Who thinks Schumacher finally should retire?

Well if he wants to drive next year I think he should. Despite the widespread (and kinda correct) opinion that this comeback has been a disaster, I think he is still one of the top 10 drivers in this very competitive F1 field.

In all but the official championship points table, Michael has for the most part had the measure of Nico this season. Michael may have struggled a little in China, Hungary and Singapore, but I don't see anything like what Rosberg managed at Sepang, Silverstone or Spa (i.e. performances that rival Massa's, in the midfield and outta the points while Michael's fighting around the sharp end)

I'm sure that in absolute terms, Michael can easily beat drivers like Kobayashi. So if he wants to drive, there should be a good place available for him.

Found these quotes on youtube: The first one was a reply to me!

Did you not see F1 the last 3 years? Shumi's pure luck has run out.. And people get punnished nowadays when they cheat.. So the truth about Scumi has now come to the surface.. He get beat by his teammate almost every race cause there are no teamorders and bot driver in the team get the same equipment.. 3 years and what did he perform? 1 podium and al the record for punishments and idiotic crashes.. In adition he is just a very arogant and nasty person..

and

Scumacher 7 times world champions with cheated car, and he is a guy without c**k (my edit). Montoya 0 time but close to beat him with badder car but montoya had the bowles to say what the ****e driver was schumacher !!

I just don't know what to say to someone like this (a huge JPM fan, and of course JPM was superior to Michael and Kimi) :D

He should retire and speaking as a Shumi fan he should have stayed retired.

His legacy has been tainted by ill-formed opinions - tyres especially. Goodyear were sole tyre supplier in the early-mid '90s and Schumi was double WDC.

If Goodyear favoured Ferrari it was down to the success Shumi had at Benetton. Besides Ferrari still suffered from high wear/degradation in '97; Goodyear's tyres became inferior to Bridgestones yet Ferrari could give McLaren a run for its money for WDC; not to mention crazy favourtism conspiracy theories in the single tyre manufacturer days - utterly ridiculous and nothing for the manufacturer to be gained from unless there was a tyre war.

If his only option is Sauber, he should definitely retire. But if he could drive one more year for Ferrari I'm sure he would. What I don't unerstand is: if Vettel is signed to move to Ferrari in 2014 then they need someone for just one year (2013) so why not MS? That would be a better option than Massa.

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Originally Posted by rabf1

If his only option is Sauber, he should definitely retire. But if he could drive one more year for Ferrari I'm sure he would. What I don't unerstand is: if Vettel is signed to move to Ferrari in 2014 then they need someone for just one year (2013) so why not MS? That would be a better option than Massa.

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Would it though? At least Massa doesn't keep running into the back of other cars. (I'm sure the wags will be able to come up with a reason for that!)

I don't see the wisdom in swapping Massa for another driver who is maybe a bit faster but maybe a bit less reliable, especially if it's only for a year, and risks upsetting the equilibrium of the team.

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Originally Posted by AndyL

Would it though? At least Massa doesn't keep running into the back of other cars. (I'm sure the wags will be able to come up with a reason for that!)

I don't see the wisdom in swapping Massa for another driver who is maybe a bit faster but maybe a bit less reliable, especially if it's only for a year, and risks upsetting the equilibrium of the team.

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Theres no point in being reliable and making it to the finish if you dont finish in the top 10! No points=no point!
Id pick the shoe in a heart beat over Massa. But will the shoe want to go to Ferrari only to assist Fred? I wouldnt think so.

PS sorry if I sounded like a sarcy git ;) And for the record Im no fan of schumachers!

I would prefer to see Massa at Sauber. Massa has been completely morally destroyed at Ferrari. The entire team develops car for Alonso. Massa knows that if he is running in front of Alonso, he has to give up his position. This has to have an impact on his driving. The right thing for him was to change teams after 2010's "Fernando is faster than you" incident in Germany . He didn't. It's still not too late IMO. He is a young and talented driver. He could still come back to the top, but not at Ferrari.

Schumy won't go to Ferrari as he would do as we'll as Massa. He's slower year on year and Ferrari don't need him. If Massa can concentrate for the rest of the year and show a bit of spirit, then he will hold on to the ride until Seb moves in.

Fair points made by all...

Yes as far as we are concerned his comeback has been a mistake and his reputation as a driver has undoubtedly been tarnished. One thing that Im trying to understand is how he managed to acheive the fastest qualy time at Monaco despite his alleged age related slower reactions/loss of pace. Isn't Monaco the one track that truely shows the true pace of a driver... or was he just giving it all or nothing, big risks/big cahonies trying to rescue his reputation while the rest were being more cautious and thinking of the bigger picture?

Perhaps selfishly, I would like to see him at Ferrari even if just to see how his 43/44yr old self compares to Alonso now. I believe he would acheive far better results than Fellipe. I guess the big question is if his reputation would take a further battering and if he would be prepared to risk that.

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Originally Posted by Zico

Yes as far as we are concerned his comeback has been a mistake and his reputation as a driver has undoubtedly been tarnished.

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Thats only speaking from a fan's point of view.

Michael Schumacher didn't come back to prove anything, he did so because he missed racing and he wanted to enjoy himself. I think only he's in a position to say whether he had fun the last three years or not but I suspect he did.

When talking about signing Lewis Mercedes said the position only came free because MS delayed giving them a response as to whether he wanted to carry on driving with them next year. I'm going to take a wild guess and say thats not because he was busy pondering over offers from RBR, Ferrari and McLaren but because he doesn't know whether its worth his time anymore.

Is a guy who can't commit to another year at Mercedes going to be moving heaven and earth to get another less competitive drive next year? I don't think so.

He might end up at Ferrari or stay at Mercedes in a management/advisor/ambassador role though