Schumacher !!! Should he call it quits

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Originally Posted by F1boat

This is a very foolish post. It is obvious that Michael has made an unsuccessful comeback, like many other sportsmen, including Michael Jordan. But to deny his success in the past is petty and immature.
I am happy that he is in the Top 10 and I hope that he will have a good race tomorrow.

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Sorry mate but it's just my opinion and I am not denying his success.

I think he is an excellent driver but has had equipment and strategy that has been hugely beneficial.

This is the first time he has been measured on an equal basis since he was a pup and he's severely lacking.

I want to see someone in that car that can get results. Someone that has some drive and passion. Rubens is a couple of years younger and in a worse car but is putting in as much now as he ever has. I don't see why we are making excuses for a 7X champion?

At this age, couple of years makes a lot of difference. Besides Barrichello never quitted the sport. And also, some drivers age better than others. At the end of their respective careers Damon Hill and David Coulthard were very, very slow. Yes, Michael was 7 times champion and in my opinion the best driver ever, but now he is old, he can not adapt to this new (for him) Formula One and is not the driver he once was. I think that something similar happened to Nigel Mansell and my personal opinion is that it even puts into perspective why some Indy Car drivers like Zanardi and Andretti never really fitted into the sport. Car racing is very complex sport and small things mean hell of a difference.
But to imply that this is the true form of Michael Schumacher, the winner of 91 Grand Prix victories and 7 World Championship titles is beyond ridiculous. Do you think that Ferrari would have tolerated such slow driver for so long?

I lot of his haters, have found good grounds to bash him, and almost all of his criticism has come because he has a car, he has not been able to adapt to as well as he might have had some years ago, I cant tell how he will be in next years car or in say 2012 (if he stays), but it seems it does take time for a car, to be developed to a championship winning level, this happened for him in 1994/95 and then with Ferrari, too, but when he says he know why he is slow, and he's working on it, I'd like to believe him.

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Why Michael Schumacher will never be back to his best

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/moto...ne/9037790.stm

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Originally Posted by ArrowsFA1

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/moto...ne/9037790.stm

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Great article. But Ross Brawn disagrees:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/87063

I am impressed by this:
""He has become more relaxed," said Brawn. "Five years ago he would have found it terribly difficult to handle such a situation.

He's much cooler and much more mature - and that doesn't mean that he is less ambitious or committed. I am really impressed with how calm he stays."

Well, if Brawn is to be believed, Schumacher is as fast now as he has been all his career confirming the fact that he cannot driver around and adapt to problems as Nico has done and that he can only succeed when he has better equipment designed around him.

Not a great endorsement of the champion :s

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Originally Posted by skc

Well, if Brawn is to be believed, Schumacher is as fast now as he has been all his career confirming the fact that he cannot driver around and adapt to problems as Nico has done and that he can only succeed when he has better equipment designed around him.

Not a great endorsement of the champion :s

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Brawn says what, basically, says Hughes - that Michael has lost his ability to adapt and that he struggles severely in slow corners. Hughes thinks that Mike is done. Ross thinks that he can strike back. I dunno who is right.

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Originally Posted by F1boat

Brawn says what, basically, says Hughes - that Michael has lost his ability to adapt and that he struggles severely in slow corners. Hughes thinks that Mike is done. Ross thinks that he can strike back. I dunno who is right.

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Fair points :up:

We will see.

Funny that Brawn mentions that if it was any other driver, he would consider sacking...

And I have to mention this quote isn't really convincing:

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"If he were a rookie we surely would have asked ourselves if he has the capacity to advance. With Michael we know that he has."

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I think it would be more logical to argue the other way around. With a green rookie you can still bet on some untapped potential, while Schumacher is at such age that his skills are more likely to degrade. To expect a 41-year-old driver to have more improvement potential than a 21-y-o sounds quite... erm, unusual to put it mildly.

Anyway, the narrow front tyre excuse keeps popping up all the time, but hasn't the 2011 tyre got the same width? To me it seems like a major gamble to hope something will improve next year. It may be a different tyre company, but Schumacher would still never get the front-end grip he would like.

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Originally Posted by jens

Funny that Brawn mentions that if it was any other driver, he would consider sacking...

And I have to mention this quote isn't really convincing:


I think it would be more logical to argue the other way around. With a green rookie you can still bet on some untapped potential, while Schumacher is at such age that his skills are more likely to degrade. To expect a 41-year-old driver to have more improvement potential than a 21-y-o sounds quite... erm, unusual to put it mildly.

Anyway, the narrow front tyre excuse keeps popping up all the time, but hasn't the 2011 tyre got the same width? To me it seems like a major gamble to hope something will improve next year. It may be a different tyre company, but Schumacher would still never get the front-end grip he would like.

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I think Schumacher's comeback particularly highlights how great Prost's 'comeback' turned out for him - he achieved a world championship in his 'comeback' whilst realising that he was over the hill. So he ended up finally retiring at the top without feeling there was more left in him.


I feel that Schumacher's comeback will ultimately disappoint, unfortunately. I think that most who supported his rivals during his reign as best driver would like to see him win at least one more race - alas, I don't think it will happen.