Michael Schumacher

[Kazi]

Watched the press conference this afternoon where he announced his retirement frm F1 after this championship.

I personally think he's still got it and its going to be a shame to not watch him race again. Id imagine that its going to be some time before anybody, if anybody can match or beat his success.

Whats everyone elses views?

[Anees]

Greatest driver ever IMO!

I also think he is still fast enough to race anyone in F1 (inc Alonso or Kimi) and to be honest I think he should have stayed for one more year, simply because I think the new single tyre manufacturer rules for next year will heavily favour Ferrari and Schumacher with their years of experience with Bridgestone.

Anyway...

He has had his dark moments, but that make him more "human" in my eyes since he is not perfect.

Apparently he will be staying on with Ferrari in some capacity.

Good Luck to him! :D

Formula one is going to be boring without him! I'd love him to be a commentator on ITV for a bit! Just imagine him and Brundle arguing!

[Kazi]

Greatest driver ever IMO!

I also think he is still fast enough to race anyone in F1 (inc Alonso or Kimi) and to be honest I think he should have stayed for one more year, simply because I think the new single tyre manufacturer rules for next year will heavily favour Ferrari and Schumacher with their years of experience with Bridgestone.

Anyway...

He has had his dark moments, but that make him more "human" in my eyes since he is not perfect.

Apparently he will be staying on with Ferrari in some capacity.

Good Luck to him! :D

Formula one is going to be boring without him! I'd love him to be a commentator on ITV for a bit! Just imagine him and Brundle arguing!

Yep, going to be difficult for anyone at Ferrari to even try and fill Shu's boots! Would agree that he is the best driver in the world.

Like you say, highs and lows...but he still continued to out class everyone. I thought he'd probably do one more year, be great if he took the championship! Only 2 points behind now :D

[Fidgits]

good riddance...

he might be a good driver, but in his position he should be an ambassador for the sport, instead he's an embaressment

[Mr Flibble]

Sorry but i can't stand the guy I'm glad to see him go (I gave up watching F1 because of him winning all the time), I don't watch allot of F1 any longer but what ever happend to supporting our British drivers like Jenson Button?.

I live 2 miles from a town that is proud of it's motoring heritage which is BRM (British Racing Motors) it was established in 1947 we have a memorial in town LINK HERE.

We used to have a perkins engine factory untill it went up in flames a few years ago. You've probably heard of Pilbeam Motor Racing? (you can see how it all links together here). I've been lucky enough to meet Mr Pilbeam as his wife works in the same College as me, they now build F3 cars with Lotus engines in them.

Don't know if you guys have ever been in a garage where they build F3 cars but the place has completely white walls and floors and every car is parked perfectly within the red lines etc. If you sneezed near the car or got a spec of dust on the car, floor, wall they'd go mad at you.

I was fixing a PC they were using for CAD to design the shape of cars on and i've never seen so many huge screens with a framework of a car slapped across them all, it was quite amazing seeing these guys sitting there taking a few mm off here adding a few there etc.

[Kazi]

He has made mistakes, but I think hes been great for the sport, an inspiration for others to aspire to. I enjoy watching him drive because of his sheer talent, he's ruthless out there nobody can knock his ability. By far the best F1 driver im ever likely to see.

Nobody supports Button because hes a complet w :tsktsk: r! Money grabbing turn coat. Other than that he's just rubbish. I don't think he'll ever do anything special.

[Anees]

Nobody supports Button because hes a complet w :tsktsk: r! Money grabbing turn coat. Other than that he's just rubbish. I don't think he'll ever do anything special.

.....and he never gets his mug off his persoanl PR channel - ITV F1!!

[Parthiban]

I've never liked Schumacher, but I'm quite sad that he's leaving too - I don't think F1 will be the same without him (not for a while anyway)

Don't agree about not being able to fill his shoes though, Kimi is an amazing driver, and if Ferrari gives him a car like Schu had in the 2000-05 period, Kimi can do exactly what Michael did :winky:

I don't get all the fuss about Button either - yes his car's not great, but he's only average. If anyone'e been watching GP2 this season, the Brit we need to look out for is Lewis Hamilton, cos he really is very good. If anyone saw the race in Turkey, they'll know what I'm talking about

[Bobski]

Couldn't stand Schumacher and never have.

I'd love to have seen Schumacher against Mansell.

[Scarlet Pimpernell]

good riddance...

he might be a good driver, but in his position he should be an ambassador for the sport, instead he's an embaressment

I sort of agree - but then Prost and senna all had their darker sides too. In the statement he did say he would not be driving in F1...

Having said that he is still quick, and I remember reading something years ago that suggested he was still tied to Mercedes Benz and would have to drive for them before retiring. There was lots of talk that he had a seat at McLaren, but I suppose he could have bought that contract out...

Maybe we'll see him in Le Mans trying to beat the Diesel Audi's...

Or maybe CART, 'cos I cannot believe he'll just walk away.

[Mr Flibble]

He has made mistakes, but I think hes been great for the sport, an inspiration for others to aspire to. I enjoy watching him drive because of his sheer talent, he's ruthless out there nobody can knock his ability. By far the best F1 driver im ever likely to see.

Nobody supports Button because hes a complet w :tsktsk: r! Money grabbing turn coat. Other than that he's just rubbish. I don't think he'll ever do anything special.

Didn't know Button was like that as I hardly watch F1 anymore, I just think we should be supporting our own British drivers rather than a foreigner even if they are good drivers etc. Button just happend to be the first one i could think of off the top of my head.

Couldn't stand Schumacher and never have.

I'd love to have seen Schumacher against Mansell.

Think Mansell might of won, but I'm biased.

Does anyone watch Rally driving atall?

[Red_Panda]

good riddance...

he might be a good driver, but in his position he should be an ambassador for the sport, instead he's an embaressment

I am a Schumi fan and always have been. I cannot agree with this statement because Schumacher did more than any other world champion has. Senna and Prost had their battles, on and off the track - I still remember Senna decking Irvine...but then the Moron did deserve a bashing. Schumacher was disqualified in 1997 - you don't see him whining about it unlike Senna with his contract bull all the time.

What other driver has stayed with a team for 11 years and turned the team's fortunes around? Let's see Villeneuve with BAR - ummm NO. Or Hill with Arrows...ummmm NO AGAIN!!!

He arranges charity football matches and does alot of work outside F1. He even gave a tonne ($10 Million) of his own money to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. In fact, his donation surpassed that of any other sportsperson, most sports leagues, many worldwide corporations and even some countries. Schumacher is a special ambassador to UNESCO and has donated US$3 million to the organization. He has funded projects for the construction of a school in Senegal, a clinic in Sarajevo and a centre for street children in Peru. He has even taken the rare step of visiting Sarajevo to see how his funding has benefited child victims of war. For his contribution, he was named a UNESCO Champion For Sport by its Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura in 2002.

What has Jacques (the A S S) done for the sport? Was he actually missed during his 'off-year'? Or Hill for that matter - opening a BMW dealership and doing some useless tv crap hardly qualifies as beneficial to the sport? Schumacher actually attends FIA meetings and helps raise safety standards - he has become a committed spokesman for road safety, most recently in support of the Make Roads Safe campaign. Compare this to Alonso - who says he is contracted to Renault and he does his press conferences and media obligations and that is enough...

Michael Schumacher has won the coveted Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award in 2002 and 2004, for his outstanding performance in the 2001 and 2003 seasons respectively. He joins a select group of sports personalities to win the award - golfer Tiger Woods, cyclist Lance Armstrong and tennis player Roger Federer. In its 7-year history, no other sportsman has been nominated more times than Schumacher, who also received nominations for the 2001, 2003 and 2005 awards.

There is more as well but this is not meant to be a thesis on the man.

I do not want to step on anyone's toes or get into an argument, but do your research first please. What more do you want him to do with his other responsibilities?

[star a]

hear hear, how some people can say they hate the most succesful f1 driver of all time who holds more records than anyone ever has is a little strange, perhaps it's jealousy.

[Mr Singh]

good riddance...

he might be a good driver, but in his position he should be an ambassador for the sport, instead he's an embaressment

I am a Schumi fan and always have been. I cannot agree with this statement because Schumacher did more than any other world champion has. Senna and Prost had their battles, on and off the track - I still remember Senna decking Irvine...but then the Moron did deserve a bashing. Schumacher was disqualified in 1997 - you don't see him whining about it unlike Senna with his contract bull all the time.

What other driver has stayed with a team for 11 years and turned the team's fortunes around? Let's see Villeneuve with BAR - ummm NO. Or Hill with Arrows...ummmm NO AGAIN!!!

He arranges charity football matches and does alot of work outside F1. He even gave a tonne ($10 Million) of his own money to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. In fact, his donation surpassed that of any other sportsperson, most sports leagues, many worldwide corporations and even some countries. Schumacher is a special ambassador to UNESCO and has donated US$3 million to the organization. He has funded projects for the construction of a school in Senegal, a clinic in Sarajevo and a centre for street children in Peru. He has even taken the rare step of visiting Sarajevo to see how his funding has benefited child victims of war. For his contribution, he was named a UNESCO Champion For Sport by its Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura in 2002.

What has Jacques (the A S S) done for the sport? Was he actually missed during his 'off-year'? Or Hill for that matter - opening a BMW dealership and doing some useless tv crap hardly qualifies as beneficial to the sport? Schumacher actually attends FIA meetings and helps raise safety standards - he has become a committed spokesman for road safety, most recently in support of the Make Roads Safe campaign. Compare this to Alonso - who says he is contracted to Renault and he does his press conferences and media obligations and that is enough...

Michael Schumacher has won the coveted Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award in 2002 and 2004, for his outstanding performance in the 2001 and 2003 seasons respectively. He joins a select group of sports personalities to win the award - golfer Tiger Woods, cyclist Lance Armstrong and tennis player Roger Federer. In its 7-year history, no other sportsman has been nominated more times than Schumacher, who also received nominations for the 2001, 2003 and 2005 awards.

There is more as well but this is not meant to be a thesis on the man.

I do not want to step on anyone's toes or get into an argument, but do your research first please. What more do you want him to do with his other responsibilities?

Very well said.

I am also a Huge fan of Schumacher, and am devastated he is retiring... Real loss to the sport imo. But I think he made the right choice to announce it on a high..

[P4UL T]

I must agree, Schu was the best racing driver of recent times and as good as others in the past. He just continues to pull it out of the bag, even when the odds are stacked against him. Will be a shame not to see him racing in F1.

BUT

I still dont forgive him for turning in to Damon Hill and putting him out of the championship in the last and deciding race of the season in Australia many years ago. Cheating scum!!!!

[Fidgits]

hear hear, how some people can say they hate the most succesful f1 driver of all time who holds more records than anyone ever has is a little strange, perhaps it's jealousy.

Nothing to do with jealousy (what a weird thing for you to say) - its simple that they way the man presented himself around F1 was not that of an ambassador for the sport...

Regardless of what he did outside of the sport - talking about charity, hell, Bill Gates has done more charitable work, given more money away than anyone else on the planet - and yet people hate him..

But the fact is, within the sport - he would win at any cost - im not saying he wasnt a good driver, but i for one, will be glad to see him out of the sport - he wasnt a sportsman.

[chips229]

Hi,

Its the end of an era.

I was never a F1 fan,but a friend of mine said just sit here and watch one race.

So i did,weather you like Schumacher or not he was the guy who got me watching F1.

Before all the traction control stuff was when i started watch,at the end of 97.Up to now i havent missed one race.

The guy is head and shoulders above the rest of them.Yep hes made mistakes over the years,but hes human.

Mika hakkinen was good,but no where near Schumacher in the wet.

Im sorry to see the guy go,he did give the sport something to talk about.

Look at the Facts,they speak for them self.....

Formula One records

Schumacher celebrates his win at the 2006 USGPAs of the 2006 Italian Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher holds the following F1 records:

Career Records:

Most race wins: 90 (previous record beaten in 2001)

Most race wins with one team: 71

Most podium finishes: 153

Most second place finishes: 43

Most points finishes: 188

Most pole positions: 68

Most fastest laps: 75

Most race wins from pole position: 40

Most "clean-sweeps" (pole position, race win, and fastest lap): 22

Most championship points: 1,354

The one major record Schumacher is set to miss out on is the record for most Grands Prix competed in. His final race will be his 250th so he will finish 6 short of Riccardo Patrese's record of 256.

2006:

Only racing driver ever, in any racing class, to win 5 times at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Only driver in history to win the same Grand Prix 8 times at (French Grand Prix at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours)

Only driver to lead over 5,000 laps.(Achieved at 2006 German Grand Prix)

Most time between first and last race wins: 13 years, 11 months, and 3 days

2004:

Most championship titles: 7 (previous record beaten in 2003)

Most consecutive championship titles: 5

Most race wins in a season: 13 (in 18 races) (previous record tied in 1995, 2000, and 2001 and beaten in 2002)

Most consecutive race wins: 7 (2004 European GP, Canadian GP, United States GP, French GP, British GP, German GP, Hungarian GP)

Most fastest laps in a season: 10 (in 18 races)

Most championship points in a season: 148 (out of a maximum of 180)

Most consecutive race finished without retirement 24 (Alonso broke series of 22 at Hungaroring 2006)

2002:

Most podium finishes in a season: 17 (in 17 races)

Taken from..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Schumacher

The guy is a living Legend B)

Respect.

Im glad i watched it all Live as it happened,because i dont think you will see another like him in our life time ;)

Chips.

[Kazi]

good riddance...

he might be a good driver, but in his position he should be an ambassador for the sport, instead he's an embaressment

I am a Schumi fan and always have been. I cannot agree with this statement because Schumacher did more than any other world champion has. Senna and Prost had their battles, on and off the track - I still remember Senna decking Irvine...but then the Moron did deserve a bashing. Schumacher was disqualified in 1997 - you don't see him whining about it unlike Senna with his contract bull all the time.

What other driver has stayed with a team for 11 years and turned the team's fortunes around? Let's see Villeneuve with BAR - ummm NO. Or Hill with Arrows...ummmm NO AGAIN!!!

He arranges charity football matches and does alot of work outside F1. He even gave a tonne ($10 Million) of his own money to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. In fact, his donation surpassed that of any other sportsperson, most sports leagues, many worldwide corporations and even some countries. Schumacher is a special ambassador to UNESCO and has donated US$3 million to the organization. He has funded projects for the construction of a school in Senegal, a clinic in Sarajevo and a centre for street children in Peru. He has even taken the rare step of visiting Sarajevo to see how his funding has benefited child victims of war. For his contribution, he was named a UNESCO Champion For Sport by its Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura in 2002.

What has Jacques (the A S S) done for the sport? Was he actually missed during his 'off-year'? Or Hill for that matter - opening a BMW dealership and doing some useless tv crap hardly qualifies as beneficial to the sport? Schumacher actually attends FIA meetings and helps raise safety standards - he has become a committed spokesman for road safety, most recently in support of the Make Roads Safe campaign. Compare this to Alonso - who says he is contracted to Renault and he does his press conferences and media obligations and that is enough...

Michael Schumacher has won the coveted Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award in 2002 and 2004, for his outstanding performance in the 2001 and 2003 seasons respectively. He joins a select group of sports personalities to win the award - golfer Tiger Woods, cyclist Lance Armstrong and tennis player Roger Federer. In its 7-year history, no other sportsman has been nominated more times than Schumacher, who also received nominations for the 2001, 2003 and 2005 awards.

There is more as well but this is not meant to be a thesis on the man.

I do not want to step on anyone's toes or get into an argument, but do your research first please. What more do you want him to do with his other responsibilities?

Very well said.

I am also a Huge fan of Schumacher, and am devastated he is retiring... Real loss to the sport imo. But I think he made the right choice to announce it on a high..

Second that!

[Mr Flibble]

Nearly every single time i heard the F1 results he had won (like i didn't see that one coming each time the results appeared on the TV!) that's why i got so so bored with F1 in the first place it was getting so predictable.

I think he was just too good which made the sport all so boring for me, I prefer a bit more competition. Maybe F1 will become allot more interesting now as others will be battling it out a bit more rather than seeing the same old red car going round the track all by itself. Didn't you guys ever get bored with that? maybe I'm just not an F1 person? I dunno. I find the World Rally's allot more interesting.

Who do you think will be up for winning now?

[Kazi]

Nearly every single time i heard the F1 results he had won (like i didn't see that one coming each time the results appeared on the TV!) that's why i got so so bored with F1 in the first place it was getting so predictable.

I think he was just too good which made the sport all so boring for me, I prefer a bit more competition. Maybe F1 will become allot more interesting now as others will be battling it out a bit more rather than seeing the same old red car going round the track all by itself. Didn't you guys ever get bored with that? maybe I'm just not an F1 person? I dunno. I find the World Rally's allot more interesting.

Who do you think will be up for winning now?

I understand where your coming from, and the fact that he was winning alot of races I see why it could be boring. I think the reason why i didnt get bored of watching him, was his sheer determination and ability to drive an F1 car.

The cars success was down to Shu's excellent communication with Ferrari. The car was built round him and in all honestly I think that he'd still have had great success with other teams. Maybe not as much, but certainly would have done well regardless.

[chips229]

Hi,

I watched Schumacher take the championship down to the wire in 97 and 98 driving not the best car on the grid only to lose.Im sure in 99 he would have won the championship if he had not broken his leg,when he did return before the end of the season in 99 he showed what he could do against his team mate,who had great chance of becoming world champion but didnt come up with the goods.

Schumacher never gave up like whats said above with his determination.

He even won a GP at Silverstone afew years back if i remember rightly in the pitlane :D

Again i dont think you will see another driver out perform him in our lifetime,that all im going to say on the matter love him or hate him.

Chips.

[Parthiban]

I have great respect for Schumacher despite not being a fan as he is a great driver - but F1 is a lot to do with the car advantage. In 1998 and 1999 when Hakkinen won the championships, there was a distinct car advantage to McLaren. It was only a close fight because McLaren have such poor reliability. Also if they had maintained the car's competitiveness, Hakkinen would've have continued to win, and he wouldn't have retired either - so things could have been very different.

This continues even to now, in 2003 Raikkonen should've won the championship - but lost it again purely down to reliability. Can't remember which race it was but there was one where he qualified on pole, was way in the lead for the majority of the race until his car failed. Had he continued on for the win, the championship would've been his.

Again in 2005, McLaren had a ridiculous car advantage all the way through the season - a car that was at least half to one second a lap faster than anything else, pretty much everywhere. But again reliability was the issue - if you look back he won almost every race that he managed to finish!

So while I don't want to take anything away from Schumacher's achievements - a lot of it was down to being in the right place at the right time (for the later titles, the Benetton titles were purely down to his brilliance).

To be completely honest, its actually this season that has impressed me most - much more level playing field with Ferrari and Renault, and he's managing to come out on top, even being so much older. As a result, for the first time in my life I've been supporting Schumacher - and I will be up until the end of the season :D

[lexus boy]

schumacher is the best driver on paper ever.

The fact that he isn't a PR man shows he is there to drive, and all the little things that he does that get cblown out of proportion were the things 20 years ago everyone was doing.

As for being an embassador to the sport why? He is there to drive...that is what he does, and gets results. Therefore he is doing his job the best.

[puresilk]

I dont know why people slate SCHUMI!

Its probably got something to do with jealousy!

And how can someone say its boring cos he wins all the time, surely he should be respected as a supreme individual if hes winning all the time, and is that his fault the rest of the field are not up to his standard!

Why do people seem to love moaning when there is a certain individual in his feild dominating, does that mean were sore losers!

Yes he is very competitive and has a dark side to him but dont we all at some point!

He has broken records left right and centre, Revived Ferrari and is the best driver ever!

So show the man some respect!

[winnie]

Does he win all the time!!!!......No.

He is the best driver of his time,but i would of loved to have seen him up against Senna/Prost,we would of had he not died in tragic circumstances for a few races at least.if hes such a ambassador for the sport why doesn't he drive for MF1 for a season for free....like Senna did?

Is he good or is it the car or the backing of Ferrari....we will never really know.

The only reason he has a chance this season to retire with the No 1 position is because of Ferraris interpretation of the rules that have banned Renault form using the dampening on the front end of the car(which they used part of last season) if Kimi was given had the same reliability as Shumi in the Mclaren he would be in front this season IMHO. :D

When he went into the back of Coulthard in the pouring rain,he blamed D.C for lifting when telemetry showed he didn't and he went storming up the pit lane to have it out with D.C but thought otherwise when he learnt D.C was a black belt in a Martial art :D

Good luck in your retirement Schumi....but there will always be someone else to fill the limelight.

Lewis Hamilton is a good driver but i think if he does go F1 next season its a season to soon he should be a test driver for a season first IMHO :D :D