Not that it matters, and we all are entitled to our own opinions. But I can't understand how Schumacher isn't number 1 on everyones all time greatest Ferrari drivers. Brings wins, including one at Monza in his debut season with Ferrari (1996) Takes the WDC fight to the last race in 1997 despite the Williams-Renault being far superior. An incredible season long battle with Hakkinen in 98 which included one of his all time great drives (Hungary 98) Breaks his leg in 99, but comes back and is instantly back on the pace, helping the team to the WCC. In 2000, gets Ferrari's first Drivers championship since 1979 Dominates 2001 and 2002. Especially 02 where he was on the podium every single race Despite a rule change to stop Ferrari/Schumacher, he wins in a very challenging season (2003) Dominates 2004 for his 5th title with Ferrari alone! Nearly wins another WDC in 2006, which was a huge boost to all Tifosi after a frustrating 2005. No other driver has success like that with Ferrari. Like what more does he have to do?
Personally , although I don't deny Michael Schumacher's achievement, I never appreciated his unsavoury track tactics, so I don't rate him very highly. The same goes for Ayrton Senna: both dirty drivers.
Charisma. Magic, talent, balls, whatever, Gilles posessed all, he was probably the most talented driver in f.1 history....no Ferrari driver was ever as loved snd adulated as him, and none will ever be.
I figured that would come up. As a Ferrari driver he does have Jerez 97 and Monaco 06 on his record, I don't recall any other questionable tactics. It interests me that a couple of blemishes can be enough to dismiss all the achievements and joyful moments. As coverage of F1 has increased dramatically over the years, drivers are more susceptible to personal opinion based on actions on and off the track. This can be good or bad. Because there simply isn't any video record of it, we have no idea how a lot of these drivers from previous eras were as people under the helmet, or even as a driver. I don't think we can conclude someone was the perfect role model based on how they act as an 80 year old man at the Goodwood FOS for example. But it is a valid point about how they raced. Though another thing that interests me is how examples of dirty driving resulting in no harm are considered far worse than just bad driving resulting in major accidents.
Well, I gave my opinion about what I saw, nothing else. Re Schumacher, don't forget Adelaide 1994. Schumacher had many "unsporting moments" during his career, some reported, some not; good for you if you can ignore them. Senna was worse; he deliberatelly rammed cars to make a point, and confessed about it later. For me, it only takes ONE single incident for an individual to discredit himself absolutely in my eyes. Senna and Schumacher were 2 dirty drivers for me. Period.
That's fair. Im not trying to change your mind, I just find it interesting. I didn't include Adelaide because he was with Bennetton. If we are excluding his successes outside of Ferrari, then we should exclude the mistakes too.
