablo do that, or Button, or Alonzo, or how about punkass Kimmi? NO they don't. There is something about Schamcher that he can get people to perform at their best. That's why Ferrari is destroying the competion on the track. Until the other drivers can get their teams to do what Michael has done, Ferrari will be the top dog until Schmacher retires. Enjoy it boys, because we have the privledge of seeing the greatest driver in F1 history drive right now. Make no mistake about it he is a living legend.

 

Basically I agree with your arguments, however you can't IMHO cite the Benetton as an example. At that time Schumacher was a nobody in F1 terms. He was a huge promise after he put the Jordan on 7th of the Spa grid, but that was it. Thereafter he burnt the clutch at the start. True Benetton were nowhere at that time, but neither was Michael.

It raises an interesting question though: How much did Michael contribute to the success of the Benetton? It can't have been that much in the beginning as he was still learning plus he already had a dream team of people around him, courtesy of Briatore, not of Michael. My guess is in his second year at Benetton he started to shape things up and the car improved on his influence.

 

That is my point. It was because of Michael and his influence. When he got to Ferrari they were a joke, a bunch of has been's, living off of the name, and victories of yore. He didn't do squat the first year, but the car did improve, just as it did with Benetton. The really big jump in Ferrari's improvement was when his boys jumped ship with him to Ferrari. That's when the real big gains started. Michael is a phenominaly gifted driver, and now he has a car that matches his gift. That is why Ferrari is so dominant. If Michael was to leave to lets say, Toyota, who's budget is bigger than Ferrari's, give him a couple of years and it would not surprise me one bit if Toyota would be destroying the competion. No other driver in F1 currently has that abillity, none. Not Takuma, DC, Jaques, JPM, Jenson, Kimmi, name them all, even his little brother Ralph, none of them. Michael has the whole package, his tallent, the teams tallent, the car, and the budget. That is why Ferrari is boss. The other teams may have the budget, but lack the tallent, or have a tallented driver and lack the tallented team, or the budget without the driver. They are lacking in one of the areas where Ferrari is not. But they will catch up. Look at Renault. Their car is a monster off the line. They can get three to four position right off the start, but that doesn't win races. Anyway you slice it Michael has taken the sport to the next level, and the rest off the guys are just gonna have to raise their game. Other wise they will just have to be satisfied with second place.

 

Excluding this year, reliability has been a huge factor for MS (he has been lucky as well as skilled). I agree with the above, and if you throw in a few dnfs next season there will not be a domination.

 

Agreed, how many times does he need to pull the rabbit out of the hat for people to be convinced. It is not his responsibility to make F1 interesting, he is doing what he is paid to do.

Was anyone complaining after 2003? That was the closest championship in F1's history. Ferrari/Bridgestone/Schumacher did a better job this year. That's their job, how can anyone blame them for doing it to the best to their abilities?

 

Amen Brother!

Hearing examples that I "only wish Schuey was challenged more," "Ferrari is killing the sport," "JPM needs a better car"... wake up!

If you gathered up so much success in your occupation to where you were number one in your field will you stop selling/making product to let your competitors catch up? When your son or daughter excells in a sport or academics or might even mention they may be able to garner a scholarship to a college are you going to tell them, " Well don't work so hard because a not as talented person should get a chance." Would you not provide the best for you and your family for fear the others on the block may become jealous?

There are times when too much of a good thing is enough, but how often does a life in F1 last? If any of us could strap ourselves into a F1 car we would do it. I think MS realizes how lucky his life has been and through his hard work he is collecting every bit of magic he can earn. We have no idea what it is like to be in his shoes and instead of nit picking how boring things are take in account how you would behave given a similar level of success.

How could you contribute to a site that is on the majority, a tribute to our favorite car manufacturer, then whine how it is too perfect? What are you people on or lacking in the noodle and most importantly missing in the heart?

Ferrari, as with every other team, was presented a challenge we all enjoy watching and has really been the master of it. Show some heart and stick to your team's passion for wins.

RocketBoy

 

Rossi also took Jeremy Burgess with him to Yamaha along with most of his crew from Honda. Rossi won 3 Championships with Honda and a 4th with Yamaha; Micheal did the exact thing with Ferrari, it just took longer.
Using Rossi as an example is not a bad choice as he's just as dominating, and has done what Micheal did do; i.e., go to a "lesser" team and win.
The reason that the MotoGP championship have been/are harder fought is thanks in part to Honda distributing factory built RC211Vs throughout the field in an attempt to crush Rossi's hopes for a championship in '04 - it didn't work. Remember when Honda debuted the RC211V in '02 and it obliterated the other 4 strokes and lingering 2 strokes - it was the equivelant of a Ferrari F1 car; MotoGP racing is tighter, because there's more top notch equipment circulating throughout the paddock - imagine if Ferrari sold 6 of its cars to the mid/back marker teams?
F1 as a concept is failing because of the FIA, Bernie and the ensuing donkey & pony show that results when egos of that size, collide.

 

It is also a fact that the rider on a MotoGP bike has more effect on its overall performance than a driver does in a F1 car.

My support for this point is that a MotoGP rider makes up at roughly 40% of the bike's total weight, and based on how he shifts his body weight on the bike has a significant effect on the lap times. The driver in the F1 car represents about 15% of the total weight and how he sits in the car has no effect of performance. Beyond that you have pure piloting skill, which I would say would have to be a wash between the two disciplines.

Therefore MotoGP =! F1, and the Rossi/Schumacher comparison is not analogous. But if you really must argue that point, as others have shown, MS has indeed resurrected two teams, which is actually more than can be said for Rossi, who started with a successful team Honda in the first place.

(note: I consider Rossi a genius so please don’t interpret my post to be negative towards him)

 

Most MotoGP "insiders" contend it's closer to 80% rider, but that sort of commentary is digressive and unneccesary.
Anyway, I know that MotoGP & F1 is not an apples to apples comparison; the only reason I brought up Rossi & Armstrong was to point out to examples, in the world at large, where the occurance of a repeat champion has not lead to a slew of Doomsday "The Sport Is Dying and It's This Guy's Fault" drivel; Rossi has won, multiple times in MotoGP and it's healthier than it has been. Some teams have struggled since the introduction of the 4 strokes (eg, Harris' WCM team), but on the whole it's healthy and happy. Same goes for "Le" Tour De France; Armstrong has won, but everyone's all the more eager to beat him/dethrone him/etc,but they simply haven't been able to bring the fight to him. Therefore, ideologically, the compraisons between F1 , MotoGP and Cycling are not moot, but portent examples of what happens when you let sport regulate sport, and talent filter the men from the also rans; with F1 you have a beurocratic system, and a greedy "patriarch" that enjoys stirring the pot and bleeding the resources. Add to that a legion of whining journalists and armchair racers, and you've got a sport pregnant with dissent. The end result: The most succesful participant is doomed to be the scapegoat.
Could you imagine this same sort of criticism being lofted at Gilles or Senna? No, you couldn't.

 

Well said, I agree. F1 is sick to the gills right now.

 

The gills as on the sidepods of the F1 GA 2004?


...sorry, couldn't resist.

 

i don't recall at which point in my life this happened, but a few years back i realized Formula One wasn't what i'd hoped it would be.

apart from the huge-ass politics involved (that's a HUUUUGE "apart" mind you) my vision of F1 since i began following it hardcore when it came here to adelaide ('85) and less so since the late 90's, was that Formula One was meant to represent the ABSOLUTE best in MAN and MACHINE.

i began disagreeing with the whole launch-control and for a short while became part of the "bloody computers are driving the cars nowadays" crowd... then oneday i saw some of my primary school artwerk where neither man nor machine was glorified, it was the ultimate culmination of the two.

back then, i wanted to be nelson piquet and driving a lotus. if i were a 9 year old in the early 90's, i'd want to be nigel mansell and drive a renault. if i were a 9 year old now, i'd want to be michael schumacher and driving a ferrari.

sorry for the sap, that's just the idea i had back when i was 9 years old and Formula One came to my city.

 

I enjoy watching F1 even though I know that schumacher will probably win, just because I loev to see Kimi Raikkonen lose!

Also, watching Michael Schumacher drive is like witnessing Michaelangelo sculpting a masterpiece. He executes nearly every action with perfection, and it is truly beautiful.

 

Gee, Michael & Ferrari are the best in the world. In order to be nice, Michael should drive with a blindfold and Ferrari should put sand in the fuel tank.

It is just not fair. Michael & Ferrari are just too good. A small Italian company should not be able to beat the world’s largest auto companies. They should take turns winning. That way everyone would be happy. We all must be good little socialists.

BULL.

If you cannot stand the heat, get out of the kitchen like Jaguar.

Only drive 12 cylinders

 

Ford still doesn't have things straight with the brand name and able to turn a profit with the cars, what makes you think they can afford to field an F1 team on a budget of $130 million while rotating driver after driver?

A snip from a recent article. The last time I checked, Cosworth was a very profitable and lucrative engineering division. A little education never hurt anyone.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jaguar Racing has been purchased by Red Bull, the world leader in energy
drinks. The company was a sponsor of Jaguar Racing in 2004, and has been
extensively involved in Formula One and global motorsport for over a
decade. The new Formula One team will continue to purchase engines from
Cosworth, thereby helping to ensure a positive future for the
Northampton-based, motor sport technology engineering company.

"Having taken the tough decision to exit Formula One after over 35 years
in the sport, our focus has been to secure the best future for our
Formula One businesses and our employees," said Mark Fields, executive
vice president, Ford of Europe and chairman and CEO, Premier Automotive
Group. "We now will concentrate our efforts to improve the results of
Jaguar Cars and the Premier Automotive Group."

The sale of these businesses is part of the improvement actions Ford
Motor Company announced 17 September 2004 for its Jaguar Cars unit.
These actions include Ford’s exit from Formula One and the sale of the
Jaguar Racing and Cosworth businesses.

"Bosses Delighted"

"I am really pleased that Red Bull has bought Jaguar Racing. Since we
made the announcement to sell our F1 businesses in September we have
received outstanding support from the management and employees at Jaguar
Racing and we have worked very hard to secure a sale to a reputable
buyer," said Richard Parry-Jones, Group Vice President - Global Product
Development and Chief Technical Officer, Ford Motor Company. "Red Bull
is a very successful business and has been extensively involved in F1
and global motorsport for over a decade. I am very pleased to announce
this outcome."

 

Ferrari did have the best car again this year with the best driver. It's not his fault he's good. Well, it is. But not his fault he wins. If a McLaren had at least finished the first 4 or 5 races or whatever then that may have helped...