Alonso`s days at McLaren are numbered

I don't believe that family played a part in that decision. What is so difficult about that for you to understand?

I am not debating about whether family concerns are important, I have kids of my own. What my point is is that this is not, in my opinion, the reason why Schumacher retired, I think this is the reason that guys like you like to point to in order to avoid accepting the uncormfortable possibility that Schumacher retired rather than accept a competitive driver in the second seat.

What on Earth does that have to do with anything we are discussing?? Are you trying to provoke an argument?

It is evident that you are trolling for a response. If you have a problem with me, take it to PM.

 

Did you serve in the military?

I did, and for a hell of a lot less money than an F1 driver. No one shoots at F1 drivers. I think I know a bit about putting one's life at risk, and for a principle, not a paycheck.

 

Yes, you do selectively believe what you read in the media. That is how you arrived at your opinion. You don't know Schumacher and you are no closer to the information flow than I am.

I am very clear that what I was stating is based on the opinions of journalists. I read the same things you did (and apparently a whole lot more) and weighed that information, along with everything I saw at Schumacher's press conference and everything that was known up to that time, to arrive at my opinion.

Don't lecture me about mistaking opinions for facts. I have done no such thing. There is plenty enough of that in the McLaren controversy threads. I have yet to see you chastise anyone in those discussions for this.

 

Exactly, his supremacy is now being challanged at this stage of his life. Keep in mind that very few highly successful athlets in the world can walk away from a such highly competitive field/arena while still being on top of their games. Too many of them were unwilling to face the reality of father time and to take up the position of mentoring or tutoring the younger generation. IMO, MS is not as competitive as he used to be, not to his own "standards" at least and that is unacceptable for him. From what I read, which was also cited many times by the media and quoted by Schumacher himself, that he had lengthy discussions with his wife, Corina and the rest of his family. Mistakes can lead to disasters, and I would imagine that MS knew that and does not want to spend his last breath inside a race car like Senna did. Please remember that he is no longer a wide-eyed 22 y/o but a well accomplished 7xWC with a family. In 2006, even know that he was only one engine away from catching and perhaps even beating FA to win an 8th title, but at the same time, he also know that he is one mistake away from becoming just a memory to the F1 fans worldwide. With all that being said, regardless what his reason was to retire, does he not have the right to just walk away from F1 without being judged or ridiculed by the media and the F1 fans? Do we, as F1 fans not owe him at least that much and respect him and his decision enough to do just that? Ironically, FA was in the very same role that MS played back in 1994, and there people who believe that in fact played a part in Senna's accident at Imola. In some ways, Aryton Senna and Jim Clark was fortunate enough to not have to face and experience the decline of their racing abilities and career, as they will now be forever immortalized much in the same way that Marilyn Moroe and James Dean will be forever young in the eyes of their fans.

Please, don't give yourself so much credit, I don't even have to give you the time of day if I don't want to, let along "trolling" or "provoke" an argument with you. I wouldn't want to waste my time or the band-width to PM someone, especially when he/she is becoming combative and thus result in a total lack the cognitive ability to carry on a discussion with simple common sense. AFAIAC, this discussion is over, enjoy the rest of your day here on the forum.

 

Not exactly, I only had the pleasure of trying to put soldiers like you back into one piece after a battle or/and dealing with what comes after being in a war. Also, are you even reading what you are typing here, comparing F1 racing and war is nothing but short of lunacy. AFAIK, F1 is a career choice, a driver can stop anytime he/she wants to. You try to do the same, you will be charged with AWOL.

I would be just like you then, wouldn't I? Thanks but no thanks, IMO, you do enough of that here on FerrariChat for all of us already. By the looks of things here, I guess not only our discussion about MS is over, I am going to stop reponding to you at least not until you come to your senses.

 

I guess my point went over your head. You were alluding to the fact that F1 drivers risk their lives while most of us do not and presumably that renders our opinions somewhat less:

For the record, I noticed that Schumacher is entered into a race this year, the RoC (IIRC). So much for his "family concerns"...


I am sorry to see that my discussions with you are fruitless. Apparently the only one allowed to have an opinion here is you. I won't waste any more of my time then.

 

He had risked his life every race, for $30M/year plus side endorsements.......

I think there comes a time where you evaluate how much you "need' to be happy......

You can continue to pile up the money, but you are unable to 'buy' any more time.

Play nice.......

 

RoC uses TransAms...that's not quite the same risk as an open wheeled F1 car......

 

Wow, really dangerous race there. How irresponsible of him... ""

 

Something I forgot to say to you in my last post, as I was in a hurry to leave the office:

Thank you and your family for your military service, as what you had to do couldn't have been easy for you and your family. And I for one, and I am sure many otheres here, appreciates and respects you for what you did for this country and its people.

 

You make it sound like he should never have retired untill he died on the track or something. Hell 3 years ago many were screaming for his retirement including many of the drivers on the grid today. Many were also saying that he was too old and now that he has retired you seem to think that he should never be around any track anywhere at any time. With his children getting older he now has the ability to be around them a lot more often. Being so young he can still do many things with them. IMHO he has had the perfect life(except he is not Italian lol). I wish he would come back and win another WDC but I doubt that he will.

 

Hey I put my life on the line for 30 years and there are times Ive been in a basement fire wondering what the hell am I doing here? But I can tell you that it is more dangerous in an F1 car. The only job IMHO that is more dangerous than driving F1 in being performed by the poor but brave men and women in Iraq and Afganastan.

 

Bollocks, there are many jobs more danagerous than driving a racing car, especially nowadays when they are so safe.

Take a motorcycle courier for example.
Pete

 

Thanks, Anthony,

I come from a military family. My dad was a career Marine who served on Okinawa and both of my brothers served as well, one as a Marine (he was in Beirut in the early 1980s but missed the barracks bombing, thank God), the other was an Army Ranger who served in Grenada. He is now with the FBI.

 

No, I think he retired at the right time, he accomplished everything he could expect to in F1, but that is merely my opinion. I do not believe that Schumacher wanted to retire and many well-placed F1 journalists also do not believe he retired of his own volition. I think that he would have stayed on for another year or two had Ferrari not signed Kimi, he never seemed to have lost his enthusiasm for the sport up to his retirement, as far as I saw.

I think the argument that he retired for the sake of his family while plausible to many of us, especially those with families of are own, is no more credible a reason that he chose to retire than his earlier statement that he retired to preserve Massa's place within the team. Neither claim jibes with the other known facts nor do they explain Schumacher's behavior at the Italian GP nor his press conference afterwards. I believe that the BusinessF1 article is the truth behind Schumacher's retirement.

But as I said to Anthony, this is my opinion and it is based on what I have seen and read. The truth is that none of us really know what happened in Schumacher's mind and all of this is speculation.

 

Didn't Senna have no wife and children because he was gay?

 

Sacrilege!!!! Who do you think you are? Nelson Piquet?!?

Senna was married in Brazil, he divorced his wife to move to England and race.

 

haha! so u do have a lil bit of humour in you.

 

didn't Senna have a girl friend just before his final years?

 

Yes, supposedly they were engaged to be married. She was pretty hot, IIRC.

 

+1

edit : your dad's in the FBI? must be cool

 

wow...thats sad.

 

My brother is, he has some amazing stories.

My dad's retired...though if he still had hair, it would still be high & tight

 

lol! thats some cool stuff.

my dad was in the Air Force here, for 22 years i think. he's retired, and working in General Electric now. i always liked to listen to his stories, when he was in the Force in the early days. some funny stuff.

 

Jeez you boys have been busy. These 3 week breaks suck!
And no that wasn't a smile in my prior post, it was sticking my tongue out at you, lol.

I will always feel that MS was a poor sport, weak mentally, cheated when he could and was vastly ovverated. That being said if i even ran into him on the street i would ask for an autograph and a picture if possible, lol. I'll pretend to like him, how about that? lol

P.S. when was the last time P2 was taken out from behind in F1? I don't remember that happening lately but i might be wrong.