Looks like Schumi has preempted Barrichello in the war of words

From that article:

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"They lacked what my former teammates lacked -- enough speed," the German boldly claimed.
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and

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He wondered: "Why is it so hard to accept that some drivers are quite simply better?"
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That is of course completely true, most definitely proven during the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix where Rubinho was clearly lacking speed in the last 300 yards of the race which makes Schumacher probably "simply better"...

*off to seek my armour suit now*

 

Yeah, you know what? He's right. I just don't like when Schumi makes statements like those because he comes off as smug, and he doesn't wear smug well.

 

"So where does Schumacher think his new stable-mate, Felipe Massa, will fit in at Ferrari? "I expect that he will step at least into Rubens' footsteps, and if not he might even do a bit better job."

------------ In other words, don't over step your place.

MS has an unbelievable ego.

 

Rubino spilled the beans a day or two ago, nothing but praise...

 

True, Rubinho is too kind, that will never make him a champion.

 

The aging former champion better be careful before he finds a teammate who is faster, then he will be the one will excuses.

 

Michael has never once had a fast teammate. Not once. He shouldn't be so smug. If he had been teamed with say Mika Hakkinen then we would have seen him tested. I don't buy his BS. I mean Rubens had a number two driver clause in his contract, that didn't come out of nowhere.

 

Just for those comments, I dearly want to see MS paired up with Kimi or Alonso.

 

That would be great but as I said before, it will never happen. Massa was picked cause he's no threat to MS. Everybody talks about Kimi going there when MS retires. If MS didn't want a dog in the other car then why didn't they sign Kimi now? He's full of it in this case.

 

Unfortunately than he will get his a$$ handed to him, don't forget he is old by F1 Standards. Racer is absolutely correct, he never ever had a teammate to test him, and as Bernie Eccelstone said he will never ever be considered the greatest for that reason alone. What made Fangio, Moss, Clark, Prost, and Senna better than MS is the fact that they had the balls to have a teammate that was equal, Schumacher never did and always dictated his requirements. That is why no matter if he wins 10 WC he will never ever be held in the same league as a Fangio.

 

Not to start a huge BS fest, but if RB wipes and tarmac with JB next year, would that then give some credit to MS? I think it would prove RB might have more skills than he appeared. I am honestly asking what you all think.

Mark

 

also, i think he was hitting on fisi, who always says that he's unlucky, as schumi claimed

 

Hey guys!

Show the aging former champion some respect!

Do you know how hard it is to end up on the podium, let alone win when:

1) You're denied the best team
2) You're denied the best tires
3) You're denied the best car
4) You're denied to start from pole position so you have to overtake other racers
5) You're denied blue flags when you try to overtake those other racers

Come on! How can you show that you're the greatest driver if they deny you all that?

What do you say? 17-or-so out of the 20 drivers have to cope with those circumstances?

Hmzzz....

So... what you mean is... the greatest driver will even win races under THOSE circumstances?

OK... so who's the greatest driver SOLELY based on 2005 driver skill (forgetting about history and personal preferences)?

I don't think it's Alonso as he had the best team, best car, best tires etc.

Is it Kimi?

 

Exactly. When your'e good your'e good. MS never makes exuses like other drivers. He may come off as egotistical but at least not a whiner like Rubens,an a$$ blaming everyone like Montoya. When MS won in 2000 he was a god to alot of people who wanted him to win , now that they're bored with him winning he's crap.People are so fickle. I wonder how long it will take for people to turn on Alonso or Kimi? I hope MS/ Ferrari come back next year and blow everyone away, then I want to see what the others say.

 

Sindo, you have a point, he doesn't whine and he does give maximum effort, that I give you. I don't think MS is as quick any longer as Alonso or Kimi, but if he comes back next year and blows them away, he will deserve all credit. The only problem with MS, not his driving ability is the fact that he has never paired up with a Top Notch Driver. I don't think his ability is questioned.

 

People always talk about teammates, but Michael beat other drivers (not teammates) who had much better cars. Hakkinen's two world titles came in a car that was vastly superior than Schumacher's car on all types of cicuits. Even when MS won his first title with Ferrari against Hakkinen it was the general concensus in the paddock that the 2000 McLaren was a better car in both race and qualifying trim and yet MS was as fast or faster 50% of the time.

I am not an MS fan by any means (Ferrari comes first, driver second) but he is in my opinion one of the two greatest F1 drivers in my time. Senna scores points for EXACTLY the issue here being discussed namely beating a multiple world champion in the same equipment (Prost) but Michael evens the score in taking an also ran team and building them up to total dominance, something Senna could have never done.

You smoking the good stuff if you think any driver that competed during MS's tenure could have ever given him any trouble as a teammate in equal equipment (Senna short overlap doesn't count). MS would have wiped the floor with them all.

Regards,

Jon
www.flatoutracing.net

 

i really strongly agree. why? look at 2005. schumi never whined about anything, he never criticize the team openly. pluz, schumi never shields his mistakes, and he openly admits his mistakes. qualifying imola '05. raceday in monza, when he pushed overboard and spun during the race. it's not easy being schumi himself. he's the most criticized person in the sporting world. when he never wins, the media hits him hard. but when he got the title back in 2000, he was a god. the media worshipped him, as well as other people. then, 2 years down the road, media and ppl hits him again, saying his making the sport boring by winning too much. in '03 again, they labelled him and the team as in crisis after FA lapped him in hungary. then in '04, he was again labelled boring. in '05, ppl are questioning his motivation, just becos he didn't win. common, being ms is no joke. and i must admit, he takes his job pretty seriously, unlike other drivers out there who gives all types of excuses about the weather, tyres, car, engine, blue flags, traffic, etc etc. i think after what he has done, he deserve some respect.

 

good point. i actually hope that happens for rb's sake. poor guy. sato might have made jb look much better than he actually is.

i also hope giancarlo fisichella settles in better at renault next year, has better luck (yes it might be an excuse, but u really have to admit he has ****e luck this year) and brings the fight to alonso.

 

I actually think he will wipe the floor with JB. He's very overrated and got mopped up by Fisi when they were teammates.It won't really prove anything mainly because of that. I mean Button is a good driver but he has yet to win a race and only has a handful of podiums. What so special about him? Besides that there is no number one number two garbage with BAR so Rubens is free to race as he pleases.

 

There's the whole problem. In the case of Senna there is no doubt he raced the best and beat the best. MS never did in an equal car. He pretty much always has a teammate who's job it was to help him. MS won in 2000 mainly because Mika had spooked himself and was already beggining to decline motivation wise. That left only DC and he did as well as he could. If you think MS would have allowed Mika in the same car as him then you smoking that good sticky icky. Maybe Mika wouldn't have beat him maybe he would have we'll never know. But Since MS never let another top driver in the car next to him I have to doubt his self confidence and assume he feared certain drivers in an equal car.

 

The problem with the above qualifiers is that its not only the drivers job to get into the car and steer it around the track with his foot on the gas, its his job to:

1) Make the team the best;
2) Provide sufficient feedback to the tire Co to make the tires the best for the car;
3) Work with the engineers to make sure he has the best car;
4) Achieve pole position
5) Make it so clearly obvious that he's faster, that blue flags are waved from all corners....

Michael played a strong role in the building of Ferrari, including making sure he had the fastest car with the fastest tires and the most focused team. What happend last year? Clearly he fell down, just about everywhere....

 

See my other thread about Briatore.

I don't know/ think it's up to a driver to build a team. He/ they are definitely a VERY important part of it of course but I think every team has to have a charismatic leader that will take the entire team to a higher level.

I am not sure that MS deserves the credit of building the entire F team. To be honest, I think those credits go to Montezemolo + Todt but yes, attracting a driver that IS probably one of the best ever DOES lift the team's morale of course and once on a roll...