At Brazil on November 25th, Michael Schumacher will hang it up for good this time, at least in F1. It's time to think about what he brought to the sport. 7 world drivers championships while joining a hallowed but losing team at the peak of your career --and putting them back to the top year after year. 91 wins. 68 poles. 155 podiums. You could have taken the easy way. Instead, you chose to do something truly great with your abilities and enthusiasm. Not bad. Not bad at all. Schue: enjoy that cattle ranch in Texas. You earned it.
He has 155 Podiums and 68 Poles. Miss him driving for Ferrari, but its probably time for him to hang it up and enjoy his life.
Well stated, even his comeback IMHO was not too bad, compared too what he did next to his vaunted and much younger teammate.
I am disappointed he didn't have a better team, because I don't think his skills diminished to the point that he couldn't win the WDC if he had a top 2-3 car. Michael Jordan didn't fare so well on his return either. If he does anything else, I'd like to see him in a Le Mans prototype going for the overall, something he's never won. Overall, I doubt he regrets it. The thrill of racing a F1 car is known to an extremely small fraternity of mankind. I can imagine how you would miss it.
Competitors cut from the cloth that Michael originates from don't just retire and start gardening. But hopefully he will stay away from motorcycles.
I'm sad to see him go, but I certainly wish him the best and hope he truly enjoys whatever he does next. Merc never gave him or Rosberg a car that could really challenge the front runners. It was nice to see him race again. Hats off to the best ever. Mark
We've already seen the Schumi haters starting to second guess his years of success now. Fact is, Michael was the key in reviving Ferrari from the dead and had some very tough competition. As for saying he had the best car, after several years of his input and unlimited testing, they did, but Vettel clearly has the best car now. I think things would be different if there wasn't an engine freeze (which I hate). Mercedes builds some of the best engines and Red Bull has the best chassis. But only one is frozen year after year...
really wish that pole in monaco this year would have counted towards his career totals. i doubt there will ever be another schumacher. watching him dominate the others with ferrari was truly a great time.
If Vettel wins this year, he's going to have a head start on MSC's achievements. I feel sorry for MSC....I wonder if he feels he had a lot of fun, but it was a complete waste of time full of empty promises.
I think it's great he came back. Gave younger fans a chance to see him, albeilt in a crap car. Amazing to see someone at that age being so fit and racing with guys 20 years his junior. Just a thought, i did not workout for about almost 2 weeks now, due to hectic schedule and Diwali celebrations. I had a game of football yesterday and was so breathless. Amazing how he could still go on. And all i did was skip 2 weeks workout.
Not completely true. Yes the car has to be pretty damn good, but still the driver does make a difference. Why otherwise did Barrichello never won a WDC? He was in the same car. Or why is Vettel beating Webber so consistently?
The 1997 and 1998 seasons where MS came extremely close to the WDC in cars far slower than his championship rivals beg to differ. Granted, he didn't win either year, but came very close and he could have easily won had things turned out a little differently. But yes, we've now learned that having an Adrian Newey is more important these days than a Schumacher or Senna.
Beg to differ. For sure, the car is a huge part of the package - Always has been, always will be. This is *motor* sport after all. However, the great drivers can simply get more from any car than the others. Fred's got way more out of Clifford than he deserves. Michael, Gilles & Ayrton invariably beat their team mates. Jimmy is *maybe* the only modernish exception - He could win with a wheel barrow, but remains the exception that proves the rule. Adrian's done very, very well. But the others are also closer than they've ever been. A "decent" car + a stud driver will generally beat a stellar car + an OK driver. Cheers, Ian
Problem is, you usually end up with a stud driving a stellar car. Anyone on the grid could have won the WDC in the RB7 for example. I'd take a guy like Webber driving a car like the RB7 or RB6 over a guy like Hamilton driving the MP4-25.
+1 The cream will always rise eventually. The greats know they're great and will jump ship in a heartbeat if they think they'll get a superior ride. Michael + Ferrari is the only exception I can think of and for that alone he's at (or close to) the top of most lists. (FWIW ) I'd say maybe half the grid. You've still got firstly beat your teammate, and roughly half the grid (!) fail to do that consistently. Cheers, ian
Didn't we discuss this the 1st time he retired? It was great when I heard he was coming back to the sport but he did it with the wrong team. Had he been in Buttons seat or Webbers or Massa's or even the Reno he would of made a bigger impact... now we are just left with what ifs Brawn was struggling near the end of the season it was a sign of things to come, Button made the right decision to move. When Lewis does nothing next year, maybe the Schumie haters will finally be silenced.
