f1anatic Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 THE BEST DRIVER IN THE GALAXY http://www.auto.co.yu/img/download/MichaelSchumacher.jpg ...and thank you for the memories ! your devoted fan for 15 years ! f1anatic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 +1 Saw him win Silverstone in '98 in the rain - something I'll never forget. Seek first to understand, then to be understood. In other words: SEARCH before you post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesuby Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 How about the 1996 Spanish Grand Prix? Maybe the best rain race ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f1anatic Posted September 10, 2006 Author Share Posted September 10, 2006 Dude...too bad Michael did not get to race Spa this year...What about 1997 Spa ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KartRacerBoy Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 Schumacher had one modern equal, or superior (debatable) and that was Senna. That said, Schumacher had most or all of the physical talent of Senna and Prost but to remain as focused as he did for so long was amazing. Both Senna and Prost, to a lesser extent, tailed off in their focus in the latter years; neither was willing to devote himself to testing in the offseason and during the season as Michael did. To be so driven and at the top of his game for so long is wonderous. No wonder he wants to retire (or does he? forced out by the Ferrari/Fiat brass as speculated on SpeedTV?) I am very disappointed he didn't stay to go head to head with Kimi Raikkonen. I think he would have spanked the Finn. Staying alive for his wife and kids and not pushing himself in his golden years is smart, I guess, but the cars and tracks are so much safer. He'll be missed. And Ferrari will likely be revealed to be good but not great; Michael gave them a half second of lower lap time compared to every teammate. Kimi, I think, won't be able to do this race in, race out (remember Montoya spanking Kimi in the 2nd half of last year?). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f1anatic Posted September 10, 2006 Author Share Posted September 10, 2006 No wonder he wants to retire (or does he? forced out by the Ferrari/Fiat brass as speculated on SpeedTV?) Staying alive for his wife and kids and not pushing himself in his golden years is smart, I guess, but the cars and tracks are so much safer. I very much doubt # 1. Ferrari wanted him to stay. Michale is a cow that the owners wanted to milk for as long as possible. And if Schumi wanted elsewhere...he would have been in a McLaren, BMW or Renault in like no time at all. I think he wanted out and wasn't sure...but if there was any pressure...it was his wife/kids. I am not saying he was getting old and making mistakes...but I am saying that the intense pressure of winning is starting to show. We cannot be selfish to have him race...but he is the best and he'd still be a force in F1 had he stayed for another 10 years. Michael said he is retiring from motorsports. That will last precisely 2 years after that he will be back at le Mans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KartRacerBoy Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 Yes, Ferrari/FIAT would be fools to force him out, but maybe it wasn't that they wanted Michael out but that they wanted Kimi (now confirmed for Ferrari in 2007) to make sure they were competitive after Michael left, and the Big Schu didn't want to fight that hard in his own team this late in his career even if he thought he would win. Has he made more mistakes this year than in the past? I'm not sure, but I always thought Michael was best when out front. But if he was under pressure, either being pushed from behind in a race or in a pressure cooker situation late in a championship battle, that is when he made mistakes. Of late, we haven't seen that as much since early in this decade he's been so far ahead in the championhips, walking it, that he never felt real pressure, so no mistakes. We'll see how this season ends... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest *Jedimaster* Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 THE BEST DRIVER IN THE GALAXY http://www.auto.co.yu/img/download/MichaelSchumacher.jpg ...and thank you for the memories ! your devoted fan for 15 years ! f1anatic Did he die or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KartRacerBoy Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 ^Oh, go back to your Star Wars collection, Obi Wan. He said he was retiring today at the end of the season, as you no doubt know. f1antic s Michael and would no doubt have his child if asked, physically possible or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KartRacerBoy Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 Ok, I figured out in the shower why Michael shouldn't retire at the end of this year. Alonso is leaving Renault to go to McLaren. Kimi will team with Massa (ha!) at Ferrari. And Renault is left with Fisichella (ha, ha!) and Heikki Kovaleinen. McLaren is on a downward trend and with Adrian Newey gone, I don't think they'll get appreciably better in 2007. May win a race or two with Alonso but won't be championship contenders. Renault rehiring Fisichella is a laughable decision, "continuity" or not. Heikki might win a race or so but won't battle for the championship. Honda is somewhat lower than McLaren on the competitive scale, but Red Bull with Adrian Newey may get a good car that can be in front on occasion. But the team doesn't yet have the infrastucture in place to battle for a championship. Ferrari. If Michael had decided to stay and battle it out with Kimi Raikkonen, they might have it had it pretty much their own way for the championship given the state of the other top teams, especially since they will have had a relationship with the 2007 exclusive tire supplier Bridgestone for the past umpteen years. Michael would then not have had to worry about splitting points with Kimi and handing the championship to another team and driver. If he was going to have a co-#1 teammate, 2007 was the year to do it and still have a chance at the title. Michael, don't wuss out on us. Give us what we've been waiting for since 1994. A decent teammate that can push you. You'd still come out on top; Kimi might get the odd win, but my bet is you'd pull it off. Oh sure, you might have to take him out in the last race of the season to win it if I'm wrong about Kimi, but you're 50-50 on those moves, so I'd say it's worth the risk. And you obviously have no moral hinderance to knocking people off the track. Go for it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperhawkLGT Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 Ok, I figured out in the shower Just stop right there . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KartRacerBoy Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 Just stop right there . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilT Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 THE BEST DRIVER IN THE GALAXY ...and thank you for the memories ! your devoted fan for 15 years ! f1anatic How can we be sure ? Maybe there is a driver on another planet better ? Double Award Winning Legacy GT Wagon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f1anatic Posted September 10, 2006 Author Share Posted September 10, 2006 How can we be sure ? Maybe there is a driver on another planet better ? Nope...not in our Glaaxy...maybe in the Universe...but not on an F1 track. I just learnt Michael will be staying with Ferrari. http://www.f1racing.net/en/news.php?newsID=129621 LUCA MONTEZEMOLO - FIAT Chairman His relationship with Maranello will continue, albeit in a different form and I am very happy about that MICHAEL SCHUMACHER Soon my future will belong to my family, while I am happy to be still part of Ferrari. A management role - no doubt; in charge of the Racing Division or even of F1 itself. I do not see Michael going away and hiding deep in his Swiss Castle. On the other hadn it is easy to see why he is retiring. he has nothing to prove and just as Kart Boy explained, he did not want to fight his team mate. I am sure the years at the top have made him extremely tired....look at how many others retired younger than him and insignificantly successful compared to Michael. And F1 is no longer fun for Michael. It is no longer fun for me either. He belongs to a time when cars were cars, the engines had 800-900 bhp and the circuits were circuits...Not wimpy V8s with 600 bhp and common ECU and no engine developments for 2007 and qualifying formats that change twice a year and great circuits that do not make the calendar like Spa. Too bad Michael didn't have a chance to race at Spa in recent years... I always thought Michael will retire at the end of 2007 (before the major revamp of F1 in 2008) but it looks like he got the better of us. Godspeed Schumi ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGT Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 Did he die or something? that's what I thought too..... Boo for misleading thread title Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fweasel Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 Michael said he is retiring from motorsports. That will last precisely 2 years after that he will be back at le Mans. That would be fun. ignore him, he'll go away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bosco Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 THE BEST DRIVER IN THE GALAXY http://www.auto.co.yu/img/download/MichaelSchumacher.jpg ...and thank you for the memories ! your devoted fan for 15 years ! f1anatic you made it sound like he's dead yes, he was the man in F1. greatest ever? debatable. top five ever? definitely. bosco Stay Stock Stay Happy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHLEG Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 Did he die or something? To ten's of millions of F1 fans, this was almost as bad. When he made his announcement on SPEED this morning after the race, I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced (thanks Obi Wan ). Although I'm a BIG Alonso fan, I'm glad that Michael won today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperhawkLGT Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 World Rally FTW? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 F1 drivers can't cut it in World Rally. Mikka Hakkinen tried it. He had a hard time dealing with someone talking all the time. So the only way to know how good he is, is to put him on the Top Gear test track and break out the Suzuki again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fweasel Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 F1 drivers can't cut it in World Rally. Mikka Hakkinen tried it. He had a hard time dealing with someone talking all the time. . Wrong. That wasn't it. When he was driving for McLaren his bag of a wife was constantly yapping in his ear. Don't you remember when she drove him to tears behind the bushes at Monza? ignore him, he'll go away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperhawkLGT Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 . So the only way to know how good he is, is to put him on the Top Gear test track and break out the Suzuki again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBY Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 I've heard he could be the Stig sometime in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f1anatic Posted September 11, 2006 Author Share Posted September 11, 2006 http://www.formula1.com/race/news/4937/765.html He decided to retire at Indianapolis. Apparently there is one other reason that he did not speak on. He knew of kimmi joining...and decided to let Massa have a chance instead of him lurking around. Ultimately I believe he ran out of energy and motivation which I cannot blame. As their careers were winding down - as someone else mentioned - Prost, Senna, Mansell, did not do that much testing and came strictly to the races. Michael kept testing even in the week before Monza, knwoing he will announce his retirement. One thing is for sure. Michael himself said he will stay with Ferrari Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Michael, do you have an idea what you are going to do with your life? MS: I said before, no,.part of it will be to keep a relationship with Ferrari and we will talk about that before the end of the year but now the focus is on the last three races so now will look after that. Q: (Juha Paatalo – Financial Times Deutschland) Michael, can you imagine your life without Formula One? MS: I don’t need to do that right now. We shall see afterwards. It is difficult to answer that now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KartRacerBoy Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 I wonder how much of Senna's and Prost's decrease in motivation and testing late in their careers was due to their hateful battles with one another. Senna HATED Prost who HATED Senna. That sort of tension has to be even more draining on top of the alread hard edge spirit of F1. The Big Schu never had to face this in a teammate or with another driver. Michael also had it relatively easy over his career compared to Senna and Prost. They battled each nearly their entire careers. They also had drivers like Lauda, Piquet, Mansell to fight with. But imagine the wins either could've had if the other wasn't in F1. Imagine Prost at McLaren from 1984 until 1991, at the height of McLaren's power. Or Senna. Michael's finally getting competition in the form of Alonso and Raikkonen but he's retiring. I don't think his statistics would be nearly as impressive if he had top drivers competing with him during his long career. He'd be just as good, but he wouldn't have the overwelming stats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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