OK, but what if he comes back and is racing in the middle of the pack, with no chance of competing for podium positions. Do you think he would still enjoy it?
Schumacher to Mercedes GP?
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OK, but what if he comes back and is racing in the middle of the pack, with no chance of competing for podium positions. Do you think he would still enjoy it?
Soldato
Why will he be middle of the pack? He's going to be in the Mercedes, last year's championship winning car, with Ross Brawn at the helm, team principle with more drivers and constructors championahips than anyone else. He is also the most decorated driver in history and as RB proved this year, age isn't everything.
As for whether he'd still enjoy iy, he went to Ferrari when they couldn't win a raffle - but that in itself was a challenge and he has proved that he thrives on challenge. He knows most of the circuits better than the rest, why won't he be competitive? Would he actually come back if he didn't think he'd get anything out of it...?
As for whether he'd still enjoy iy, he went to Ferrari when they couldn't win a raffle - but that in itself was a challenge and he has proved that he thrives on challenge. He knows most of the circuits better than the rest, why won't he be competitive? Would he actually come back if he didn't think he'd get anything out of it...?
Nothing is guaranteed in F1. Who'd have thought that Brawn would win both titles, this time last year?
I agree that that was an astonishing acheivment. At the time, most in F1, were thinking that the best driver in F1, moving to Ferrari would be pure madness. Previously, the best drivers would alway gravitate towards the best cars, jumping ship only when another team could offer a better car. MS broke the mold and (along with a few other key personnel) decided to make Ferrari big again. But this was when MS's skills were in their ascendency. His best years were spent at Ferrari.
At 41, MS is definitely past his best. He knew this in 2005 and 2006, when he lost the title to Alonso.
Had MS been out of F1 for 2 years in 1997 and 1998 and then came back with Ferrari for 1999, I would say that MS would end up at the top again. However, in 2010, he will be well past his best.
Soldato
I don't think anyone is saying he'll be back like he was in the late 90's, but still, he is a damn finw driver. RB hadn't won a race in years, but at 39 and way past his best, a best that was never as good as MS, he managed it in a car that wasn't even going to be on the grrid 12 months back.
You are very right about nothing being certain, that's what we all like and throw another 6 back markers in and it'll be even more challenging. I can see him winning a race and a few podiums - challenging for the wdc would be massively unlikely but as you say, anything can happen.
You are very right about nothing being certain, that's what we all like and throw another 6 back markers in and it'll be even more challenging. I can see him winning a race and a few podiums - challenging for the wdc would be massively unlikely but as you say, anything can happen.
It really annoys me when you put forward this little 'fact'.
Firstly in 2005 he didn't even challenge for the title due to the Ferrari being a complete dog, nothing else,
2006 was a much closer battle, you could argue that the Renault was the superior car for the first half the season and that schumacher did a good job even getting vaquely back into contention for the championship, but it's mainly you mentioning 2005 that irks me
And I can't believe I just stood up for schumacher, yuk.
Indeed. But MS has to take some of the responsibility for assisting Ferrari in producing a bad car. Remember MS was known to be the most complete driver F1 has ever seen. Ever. This meant that during testing and the development of the car, he was probably the best drivers ever. This allowed his teams to produce race winning cars, which ultimately increased his own chances of winning races and WDCs.
MS is definitely partly to blame for what happened in 2005.
You could say that,
You could also say that's it's a very limited input that a driver has, they might be able to *help* the engineers to improve it, but if the base is bad then there isn't much the driver can do...
I mean if what you say is right then Alonso must be seriously gutted to be beaten so badly by Button due to his inability to tell the engineers how to do their job...
You could also say that's it's a very limited input that a driver has, they might be able to *help* the engineers to improve it, but if the base is bad then there isn't much the driver can do...
I mean if what you say is right then Alonso must be seriously gutted to be beaten so badly by Button due to his inability to tell the engineers how to do their job...
Soldato
Nail. Head.
Let's see, Jenson Button, what did he do different in 09 than in the previous seasons? What about Hamilton - he lost the WDC by 1 point in his rookie year and won it the year after then the whole car was an unbelievable hound in 2009? Alonso got on the podium this year...wow. But he is a double world champion.
Of course the drivers have input but the cars are built by engineers using numbers that would scare every single driver on the grid. You can't blame MS for Ferrari's bad performance, he just does what he is meant to do and has done it consistently better than the rest. Just as Hamilton has in the last 3 seasons, wringing the best out of whatever car they nhave been given. Senna did the same. Alonso less so, but he has an amazing, grinding consistency throughout a whole season in good car and that is something button has had in spades in 09. Rubens has been the eternal bridesmaid but has had an incredible career from it. He's a great rear gunner.
I don't like Schumacher particularly as a person but I suppose when people say "he's got everything to lose..." err, like what??? He finished his last season a failure and a cheat at that - deliberately blocking off in Monaco quali anyone? If he can add to his legacy after that, he's going to imho. Get a decent car and he'll get decent results, same as another 6 or so drivers on the grid. If the Red Bull's, Ferraris and McLaren's aren't up to scratch at the start of the season, he'd probably even walk it, same as Vettel will if the others are spanners. I doubt there is a single driver that can say they will definately win a race in 2010 yet, even the 3 other world champs on the grid, and that is saying something!
There wasnt anything wrong with what he did in Monaco.
The previous year, Alonso won the title and in 2006, Alonso was beginning to dominate again. MS knew that he absolutely had to do something to stop Alonso and in Monaco, he pushed things a little too far. Thats all.
As it happens, Alonso won the title and MS probably realised that he was no longer the outright "daddy" of F1. At this point he decided to retire as there was no point in him continuing, especially given the fact that he held virtually all the F1 records. So, given that 2 years have now passed...what's changed?
Maybe he misses F1, the cars, the competition, maybe even the workload?
I don't know him, but maybe he doesn't care about his reputation? Maybe he just wants to do something he enjoys for another year or two?
And really, is it going to damage his reputation much? one of two things can happen:
He wins some races, maybe even another championship - not a bad outcome
He is a mid-packer - People will think 'yeah, if you take 3 years out and return at 41 that's too much for even the best'
Well, there is a third option, he could be right at the back like Badoer, but frankly that's not going to happen.
Soldato
Acording to bild.de Schumacher has today Signed a 1 year 7 Million Euro contract with Mercedes.
the fia didn't see it that way
he blocked the racing track (slightly dangerous no?) like a big baby throwing his toys out the pram
im sure only MS can answer that but lets guess it's not the money, he probably knows he ain't going to win any championships, i'd guess he simply wants to have fun racing a F1 car, he won't need the money, he probably doesn't want more fame, why shouldn't he
It's just been on BBC News 24 too, 1 year deal signed!
Nothing on the BBC or Autosport websites yet.
Caporegime
Just saw on BBC News 24 that michael schumacher has signed a 1 year deal with Mercedes GP.
if hes fighting for positions he probably would.
most of his career he was in a different race to everyone else im sure its not much fun knowing you are 30seconds+ in the lead.
there were numerous races where he was sliding the car on some of the corners seemingly on purpose to keep his concentration
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I believe that he crashed his car into a fire hydrant and a tree when leaving his house but that it has been hushed up 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/5332630.stm
"It has naturally been difficult, but all the effort, energy and motivation you need in order to be competitive, I cannot see I have that for further years."
Soldato
Man of Honour
Aye, lots of reports coming up in last couple of minutes that this has been confirmed!