As I said earlier in a response to aircon, it all depends on what his goal was/is. It's nice that you, aircon and others think things are going fine. I know some die-hard MS fans who think otherwise.
Very difficult for athletes to time their retirement perfectly. Elway did it right and went out on top. Most athletes are asked to leave way before they themselves are ready. Superstars like Schumi M Jordan have the problem that people want them associated with their team/organization so they are tempted to keep going. Hope springs eternal even though your body is past its prime. So far this season it looks to me like Schumi should have stayed retired and kept the mystique of the 7x WDC in tact. He definitely has feet of clay when he cannot consistently beat his teammate. Schumi is going to have to score more points than Rosberg this season to redeem is reputation somewhat. It will difficult to get back to the rep he had before this season started IMVHO. I wish him well but fear he will not be able to redeem himself. We will see.
Felipe Massa has denied blocking Jenson Button on purpose during qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix on Saturday. The McLaren driver was angry at the Brazilian after he slowed down right in front of Button just as the Briton was about to complete a flying lap in Q3. "Very annoying. I don't know what the lap time would have been but very annoying that he got in the way because it was blatantly slowing me down," said Button after qualifying. Massa said he slowed down in order to get a clean lap, but denied blocking Button on purpose. "There was a car in front of me, he slowed down and I slowed down as well. Then I pushed and when I see Jenson coming I pushed, so I didn't do anything on purpose, definitely," said Massa. "I cannot complain so much because in Q1, I was not in traffic. For me it was worse in Q3 than Q1, but maybe I was lucky as well. I am sure some people had traffic in Q1, but anyway it didn't happen." The Ferrari driver, who qualified in fourth, was very pleased with his performance, especially after getting over his problems with the tyres. "I feel happy, I feel that definitely the tyres are working well, so the car is much more competitive and easier to drive compared to the last race, so I feel really on the normal direction driving like I want on this track. The Brazilian also said there was still a lot to play for tomorrow, despite Mark Webber again securing a dominant pole position. "Game over, for sure not. It takes a very long time to say it is game over, it is not game over. We are there to fight and we are going to try to fight until the end, until the end of the championship when you see that in the points you have no chance. "It is never game over. We are pushing hard inside the factory to be the best and to fight with whatever team."
Is that the rule or is it team's choice. I wish he starts from the grid. I know there is certain risk involved but the chance of overtaking slaw cars at the start is higher.
Schumi's neck thread: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showpost.php?p=139425201&postcount=11 You clarified your statement and graciously took the bet anyway, even though it wasn't what you meant. Stand up guy! I'll see you at the Roulette wheel in a few more months!
If he left when he didn't really want to, why has he said in interviews this season that he retired in 2006 because he was tired of F1, with all the travelling and being away from his family?. Now he's at Mercedes he has no reason to lie about his retirement. As for his comeback, if it's what he wants to do then fair play to him, how many on here would love to be able to drive F1 just for fun?. However, there were plenty of people who were predicting that he was going to come back and kick some ar*e which hasn't happened. As Andreas has said, by his own high standards he's not the driver he once was. Frankly he looks quite average these days, but he is in his forties now and age catches up with all of us eventually. As the saying goes: "The older I get, the faster I was!".
SrtMike - that was a brillaint post. Very well articulated, and it conveys what most people think (including me) Thanks Kevin
Andreas, seriously, i have to ask, whats all this complain about MS? I'm just curious...Well, I'm sure there's many reason you think that he's done, but there's also many reasons that can be said that he's not done.
The laws of the jungle should prevail. To my way of thinking, there is a kind of cowardice with trying to go out on top. A lion doesn't just walk away from all it amassed and built. It gets taken down by the next big thing coming. I for one appreciate athletes who go down fighting.
i too was more than a liitle bemused by schumi's return to racing. i felt, along with many, he would only hurt his reputation but if you look at it from a different perspective things might get clearer. who among us wouldn't leap at the chance to drive in f1. there really isn't any pressure on him to win. just go out and drive the car around. what could be more fun for any retired driver. free food, free travel, and you get to dice it up a bit with the youngsters. sounds like heaven to me. massa looks good for some points if he can keep it off the walls and we may see a historic drive from alonso.
I picked MS in Jack's pot (TM) for a win. Not that I expected a win per se, but my rationale was, that this is the race where he has the best chance to score: - he owned this place like only Senna before him - Monaco is all about the driver and little about the car - he did well (relatively speaking in comparison to Nico) at Barcelona So to see him still in the position where he kinda was all season long was really a surprise to me. At every other place you can have a thousand excuses about the car. Not in Monaco. Here skill, bravery, total focus and experience is what counts. So if he can't beat the best around here, where else?
Webber does it again, I'm surprised. A few more performances like this and he'll undoubtedly rise in a few people's estimation (don't understand why - as he's already dominated a bunch of teammates).
I'm not so surprised that he did well in qualifying. He has always been fast in qualifying. However I'd be hugely surprised if he manages to turn his pole into a victory. Because Monaco more than any other place requires total concentration and he IMHO is the guy who falls apart after a few laps. Not trying to bash Webber here. Just saying if he pulls out a victory, I'll be one of those people who will change their opinion of him.
Maybe, maybe not. Webber did very poorly against Vettel last year in qualy, that's why I was surprised. Here he is 6 races into the season with 3 poles.
Bollocks. Nico and Brawn are all kinds of pissed off about how MS was held up by Nico in Q3. Nico is borderline insane about the situation and his mistake. Call it what it is, not what it clearly isn't.
Turns out, that MS himself is disappointed as well: http://www.speedweek.ch/art_12139.html His comment about his 7th position: "Admittedly, this isn't exactly what we were hoping for."
Really? MS himself said afterwards that it wasn't his fastest lap where this happened, but on one of the "in the bank" laps: "Ich glaube, dass es ohnehin nicht meine schnellste Runde gewesen wäre, aber es wäre eine Sicherheitsrunde gewesen", sagt er. Translation: "I believe that it was not one of my fastest laps anyway; but it would have been a 'safety lap' (hard to translate, we call that a lap to put in the bank)." http://www.motorsport-aktuell.com/automobil/rosberg-entschuldigt-sich-bei-schumacher-1854413.html The whole thing happened due to lack of coordination and communication from pitlane: "Stimmt", bestätigt Teamchef Ross Brawn. "Der Funk ist hier nicht gut, setzt stellenweise aus. Da kann man etwas überhören. Das GPS ist auch schlecht. Man sieht die Autos auf dem Monitor an allen möglichen Stellen - anscheinend fahren sie manchmal in den Bahnhof! Dadurch verlieren wir ein bisschen was von der Kontrolle, die wir sonst haben, aber das soll keine Ausrede sein, denn andere Teams haben einen sehr guten Job gemacht." Translation: "True" confirms Brawn. "The radio here is not very good, you have holes. It is possible to not catch something. The GPS is bad too. You see the cars on the monitor on all kinds of places, sometimes they even pass through the station! Because of that we loose some of the control, which we otherwise have, but that's not an excuse."
The cock wasn't all that bad, especially compared to Legard and Eejit. As for Alonso, GP2 today proved you can overtake in monaco. T1, the chicane and the last corner all saw a few overtaking moves, which sticked. Jules Bianchi did brilliant starting 6th finishing 3rd....Very good. Danny Clos 'did a 'lonnie' and crashed exactly the same as Alonso. Schumacher in 2006 proved you CAN overtake here, starting last and finishing 5th...
I thought (and still to some extent think) that MS will do well tomorrow. Other posters have accurately pointed out that Michael & Nico are the closest qualified teammates. Am I a little surprised that MS isn't consistently 3rd of 4th fastest every race? Yes. But he is getting closer. Frankly, I would like to see a Massa - MS 1 -2 tomorrow. I think it could happen. A very brief thought on the alleged MS bashing ... he didn't have an opportunity to drive for Ferrari this year. That doesn't make him a traitor, nor does it, IMHO, justify the villification. Get over it. Schumacher raised Ferrari from a 3rd or 4th rate team (when he started w/ Maranello) to perhaps the most dominant team in motorsport history. He gave at least as much to the sacred horse as he derived from it. Recognize this and move on. And yes, I am a Ferrari fan. And yes, I have been on a factory tour. And yes, I was at Daytona in 1998 when Moretti & company won the 24 Hours. And yes, I do drive a Ferrari every day. As this is intended to foment discussion, let the rebuttals begin!!!!
If Lady Luck smiles at Alonso like last week the championship contenders may take each other out in the first corner melee while he peacefully starts from the pits.
Teams choice. Monaco is VERY thin at the start line and the risk of taking a front wing off or avoiding a crash that isn't there by missing the apex (and getting a drive through for that) is VERY large, especially if you're in a much faster car. Starting from the pitlane makes the most sense.
I wonder how long until the leaders catch the tail end of the field. Considering how slow the back of the pack is, could make it real intereseting. Especially if Alonso is stuck in the back....
