I find it very hard to have any kind of emotion or feelings for someone who is retiring for the second time. Didn't we do all of this 10 years ago? This isn't just about Schumacher by the way, it happens quite a lot on TV in soaps when somebody leaves to a big fanfare then comes back and leaves again to a big fanfare and so on for 30 years. Eastenders characters have a big send off 3 times a week. Also happens a lot in wrestling. Bah humbug
He never ruled out a comeback last time, this is the end. He should have left it there, but an amazing career even if he was a dirty get at times.
I might be getting a little confused here. <img src ="http://www.craig.copperleife.com/health/images/creased_earlobe_2.jpg">
I actually didn't think he was THAT good last time round either. Thought he benefited massively from having the best car and a team and teammate who bent over backwards to ensure he won. A bit like Vettel who I think would disappear into obscurity if he was in a poorer car. That's one of the main problems with F1 for me, I love it but it's so hard to actually tell if a driver is any good whilever there is such a difference between the cars and team orders are in place.
Not a very sportsmanlike honest pro era though,whilst not questioning the quality of his driving,Schumacher is one of the worst examples of a win at all costs gamesman....prepared to break or bend every rule written or unwritten,or recklessly endanger other competitors at any time...just glad he's not one of ours.
fast bloke full stop tho' is schumaker,,, he went out on a ducati moto gp bike and got within about 5 seconds of being able to qualify for a grid position,,,,theres only a handfull in the world that can do that.
I have to agree with you Supertyke regarding Vettel. Without a doubt he is a fantastic driver, but, with that car he has had this season, he should have wrapped the title up a long time ago. For me, the hero of the season has been Kimi Raikkonen. He has worked wonders with that Lotus/Renault. Fair play to Mr Schumacher, he is a legend without doubt, but that is how you make a comeback.
I can't get my breath. Are you sure you are not related to Hemsworth Tyke? Do you call 7 world titles not THAT good? So who are the good drivers? Do you know who was the last driver to win a world championship in a Ferrari before Michael Schumacher? No you don't do you? It was Jody Schecktar in the late 70's. Michael was the best driver post Senna and was brought to Ferrari for that very reason, because he had won it TWICE already in an un-fancied car with more experienced fellow drivers. And F1 is a team sport, there is always a number 2 driver in every team. If they don't like it they move or in the case of Lewis Hamilton in his first season - he drove faster and usurped Fernando who was the reigning world champion. And there is not a disparity between cars. They all worked to strict rules and regulations. Ferrari is the most established team in F1 and because they build road cars and are owned by Fiat they have the larger budgets to play with. It is competitive because it has pedigree, same as Maclaren. You can't just invent a competitive team and car overnight you wally! Even Red Bull is an established team, that was bought up and rebranded. I don't know why I wasting my time explaining all this, you won't get it.
A lot of what you say there MrC is quite correct,and 7 world titles is impressive...but it could be a few less,I remember Schumacher shunting other drivers from the track,and parking his apparently broken car in qualifying on a bend that stopped other drivers from posting faster times,and Ferrari Mechanics leaving the jack under Eddie Irvines car in a final pit stop to deny him (conspiracy theory)from claiming Ferraris first world championship since Scheckter after all they had spent on their No1 driver.....Where I disagree, is that their is a huge disparity between the cars,when some cars are using engines from previous seasons no one can claim that it has been a level playing field.
Schumacher could be dirty and uncompromising but he was like that before Ferrari. He drove Damon Hill off the road, breaking his own car too, to win his first title with Bennetton. The Irvine situation I believe was contrived by the team to ensure Michael won Ferrari's title who was out with a broken leg after a nasty crash. Irvine was hushed up with a lot of money, but not before letting slip his own team were out to stop him being champion. If a team can't afford a new engine it really is just tough ****. This isn't Indy Car where everyone gets the same kit, F1 is the pinnacle of technology and development in motor sport. Ferrari is the oldest team still competing in F1, it is the leading pioneer of design and technology, why would they give all that to Force India or one of the less competitive teams? When Michael joined them they were an upper midfield team, way behind MacLaren and Williams and it took him three seasons to win the title. If teams have an advantage it has usually been earned through decades of development and of course they are going to go after the best drivers as that is ultimate aim, the harmony of man and machine. They all work to the same rules, the fact that Cardiff have Craig Bellamy and we have Scott Wiseman doesn't mean we can cry foul. It's not fur, but tough.
'Ferrari is the oldest team still competing in F1, it is the leading pioneer of design and technology,' Actually Ferrari is far from the leading pioneer of design and technology,since 1950 Ferrari have based their strategy on the most powerful and reliable of engines,leaving the field of major technical innovation to other teams,Lotus for example started F1 10 years after Ferrari,but by 1978....ish had overtaken them as the most successful team in formula one,and achieved on (compared to FIATs backing of Ferrari) a shoestring budget and also using the Cosworth engine available to anyone in the field.
But the bottom line is that F1 is utter cack. It's just cars being driven around a track, fast. For pure boredom on a 'watching paint dry' scale F1 is right up there with Golf.
