Michael Schumacher

The Vettel thread surprised me as such that when I searched for a Schumacher thread, I could not find one. So I propose this thread for Schumacher because regardless of your opinion whether his return is succesful or not, I think we can all agree that there's always something to talk about whether he's had a good or bad race.
Historical Discussion may be allowed on the thread as long as it's on topic.
Enjoy! :)
 
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I get a feeling this is going to be a thread with loads of contrasting opinions and theories, anyway I think he is an exceptionally good driver who is capable of uniting the team behind him in one cause, however he will be tarnished for several on track incidents which will cast a black mark over his championships, principally 1994 with that incident with Hill. However you could argue that the same could be said of Senna in Japan in 1990 when he crashed into Prost at turn 1. It's a shame to see him struggle as of late and despite not being a fan of his, (particularly in his first career) it was great to see him fighting the Mclarens and Red Bulls in Canada.
 
As a old fan of the old man Schumacher, I for one had mixed feelings about his return, I thought it would be great to see him in action, but then I knew he would struggle due to being out for several years. I don't think his comeback has been a success, but I certainly have seen him win over many new fans...whether that's a success or not I do not know.

He is one hell of a driver, I rank him as one of the best, I cannot say who the best is, as it's comparing apple with oranges, and pineapples with mangos, yah get me? :)
 
91 wins. That means his lead over Prost in Grand Prix wins is more than anyone bar Prost and Senna won total!

There are several incidents which don't make him look good, but I think that can be said of anyone. We know the three.

And he took a few wins he didn't deserve, Indy 2005 being the most obvious example.

The thing that really impresses about Schumacher is that you can find all of these things and knock Grand Prix off left, right and centre, and you'd probably still find him winning more races than everyone.

In the second best car he was a winner. In the best car he was unstoppable.
 
Not a big fan of Schumi myself, but his records are plain to see.

His racing was boring and i nearly found myself wanting to turn away from F1 in 2004 because of it. But when i'd seen pre-season testing in the winter of 04-05 and Renault were giving Ferrari something to think about i decided to carry on watching F1 and glad i did.

Plus the whole Damon Hill thing and the Austria GP in 2002 got to me too.

But i do respect what he has done in this sport and his records are of a top driver, but to me he isn't the best ever.
 
Statistically the greatest racing driver of all times. For me he rewrote the rule book on what it took to be a great athlete as well as great driver and, as much as his dominance was pretty boring at times, I had to admire his will to win (sometimes at any cost), his ability to build and motivate a team and the fact that he brought Ferrari back to where there should be.
 
Rick, Schumacher was in the form of his life towards the end of 2006, it was only an engine faliure in Japan that stopped him winning the championship, along with a puncture in Brazil.
 
There seems to be so much expectation on Schumacher to win every race lets just break it down.

1] Out of retirement

2] Mercedes Petronas.....who?

3] His results haven't been shocking for a 40+ man

A wise man once said.......LET HIM RACE.
 
Woods_by_butiamnokiller.jpg


RickD said:
HAHHAHAHAHA, 2005-06 Schumacher in his prime, you are kidding right?!?
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Here's some trees, unfortunately they're blocking the view of the woods. Or is it the other way round?

The '05 Ferrari wasn't exactly a "great" car but Schumie still finished 3rd in the title race. In '06, as MCLS points out, Schumie was very close to the title and 7 wins is hardly someone on the slide.
 
Remember, he wasn't retiring in 2006 because he was slow and couldn't compete, it was because he had lost the fun of racing at the top of the tree, which is something different altogether.
 
MCLS said:
Remember, he wasn't retiring in 2006 because he was slow and couldn't compete, it was because he had lost the fun of racing at the top of the tree, which is something different altogether.
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Which also says he was past his prime.. He was in his prime late 90's early 00's, he was past his prime after that, which is why Alonso managed to win his WDCs..
 
He was in his mid to late 30s but he still had what it takes to win, wouldn't say he was in his prime but he wasn't on much of a decline either....
 
I saw Schumacher's entire career as I did Senna's and Mansell's and almost all of Prost's . I would have to put him behind Senna and Prost ... but ahead of Mansell.

It's a shame that Senna was killed at the top of his game. After Senna was killed there was a void of really top drivers. I'd put Hakkinen as the only other Ace on the grid after Senna was killed in May, 1994...until Raikkonen and Alonso came along in the early 2000s in competitive McLarens and Renaults.

The calibre of driver - other than Hakkinen - wasn't truly great and was characterized by Williams Number 2/Test Drivers (Hill, DC) and Williams Indy Car recruits (JV, Zanardi) and inconsistent Williams drivers in general (Frentzen, Montoya, Ralf) and older guys who weren't on an Ace level in general in my opinion (Alesi, Berger).

DC was sent packing in favour of Indy Champion JV who made a meal of taking the '97 title. Neither impressed Williams and Head.

Hill made a meal of the 1995 season and Williams/Head were already recruiting Frentzen (as early as the winter prior to the '96 season) to replace him. Frentzen didn't perform and was sent packing.

There was a possible Championship in the Williams-BMW in 2003 but Montoya wasn't consistent...and Ralf was even more useless.

Irvine and Barrichello weren't Aces and so Schumacher racked up the stats which were as unusual as the circumstances underwhich they were accumulated ['Special' FIA relationship with Ferrari as confirmed by Mosely; Bridgestone tailor-making tyres for the Number 1 driver of their Number 1 team in their war against Michelins' Williams, McLaren and Renault; Unlimited Budget with 24/7 testing at Mugello and Fiorano; etc.]

In the end, the class of driver now is much greater: Hamilton replaced Montoya; Kubica replaced Villeneuve; Vettel replaced Coulthard...and Alonso and Button both beat Villeneuve as teammates in '03/'04. All of which points to my thesis about how weak the post-Senna driver era was in the mid to late 90s and and early 2000s.
 

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