Both are rightly two of the greatest sportsmen ever, but what has Senna done to get away with crashing into a rival to win the championship to Schumacher's incident? Both are known to have driven unsportingly, but why is Schumacher's career constantly criticised for this and not Senna? In reality these two are the biggest unsporting drivers in the sports history for what "they did". Alan Henry released a book of his greatest f1 drivers ever, and Schumacher wasn't even in the top 10 whereas Senna obviously was. Henry's claim was because Schumacher's darker moments clouded his "greatness" tag. Henry, one of Britain's most respected journalists, doesn't say the same about Senna. I honestly believe this is very hypocritical of him and is more down to a personal dislike to Schumacher. Do these people look past Schumacher's behaviour and recall the many great Grand Prix performances he did? They can do it with Senna, but they find it harder with Schumacher. I hope people can come to respect Schumacher a little more, as he displayed the very best of formula one driving. He also brought out the very best in Hakkinen and Alonso thanks to his incredibly high level of performance. At the end of the day, why mull over drivers misdemeanours and look past it all so we can all compare drivers to their ability? They did it with Senna, why don't they do it with Schumacher?
What's The Difference Between Senna and Schumacher?
- Thread starter McFerrari
- Start date
I think that the image granted to Ayrton Senna pothsumously as the tragic hero quarrels with any assessment of him as, essentially, a cheat. There seems to be some sort of way that the thrills of watching Senna drive make up for any misdemeanours during a raceday, because that is what you would expect from such a passionate man etc.
Michael Schumacher, on the other hand, does not have the image of a passionate man. Schumacher's image is of an extremely effective and over-cynical race driver, and there is hardly anyone who's memory of Schumacher is of being thrilled by the way he drives, more likely they were grudgingly impressed by the German's complete dominance of Formula One. It is a cynic, rather than a man blinded by passion, who ran into Hill and Villeneuve.
It is also the case that we are more inclined to feel sorry for Damon Hill (lost his father when young, unexpectedly leading the Williams team since team-leaders' death...) than for Alain Prost (talked himself out of McLaren, already 3-time WDC, won last one because of Senna/Prost team-mate collision) for example.
I'd also like to point out that heroism is often reserved for those killed in action. Note the sanctimonious idiots who were having a go at Jade Goody before she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, then had the Damehood ready when she was on her last legs! The cult of Gilles Villeneuve has had the same effect as the cult of Senna and it is difficult to criticise those who are no longer with us. Schumacher is alive and well and unpopular.
Any authoritative guide to F1 should list Michael Schumacher as the #1 greatest driver ever, with Fangio the only room for appeal. He was clearly head-and-shoulders above all those of his era and won 40 more races than any other F1 driver! He was so good they changed the rules to try and stop him, and in 2003 failed!
Michael Schumacher, on the other hand, does not have the image of a passionate man. Schumacher's image is of an extremely effective and over-cynical race driver, and there is hardly anyone who's memory of Schumacher is of being thrilled by the way he drives, more likely they were grudgingly impressed by the German's complete dominance of Formula One. It is a cynic, rather than a man blinded by passion, who ran into Hill and Villeneuve.
It is also the case that we are more inclined to feel sorry for Damon Hill (lost his father when young, unexpectedly leading the Williams team since team-leaders' death...) than for Alain Prost (talked himself out of McLaren, already 3-time WDC, won last one because of Senna/Prost team-mate collision) for example.
I'd also like to point out that heroism is often reserved for those killed in action. Note the sanctimonious idiots who were having a go at Jade Goody before she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, then had the Damehood ready when she was on her last legs! The cult of Gilles Villeneuve has had the same effect as the cult of Senna and it is difficult to criticise those who are no longer with us. Schumacher is alive and well and unpopular.
Any authoritative guide to F1 should list Michael Schumacher as the #1 greatest driver ever, with Fangio the only room for appeal. He was clearly head-and-shoulders above all those of his era and won 40 more races than any other F1 driver! He was so good they changed the rules to try and stop him, and in 2003 failed!
An interesting question McFerrari and an excellent reply teabag.
I'm probably going to make myself unpopular but I think a lot of peope view Senna with somewhat rose-tinted glasses due to his untimely death.
Similarly a lot of people dislike Schumacher simply because he was so successful.
There is no doubting Senna's skill and ability but he made some questionable moves on the circuit and suffered from several flaws, notably arrogance and an unhealthy disrespect for other drivers. I believe he once replied to a question with the answer "I am Senna". As if that was an acceptable answer or reason.
The BBC program is well worth watching and it's clear reading between the lines that a lot of drivers fully expected to be bullied off the circuit if they weren't prepared to move over for Senna. It's available here online: Archive - the career and life of Senna
Senna himself admits that he deliberately took Prost out at the first corner due to his anger at being made to start on the "wrong" side of the grid.
If that had been Schumacher then I fully expect a ban of some sort would have been implemented.
In fact, for such a dangerous, pre-meditated action, Senna is very fortunate not to have been penalised at all. Drivers have had their licences revoked for less.
So in summary, an excellent driver yes but somewhat flawed and I suspect he would not get away unpunished with many of the moves he made if he was still racing today.
As for Schumacher, he too was guilty of several cynical attempts to sway races and championships in his favour but he was largely held to account for them.
Perhaps it's the reason why they were 2 of the greatest drivers ever?
Their unswerving conviction that whatever it takes is the right action?
I'm probably going to make myself unpopular but I think a lot of peope view Senna with somewhat rose-tinted glasses due to his untimely death.
Similarly a lot of people dislike Schumacher simply because he was so successful.
There is no doubting Senna's skill and ability but he made some questionable moves on the circuit and suffered from several flaws, notably arrogance and an unhealthy disrespect for other drivers. I believe he once replied to a question with the answer "I am Senna". As if that was an acceptable answer or reason.
The BBC program is well worth watching and it's clear reading between the lines that a lot of drivers fully expected to be bullied off the circuit if they weren't prepared to move over for Senna. It's available here online: Archive - the career and life of Senna
Senna himself admits that he deliberately took Prost out at the first corner due to his anger at being made to start on the "wrong" side of the grid.
If that had been Schumacher then I fully expect a ban of some sort would have been implemented.
In fact, for such a dangerous, pre-meditated action, Senna is very fortunate not to have been penalised at all. Drivers have had their licences revoked for less.
So in summary, an excellent driver yes but somewhat flawed and I suspect he would not get away unpunished with many of the moves he made if he was still racing today.
As for Schumacher, he too was guilty of several cynical attempts to sway races and championships in his favour but he was largely held to account for them.
Perhaps it's the reason why they were 2 of the greatest drivers ever?
Their unswerving conviction that whatever it takes is the right action?
In my opinion, one of the reasons that schumacher isn't viewed as favourably as Senna, is that he was seen to quash any competition from his team-mate. The team had to be centred around him, regardless of who they were. He was going to win even if his team-mate had to stop to let him pass. That was not racing in eyes. OK, Senna might had drove his team-mate off the track, but atleast it wasn't pre-aranged before the race! (if you see what I mean)
In fairness to Schumacher Mczider, he never had a team mate capable of beating him. Only on very rare occasions did his team mate move over. Also you suggest that Schumacher pre planned his shunts whereas Senna didn't. I personally see it as the opposite. I 100% believe that Schumacher's incidents were rush of blood to the head moments. Take Monaco 2006, he was down in the 2nd sector on Alonso. He then lost control entering Rascasse, then a split second of madness ruled what he was to do next. Senna on Prost looked very staged though.McZiderRed said:
bogaTYR
Points Scorer
i think not enough time has passed since schumi left F1. like with most things in life, after a while all we remember are the good moments. and i think there is an over adulation of senna at times. not taking anything away from his brilliance but he did have his iffier moments too. people seem to forget about that from time to time.
we saw something extraordinary with schumi. like it or not, what happened in those years has not been seen before. maybe when in for instance 10 years or so no one has even come close to what schumi did, then maybe we will all will have nostalgic feelings about the guy. just like some of us now have towards senna.
* watching A1 and an orange car is not doing too bad, life is good.
we saw something extraordinary with schumi. like it or not, what happened in those years has not been seen before. maybe when in for instance 10 years or so no one has even come close to what schumi did, then maybe we will all will have nostalgic feelings about the guy. just like some of us now have towards senna.
* watching A1 and an orange car is not doing too bad, life is good.
Andrea_Moda_Rules
Podium Finisher
The only differnce we can actually say is that Senna raced in the 80 and early 90's Sumi early 90's to 00's and only was able to show his true talent in the mid90's.
That differnce makes it impossible to make any other conlusions.
Its sad but thats F1.
That differnce makes it impossible to make any other conlusions.
Its sad but thats F1.
Similar threads
- Article
- Article
- Article
