About MS's skills...

I'd say it is less MS's skills and talent that is being questioned, but rather some of his actions. As with all great drivers where there is light, there is shadow.

 

Schumacher's skills are irrefutable, he is one of the best drivers in F1 history in terms of driving talent.

His on-track temperment and attitude are, to say the least, controversial. This past weekend, with his deliberate shortcutting of chicanes to stay ahead of de la Rosa, will not serve to change this opinion many (including myself) have of him.

 

MS is a great pure driver, perhaps the best of all time. However, his racing skills (which are different) are not up to par. Since he is in F1, a lack of racing skill is not much of a disadvantage. Other drivers have said he is prone to mistakes when pressured and from what I have seen, that is true. Yesterday's race being a case in point. When it comes to sportsmanship, he pulls bad stunts that few, if any, others would even think of. In NASCAR, racing skill is more important, but those who are consistently in the top can race and drive.

Dave

 

But did not Jackie Stewart question Micheal's skill level, saying that for such a prolific winner he makes a lot of mistakes?

 

You have a point there, when I see the way he behaves, he just reminds me too much of Tony Stewart, I just wish he could have had Mikka Hakkinen's sportsmanship, he was really a class act and I was sadddened to see him retire.

 

How can you be a "great pure driver" and not have racing skills? If anything I would agree that there are others who are close to MS in the area of skills but MS is a total package. He creates his own luck (more good than bad) has more drive than anyone else, knows how to get the most out of the team, the car, the officials, etc. and somehow won 7 WDCs. You can hate him or not respect him but his talents and acheivements can not be denied.

 

"Where there is light, there is a shadow". I like that Andreas, very poetic. And very true.

When people slam Schumacher, all one has to do is bring up Senna. Some of his actions on and off track leave you shaking your head. He played dirty, he played clean. Senna and Schumacher were after-all, humans. They were both great drivers.

Schumacher's success has stretched out over many years, and many other drivers. During that time, there were drivers worthy of the competition. Schumacher has his record of achievement to stand on, so no matter what any detractor says, MS is and will likely be on top of the list for the rest of my lifetime. He is the best of his generation of F1 drivers.

 

Judging from the timing of our posts, I would say great minds think alike.

 

Seven World Driving Championships. How many starts? What is his winning percentage? What is his podium percentage? How many pole positions? Seems like with numbers like Schumacher's, you might just also have a higher number of errors.

As much as I like Jackie Stewart, who cares what he says about another driver?

 

I think Michael proved his skill at yesterday's race. He was the highest running
Bridgestone driver in the wet, and only faded at the end when his inter's
were worn down to the inner liner. Thanks!

Mark

P.S.: Sir Jackie only thinks highly of his own race talents.

 

While Michael had a great run yesterday Alonso had a better one. Now it may have been down to the tires but as i said before many times if there is an area where MS seems to have gone downhill, it's in the wet. The whole rainmeister thing, to me at least, is gone. Now both Alonso and Kimi seem just as quick or quicker and less mistake prone than MS. Alonso in particular didn't make a mistake all day, MS lost it at one point. In the dry MS doesn't seem to have lost much if anything. he will always be known as a great racing driver but much of his sucess has come from questionable tactics. before he got the all conqering Ferrari he was pretty dirty. His moves on Hill and on JV were disgraceful. His career will always be tainted to some people because of this.

 

I think his skill has dropped somewhat, which leads to mistakes and bad judgements on track as he is getting frustrated that others are able to catch up and even press him on the track. He is still brilliant most of the time, but he is making more mistakes and is not as consistant as he was before.

I will like to see him win the title this year and thinks that he should retire after that. I still think he is one of the greatest driver of all-times, but we all have to face reality sooner of later.

 

Solid!

I truly respect Jackie Stewart, but I don't find it fair for him to comment on the number of mistakes that Michael has made. We live in an age where every movement is recorded and scrutinized, something Stewart didn't have to face. Let's just say that nobody is perfect, but as a driver, Michael is damn close. I really do not know why, over his career, he has succumbed to those few questionable moments on track. Perhaps in '94 I can understand it the most, seeing as how it was already a tumultuos year and it was in the pursuit of his first Championship. It was either he or Damon, and I'm actually glad it was Michael.

That said, the more you watch and read about Michael in the cockpit, the more you realize how tremendous of a racer he is. He is the consummate thinking driver. Back in the 60s and 70s, when JYS was king, there was more manhandling and balls required than brains. You set the car up, and then it was cinch the buckles and go! Now, there are so many things the drivers must constantly adjust to on top of the physical demands of driving.

We are a country that really likes to rank things. I prefer to view things in tiers, like the top tier of all-time drivers. And obviously Michael sits firmly within that grouping.

 

Quote Gilles27 "That said, the more you watch and read about Michael in the cockpit, the more you realize how tremendous of a racer he is. He is the consummate thinking driver. Back in the 60s and 70s, when JYS was king, there was more manhandling and balls required than brains. You set the car up, and then it was cinch the buckles and go! Now, there are so many things the drivers must constantly adjust to on top of the physical demands of driving. "

That maybe true to a certain extent but truth be told everything is so computerized these days the human element is greatly reduced. Getting a car that was perfect on race day in the old days wasn't an easy task. Nowadays with comp sims and the like you can get it much closer, faster.

 

give MS the equal car with anyome out there, he'll come out on top...

 

true, but what's said is true for all racers, not just 1. well, maybe all racers with a lot of money...

the point is, the Ferrari may be perfect more often, but so is everyone else...

comparisons with the past really don't make much sense... cars were different. We don't really know how a driver of the past would do in today's modern cars, and how today's drivers would do in yesterday's cars... both would require some amount of learning to get used to what they're driving...

And, even if you were to get Alonso to learn how to drive a car from the 80's, tracks are different now compared to back then and a one to one comparison may not be very accurate.

None the less, I think MS's age is certainly something that plays against him against all the younger drivers out there.... he may have more experience, but he must be slower (in reaction, nerves, etc...) now than he was 10 years ago....

 

We'll never know. The problem is that Michael will never get in the same car as any of the other top drivers.

Kimi and Alonso are both on record saying they don't care who their teammate is. Schumacher, on the other hand, will not allow another top-rank driver to occupy a Ferrari seat while he is there. Somehow a "top" driver that is afraid to face his competition on equal terms doesn't impress.

 

Maybe it's because he's smart when it comes to what's best for the team? If you have 2 "divas" on a team, then they just fight against eachother instead of work together...

 

Stewart competed in a time when making a mistake often meant that someone died. I hardly think the pressure of standing up to criticism and scrutiny in today's age compares to that.

Stewart was the winningest driver of all time when he retired. He was a 3-time World Champion. He founded the Grand Prix Drivers Association and was the first driver to call for safety improvements. He was the Michael Schumacher of his time. He built a team from scratch that was on the podium its first season and a race winner by the time he sold it. It sounds to me like a lot of commenters here need a history lesson on F1. A lot of drivers today are alive because Stewart took it upon himself to organize the F1 drivers and push for safety improvements. Formula 1 is where it is today because of Jackie Stewart.

I think he is eminantly qualified to comment on another driver's performance.

 

But I think that over-simplifies things, which was my point about the more you watch. Don't forget the thousands of miles teams put in practising now a days. Computers play a big part in the development of parts and simulated use, but they can not replace the physical driving of the cars for setup. And the degrees to which cars can be fine-tuned are nearly endless. Finding that final 10/10ths is harder than ever. Also, the modern art of race maintenance is a very busy task. Not only is the driver monitoring his systems, tires, etc. along with his competition, he also is communicating with his manager regarding strategy and any issues that may arise with his car or competitors. On top of that, when you watch the in-car footage, you see that the driver is also constantly making fine-tuning adjustments to the car via the steering wheel-mounted dials.

 

Sure, if you call ducking the competition "doing what's best for the team".

Somehow I don't think that is Schumacher's primary concern.

 

Yes, Jackie Stewart bears all the credentials. We know that, the whole world knows that. I have all the respect for him and for his career. But that doesn't mean he's always right just because he.......(insert the requisite mentioning of Sir Jackie Stewart's lifetime achievements here). Are we to assume that, throughout his career, Stewart never made mistakes? He was definitely instrumental in fast-tracking the implementation of safety measures, but like they say, if Edison hadn't invented the light bulb, we'd probably still enjoy electric lighting somehow. If he is going to sit back and cherry pick the faults of a modern-era driver without the inclusion of "But, it IS a different era after all.", then it's fair to say that Michael should know better because he has accomplished more than Jackie numerically.

I prefer to look at the different eras as just that. They don't compare. The older times were more life and death. Today, because of safety developments, they racer harder and longer and reap greater rewards. But rather than costing their lives, the price today's drivers pay is living under a microscope, a situation the earlier generations didn't have to deal with. Nobody followed Jackie around pointing out his mistakes, comparing him to Ascari or Fangio.

 

The thing is if in a team you have a top driver and aa leser driver you know were the team efforts are going to concentrate. I don't necessarily think MS is affaraid of competition as much of having the whole team at his service.

Under this perspective MS is smarter than Alonso or Kimi when they say they don't care o having another top driver as teammate.

- Julio.

 

Given that MS is going to be retiring soon, if not this season, then for the good of the team I would think that he would actively lobby the Ferrari team to sign Kimi instead of doing everything he can to undermine their recruitment efforts.

Schumacher is unwilling to face his rivals on equal terms. it has nothing whatsoever to do with what he thinks is best for the team. It is a fundamental element of his character that winning is everything to him, no matter how he accomplishes the feat.

And, for the record, McLaren and Williams have hardly suffered by taking the opposite tack. They hardly suffer from lack of success by having two top drivers in place. In fact, McLaren's 1988 season would not have been possible had they had Prost and Stephan Johannsen driving.