NationStates Jolt Archive

I remember the first time I watched him race. I was very little, it might have been '92 or '93, and he was at Benneton. My dad was watching a race, and I asked "Are any Germans driving?"

And there were.

Now, all these years later, Schumi is (by stats at least) the best F1 driver there has ever been. Not everyone liked him, I know quite a few people who don't. But a combination of the tireless drive to win, and a talent for getting the best out of a team (plus I guess a lot of skill) have made him prove those people wrong many times.

He announced that he'll quit after this season. He wants to make way for other drivers, spend more time with his family...and I guess he couldn't expect to keep winning indefinitely anyways. So he might as well quit now while he's still ahead.

Furthermore, I firmly believe that without Schumi's efforts the Ferrari F1 Team wouldn't have gotten the sort of resurrection in the '90s. And without the F1 Team, the company would never have achieved the sort of success story...and neither the F430, nor the 599 GTB would exist today, at least not in this form.

So all in all...

Thank You, Schumi!

EDIT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/5327572.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/5320026.stm

Oh, and also...this season is shaping up to be a cracker. Only two points difference and three races to go.

While I am somehow sad to see him go and he really is an excellent driver (while not as excellent a sportsman), I do have mixed feelings about that.

Sure, it's sad to see him go - but at least, he's going at the top of his career, sweetened with his 90th victory on Sunday.

But, to be honest, I don't really like him all that much as a person. I sure hope that others are able and worthy successors.

The one thing I will not miss? The German anthem for Schumi followed by the Italian anthem for Ferrari... ;)

Meh.

Happy to see him go, just disappointed he didn't have the balls to stick around and race Raikkonen in equal machinery.

He's done nothing positive for the sport, and has done alot of negative (either directly or indirectly), and he has, for me, wrecked Ferrari; they've gone from the team of legend and passion to being a team who whines and moans to the FIA when they have a chance of winning, but it isn't going exactly their way, a team that cynically uses team orders to ensure MS wins, and a team that has disgraced their own reputation.

On the plus side, Kimi's finally getting a good car after years of being let down in one way or another by McLaren.

Hopefully F1 will be more interesting without schumi dominating every race

I like Raikkonen,

*flees thread*

Oh yea, my poll answer would be somewhere between "A good driver, but there were better ones." and "Lying, cheating, lucky bastard! Good Riddance!"

And now if Adrian Newey would retire as well (maybe he has, I haven't been paying attention for a while...) it will be an open field again.

I had problems with Shuey with things like his diving starts and taking out points challengers in races. If you're the better driver, be the better driver-don't be shady.

But it's always sad to see a figure like him go, as people like that tend to personify the sport.

Although, it's great to see more new drivers who look seriously promising on their way through.

Kubica seems to be the real deal. Podium in his 3rd Grand Prix? And in a BMW Sauber? Very impressive. Should have a great future.

And now if Adrian Newey would retire as well (maybe he has, I haven't been paying attention for a while...)

Now working for Red Bull....we'll see his first Red Bull car next season.

Expect it to look very similar to the last few years McLarens...those were his pet projects. The MP4-18 which failed miserably was his idea, but he didn't see it through to the end, someone else took over. When he went back and fixed it, it was the fastest car of 2005. This years car was based on last years, but designed by someone else (I forget his name).

Next years Red Bull, with Ferrari engines, should (all things being equal) be very quick.

Now working for Red Bull....we'll see his first Red Bull car next season.

Expect it to look very similar to the last few years McLarens...those were his pet projects. The MP4-18 which failed miserably was his idea, but he didn't see it through to the end, someone else took over. When he went back and fixed it, it was the fastest car of 2005. This years car was based on last years, but designed by someone else (I forget his name).

Next years Red Bull, with Ferrari engines, should (all things being equal) be very quick.

I didn't know Ferrari did costumer engines. Is that new?

And I thought Red Bull was Sauber...

You can see I haven't watched in a while...

Yea, they sold engines to Sauber, rebadged as Petronas engines, from (I think) 1996 until last year. And to Prost in 2001.

Red Bull was Jaguar.
BMW Sauber was Sauber Petronas
Toro Rosso (Red Bull in Italian) was Minardi
Midland (Spyker from next year) was Jordan
Super Aguri are a new team, backed by Honda, using 2002 Arrows cars.

Yea, they sold engines to Sauber, rebadged as Petronas engines, from (I think) 1996 until last year. And to Prost in 2001.

Red Bull was Jaguar.
BMW Sauber was Sauber Petronas
Toro Rosso (Red Bull in Italian) was Minardi
Midland (Spyker from next year) was Jordan
Super Aguri are a new team, backed by Honda, using 2002 Arrows cars.

So wait, Jaguar doesn't run a car anymore? Or have the sponsers taken to having the chassis 'theres.' Because Red Bull Ferrari sounds like Red Bull themselves is making the chassis.

I used to be bumbed that Jaguar never expanded back into sports cars, but after listening to that street fight between the Corvette and the Aston Martin this year at Le Mans, I'll take that. That was dirty, I loved it.

So wait, Jaguar doesn't run a car anymore? Or have the sponsers taken to having the chassis 'theres.' Because Red Bull Ferrari sounds like Red Bull themselves is making the chassis.

Yeah, Ford announced they were pulling Jag out (they're performance was never as good after Irvine left), and Red Bull stepped in and bought it. This is the second year they've been running a car, last year with Cosworth engines, this year Ferrari.

I used to be bumbed that Jaguar never expanded back into sports cars, but after listening to that street fight between the Corvette and the Aston Martin this year at Le Mans, I'll take that. That was dirty, I loved it.

I'd love to see Jag vs. Aston vs. Chevrolet vs. Porsche

Yeah, Ford announced they were pulling Jag out (they're performance was never as good after Irvine left), and Red Bull stepped in and bought it. This is the second year they've been running a car, last year with Cosworth engines, this year Ferrari.

Did Red Bull set up a brand new shop, or did they hire out to have their chassis built?

And too bad about Jaguar, Ford was kind of an institution in F1, even though that sounds silly with the Fords we get here. I've never understood why Ford makes better cars for everyone else and makes such shit to sell in it's homeland.


I'd love to see Jag vs. Aston vs. Chevrolet vs. Porsche
With Ferrari, Saleen, the Viper, Panoz, and Lamborghini. (the Lambos where barely also rans this year, being entered by an owners club and all). The GT catagory is starting to fill back up again and is becoming the more interesting class in the series. Especially since LMP is dominated by whatever major manufacturer has decided to run unoppossed. Though next year Puegot will be running a diesel against Audi's, so maybe there'll be a race next year.

And Porsche has the Spyder RS which will kick ass.

Because it's a Porsche.

Did Red Bull set up a brand new shop, or did they hire out to have their chassis built?

And too bad about Jaguar, Ford was kind of an institution in F1, even though that sounds silly with the Fords we get here. I've never understood why Ford makes better cars for everyone else and makes such shit to sell in it's homeland.

They just bought out the whole Jag operation; factory, facilities, staff, everything.

So, basically, under new management.



With Ferrari, Saleen, the Viper, Panoz, and Lamborghini. (the Lambos where barely also rans this year, being entered by an owners club and all). The GT catagory is starting to fill back up again and is becoming the more interesting class in the series. Especially since LMP is dominated by whatever major manufacturer has decided to run unoppossed. Though next year Puegot will be running a diesel against Audi's, so maybe there'll be a race next year.

And Porsche has the Spyder RS which will kick ass.

Because it's a Porsche.

I'd love to see BMW and Merc get back in. That would be awesome.

Or Honda!

Probably the three best engine makers in the world. Awesome.

They just bought out the whole Jag operation; factory, facilities, staff, everything.

So, basically, under new management.
It's weird to think of Red Bull as a chassis maker.





I'd love to see BMW and Merc get back in. That would be awesome.

Or Honda!

Probably the three best engine makers in the world. Awesome.
A full out LMP program like the glory days of IMSA GTP would be fantastic. That brief period with the Porsche 911 GT-1, the CLK-GTR, the Lotus Elise GT-1, and McLaren F1, that was glorious. I saw them all at Laguna Seca, which also included a Morgan, which barely started before going off. But it was completely kick ass. Alan McNish was chasing down those CLK-GTRs and was pushing so hard he ran into a smaller GT car, having half of his fender folded over the car. My buddy bribed a mechanic for that part, which included the headlight. He still has it as far as I know.

I, too, would love to see BMW, Mercedes, et al to come back to LMP, and I'd love to see all of those guys get pounded by a full blown privateer Porsche LMP, just like the days of the 962.

I'll have to be satisfied with the Spyder RS...but yeah-full fields of actual competitors would be kick ass in Sportscars.

Yeah, that would be properly awesome. Get all the big manufacturers involved and get some top quality sportscar racing going. Get drivers just out of F1, or poach the brilliant up and coming drivers before they get to F1, and there would be a proper world class series developing.

And nice story :)

Yeah, that would be properly awesome. Get all the big manufacturers involved and get some top quality sportscar racing going. Get drivers just out of F1, or poach the brilliant up and coming drivers before they get to F1, and there would be a proper world class series developing.

And nice story :)

We can dream, I guess...or watch old highlight reels from the IMSA GTP days...Ah, Willie T Ribbs, where are you when we need you?

Sorry, as a former damon hill supporter I have to say good riddance.He was, after all a bad sport.
This being said, he is the best driver in the world and has allowed ferrari to win(at last!!!:D )
Im still bitter after monaco so...there you go.Well done shumi,but maybe its someone elses turn to hog the limelight:p

While I am somehow sad to see him go and he really is an excellent driver (while not as excellent a sportsman), I do have mixed feelings about that.

Sure, it's sad to see him go - but at least, he's going at the top of his career, sweetened with his 90th victory on Sunday.

But, to be honest, I don't really like him all that much as a person. I sure hope that others are able and worthy successors.

The one thing I will not miss? The German anthem for Schumi followed by the Italian anthem for Ferrari... ;)

Yeah,butI could never get tired of 'fratelli d'Italia'(surley it has to be the longest anthem ever,its like a mini opera!)He is going at the top of his game,but dont mention that to my mother,shumacher is a swearword in her house!

"Formel Langeweile", anyone?

Congratulations, Michael, for succesfully not dying in a car fire!

Sorry, as a former damon hill supporter I have to say good riddance.He was, after all a bad sport.
This being said, he is the best driver in the world and has allowed ferrari to win(at last!!!:D )
Im still bitter after monaco so...there you go.Well done shumi,but maybe its someone elses turn to hog the limelight:p

Yay! I dug Damon Hill, sometimes I wondered if I was the only one.

Yay! I dug Damon Hill, sometimes I wondered if I was the only one.

he may have only won one world championship, but he was class,do you remember 'jonny be good' when jonny herbert won silverstone....that truly was great.
Your not the only one, but I fear that I am one of the few women that love
F1,I knon no other women who like it(other than my mother)

Great driver, although I hated him when he rammed Damon Hill off the road to take the title by one point.

His cheating aside, he is probably the greatest F1 driver in the history of the sport.

he may have only won one world championship, but he was class,do you remember 'jonny be good' when jonny herbert won silverstone....that truly was great.
Your not the only one, but I fear that I am one of the few women that love
F1,I knon no other women who like it(other than my mother)

Nadkor is a chick as well.

Chick racing fans rock. (I'm not a chick, I just think that chick racing fans rock.)

Probably shouldn't be saying 'chick.' Ah well...

EDIT:(ah nuts, the cool edit window thing is gone...anyway)...
Great driver, although I hated him when he rammed Damon Hill off the road to take the title by one point.

His cheating aside, he is probably the greatest F1 driver in the history of the sport.

See, to me that will always put an asterik next to his name in considering his greatness. And the rather unfair advantage of considering that the cars of Sterling Moss and Fangio and Graham Hill et al where much more reliant on drivers than the cars of today. That's unfair, I'll admit-the cars of today move so much faster and need to have the assistance that they do, but when I look at what the drivers back then where doing on bicycle tires I just think that a fair comparison isn't really possible.

Without doubt, he was a fantastic driver, but his cheating has really tarnished his reputation. I couldn't rank him rank him alongside the true greats of F1 (Fangio, Senna, etc).

Without doubt, he was a fantastic driver, but his cheating has really tarnished his reputation. I couldn't rank him rank him alongside the true greats of F1 (Fangio, Senna, etc).
See, the man knows, that's what I'm talking about with the asterik...

See, the man knows, that's what I'm talking about with the asterik...

It's a shame, because he was a good enough driver, not to have needed to cheat. I think it says a great deal about his character that he cheated anyway.

Wait, I thought Terry Cheveaux was the reigning F1 champion?

Yeah he is and was choice, i don't care that i should technically be supporting another team, he is Ferrari.
yay for Hungry, yay for Germany!
Great driver, although I hated him when he rammed Damon Hill off the road to take the title by one point.

His cheating aside, he is probably the greatest F1 driver in the history of the sport
I thought he lost that race in the end...

I thought he lost that race in the end...

Aye, they both had to retire, meaning the points total stood how it had been before the race. Hill had to beat Schumacher to win the title; Schumacher just had to keep things how they were.

I don't really care for racing, but it was good to see Germany win at something for once.

I share his last name which is cool, heh.

Anyway, to the important stuff. I think he is fantastic and easily the greatest F1 driver of all time. He will be a big loss but it does make F1 somewhat fresher which isn't a bad thing.. New faces will definitely be welcomed. All in all he was an amazing character and deserves all the respect in the world.

If only Max Mosley would retire - just like his dad with dubious political views favouring the Germans and Italians.

Aye, they both had to retire, meaning the points total stood how it had been before the race. Hill had to beat Schumacher to win the title; Schumacher just had to keep things how they were.
Well as i dont really know, i wont argue about it.

Well as i dont really know, i wont argue about it.
F1 only awards points to the first six positions, the only one who was in striking distance was Hill. If neither of them finished then the points on the top two positions, Shuey and Hill, would stay the same. Both of them where more than 10 points ahead of the nearest compititor (the most you can get for a race) and so by taking Hill out he insured his championship.

I've done that in a video game, but that's a video game, not real sport.

And too bad about Jaguar, Ford was kind of an institution in F1, even though that sounds silly with the Fords we get here. I've never understood why Ford makes better cars for everyone else and makes such shit to sell in it's homeland.



Huh?

http://www.fordgt.net/gtforsale.htm

Good career, best of luck to him in retirement.

Don't drive too fast!

Huh?

http://www.fordgt.net/gtforsale.htm

Yeah...because a limited production run clone of a car they made 40 years ago totally makes up for the rest of the crap or the fact that their baseline cars are markedly better everywhere else but here...

Yeah...because a limited production run clone of a car they made 40 years ago totally makes up for the rest of the crap or the fact that their baseline cars are markedly better everywhere else but here...

Pretty much you can only drive one car at a time. Here and now you could be driving a Ford GT. And not whatever horrendous mistakes of cars Ford made which you despise. You complained that Ford did not market a decent sports car here. Yet they do and that is not good enough because they did not go into the past and sell them. The Ford GT is no more a clone of a 40 year old GT40 than an XK jag is a clone of an XKE or a current VW bug is a clone of a 56 aircooled single port bug. A current Ford GFT is a fine sportscar in its own right and has 500 supercharged horsepower and 500 ft'lbs of torque pushing only 3300 lbs to prove it. Built in your beloved Saleen factory this year. 4000 or so of them For a ridiculously low asking price of about 150k dollars

Hell even Jeremy Clarkson bought one with his own money. He has had a drive in some pretty decent cars and chose this one to buy. In fairness of disclosure he sold it back to Ford today because the alarm /immobiliser/ tracking device was shit and wasnt put right. He called on the phone and told Ford to give him his money back amd surprisingly they called his bluff and did exactly that. He claims to gave cried when Ford repossessed it but in all likelihood he will re-purchase it back from Ford

Pretty much you can only drive one car at a time. Here and now you could be driving a Ford GT. And not whatever horrendous mistakes of cars Ford made which you despise. You complained that Ford did not market a decent sports car here. Yet they do and that is not good enough because they did not go into the past and sell them. The Ford GT is no more a clone of a 40 year old GT40 than an XK jag is a clone of an XKE or a current VW bug is a clone of a 56 aircooled single port bug. A current Ford GFT is a fine sportscar in its own right and has 500 supercharged horsepower and 500 ft'lbs of torque pushing only 3300 lbs to prove it. Built in your beloved Saleen factory this year. 4000 or so of them For a ridiculously low asking price of about 150k dollars

Hell even Jeremy Clarkson bought one with his own money. He has had a drive in some pretty decent cars and chose this one to buy. In fairness of disclosure he sold it back to Ford today because the alarm /immobiliser/ tracking device was shit and wasnt put right. He called on the phone and told Ford to give him his money back amd surprisingly they called his bluff and did exactly that. He claims to gave cried when Ford repossessed it but in all likelihood he will re-purchase it back from Ford
They make (made) one supercar for like 4000 examples that goes for $150,000.

And I didn't say 'sports car,' I said they made better cars (note the plural 's') for everyone else than they do for us. And it's true, the models and variations of Fords that you can get in other countries are better than the crap that they throw at us and no amount of GTs or GT500s is going to make up for that.

You can try and sell the GT to me all you want, it doesn't really change what I said.

EDIT: And when did Saleen become "my beloved?"

he may have only won one world championship, but he was class

If by "class" you mean that he had by far the dominant car of the year, and was just about able to beat his rookie teammate (who was later shown to be nothing special either, without the top car) to the championship, and was unable to achieve much without the best car, then yes he was class.

And, yeah, you're not the only woman interested in F1 :p

F1 only awards points to the first six positions, the only one who was in striking distance was Hill. If neither of them finished then the points on the top two positions, Shuey and Hill, would stay the same. Both of them where more than 10 points ahead of the nearest compititor (the most you can get for a race) and so by taking Hill out he insured his championship.

I've done that in a video game, but that's a video game, not real sport.

Of course, whether or not his taking out of Hill was intentional is entirely debatable, unlike in Jerez 1997 where it was a clear cut ram.

In Adelaide 1994 I'm of the opinion that it was a racing incident...Schumacher took the normal line into the corner, Hill was too optimistic going in and and ran it up the inside when he didn't have a chance of making the corner without Schumacher just plain getting out of the way. And he was never going to do that...

Hell even Jeremy Clarkson bought one with his own money. He has had a drive in some pretty decent cars and chose this one to buy. In fairness of disclosure he sold it back to Ford today because the alarm /immobiliser/ tracking device was shit and wasnt put right. He called on the phone and told Ford to give him his money back amd surprisingly they called his bluff and did exactly that. He claims to gave cried when Ford repossessed it but in all likelihood he will re-purchase it back from Ford

He already has bought it back, but admitted on Top Gear that he has never managed to complete a return journey in it because it's so unreliable.


Sounds like a great way to waste a £120,000 (about what....$225,000?)

I really liked him and he was my favourite racer and i am extremly sad to see him go.


[U]Thank you

Set all the records but one. While he is the most accomplished driver in F1 history, I feel that the Villenueves(?) of the world will never let him have his place as a true legend of Formula 1, but then again where is Jacques now?:sniper:

Great driver, although I hated him when he rammed Damon Hill off the road to take the title by one point.

His cheating aside, he is probably the greatest F1 driver in the history of the sport.

me too! and schumi is(unfortunatly) the best driver-but not the best sportsman(eg monaco)

Nadkor is a chick as well.

Chick racing fans rock. (I'm not a chick, I just think that chick racing fans rock.)

Probably shouldn't be saying 'chick.' Ah well...

EDIT:(ah nuts, the cool edit window thing is gone...anyway)...


See, to me that will always put an asterik next to his name in considering his greatness. And the rather unfair advantage of considering that the cars of Sterling Moss and Fangio and Graham Hill et al where much more reliant on drivers than the cars of today. That's unfair, I'll admit-the cars of today move so much faster and need to have the assistance that they do, but when I look at what the drivers back then where doing on bicycle tires I just think that a fair comparison isn't really possible.

yay for me and Nadkor,and I dont mind being called a chick.Some of the ladies hate it,but I can accept it.