Yes .... and No Micheal's unreal stats and record are a reflection that Ayrton Senna was killed in 1994 .... and the F1 world was cheated out-of watching these two super-stars trade wins for the last 10 years. Micheal is a super-star (no one can take that away) but his stats are a reflection of a sad time in F1 where we didn't have two super-stars, to race each other wheel-to-wheel over the long run of MS's career
Not really: He was already leading against Senna in 94. 95 was because of the vacuum in F1, true. But thereafter he went to Ferrari and didn't win for another five years. How much longer would Senna have carried on after 94? Michael won the majority of his championships in a time when F1 had bounced back from Senna's death.
Thanks for your information. MS will go down in history as ONE of the greatest. They only reason you can't say out-right that he is THE BEST OF ALL TIMES...(based on his unreal stats) Some F1 historians will always argue that MS raced during a decade where the talent pool was a little shallow and F1 was not a nail-biting-spectacle like during the Senna/Mansell/Prost years. To be the greatest champ... you almost need to be one-part of a great rivalry... this is the only thing that MS didn't have, or I would also vote him THE BEST OF ALL TIMES Its JPM's fault
My 2c. I think this result simply illustrates the immensity of the challenge faced by Ferrari after the dismal first half of the season. Renault was able to play it safe with engines while Ferrari had to push the envelope on pace versus reliability. In reality, it was some bad luck by Renault that combined with Ferrari's good effort to make this an interesting season. Murphy's law still holds. Next race will probably be a yawner since Alonso can turn down the volume and just finish in the points, something he has shown himself to be very good at. This was a very anti-climatic end to the season. Next year should be interesting with no designated first place driver and Kimi running over Massa to prove his abilities in a bona fide championship car (if that proves to be the case). Then again, if I recall correctly, it will be race #2 on the engine for Alonso, or will he forfeit track position to put a new engine in the car? FORZA FERRARI!
Alonso will be on a new engine in Brazil. I'm wondering if Renault with go with the new spec higher power engine or play it safe with an old one. Not sure if the Ferrari car of next year will be as dominant as say 2004. The new engines may have been overworked since no more can be done from now on. With Kimi's ability to find ways to damage an engine, it will be interesting.
Does the Brazilian race count towards the engine freeze/homologation? Renault could play it safe, but if they want to have a chance at future titles, they better bring on the new version IF that race counts towards homologation. I kinda lost track on what counts towards that, they changed it so many times.
Facts are facts. Michael is 7 time world champion! F1 is the pinnacle of all motor sport! Until someone can beat that record Michael will be the greatest of all time! I do not consider and will never consider driving in a circle as racing! End of story!
anyone watch SPEED 30 min before the race? the coverage of Suzuka track and such? The commentators said that something always goes wrong at Suzuka......I just remembered that they talked about this!
Michael Schumacher, Ferrari (DNF): We are a great team. Our guys are the best and I have a great affection for everyone at Ferrari and am always more than satisfied in the way we work. Incidents like todays can happen and they are part of racing. You win together but you also lose together. Today we did our best, I was leading the race and then my engine broke. Thats the simplest way to sum it up. That is Formula One. We can be proud of what we have achieved since Canada: we were twenty five points behind and no one could have thought we would be back in the fight for the championship, but we did it. Now we are nine points behind in the Constructors classification and we will do all we can to win this title in Brazil. As for the Drivers, it is lost. I dont want to head off for a race, hoping that my rival has to retire. That is not the way in which I want to win the title. Now that is a true sportsman!
That's not really fair to say. It took Michael 5 years to win another championship after his Benetton days. After Michael, I think FA is the best of the field. This kid has been winning all his life. Now, he's one point from being double World Champ, youngest F1 race winner. He was fast in a Minardi. In his short time in F1 he's already driven circles around Ralf, Button, JV, Montoya, Trulli, Fisichella. Next year it's between him and Kimi. He is a worthy double champion. Just needs to keep his mouth closed more!
According to a comment on Pitpass.com this is the first engine failure in a race since 2000 for Ferrari. Is that really true? If so, how cruel. Like someone said before it's an anticlimax to a thrilling season. Let's hope Michael can at least retire with a final win in Brasil. Best, Peter
Assuming a completely random distribution.... Michael's WDC is a combo of his finishing first (1/22) and Alonso missing the points (14/22) so roughly 2.9% ~ 1 in 34. CC has too many permutations I don't feel like working it out right now. But the reality is that MS and FA are both top notch drivers on top notch teams, so they should both qualify in positions that would award points if they didn't lose any positions. FA has missed the points only twice all season, so the odds of MS winning are probably considerably worse than 1 in 34... maybe 1 in 80 or so. They're also both unlikely to make any major mistakes.... the WDC and CC from my point of view are squarely in the hands of the mechanics and the teams: can they provide a car that will hold together for the entire race and provide suitable performance? Besides, Kimi is the best pure racer right now. If only he could drive a car that doesn't fall apart every other race, he'd surely be mixing it up with FA and MS. Does no one remember the first race of the season where he finished on the podium from dead last qualifying position?! In equal cars, I'll put my money on Kimi every time against any other F1 driver.
Michael is statistically the greatest, but there are other factors besides those that detemine if someone is '*THE* greatest'. Let me ask you this: IF J-V came back with a team next year, and reeled off SEVEN WDC's in a row - giving him 8 total - then I guess we must all say he is the 'greatest of all time', right ? And what about the Indy car races that take place on road courses, do those count ? To say oval racing isn't racing is just plain dumb.
F1 is simply the pinnacle of race car technology within motorsport. That you don't consider driving an oval at 200mph in a pack of 40 other cars to be racing shows your ignorance and lack of experience within motorsports in general. With respect to any professional race car driver, which I am not, I refuse to disparage one form of racing over another. They all have their challenges, skill sets and risk factors.
I agree with Impy, MS is the greatest of all time and I respect other forms of motor racing. I do not understand the left hand turns, I tried to watch it, but after ten laps, I got bored. That may show my ignorance of oval racing, but it does not mean I do not respect the racers.
Due to the engine design freeze. Ferrari may have decided to push the envelope a little because they may have to use the same design for the next few years.
