Who thinks Schumacher finally should retire?

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Originally Posted by henners88

I don't think its a case of him having more balls than other drivers because lets face it most of them are pretty vocal when things happen they dislike. I think its more a case of Schumacher struggling more than most and venting his frustration at the tyres because he is unable to adapt fully. The balls in Schumachers case made their way swiftly to his forehead in Practice for the last race where he slowed down on the apex of the final chicane when he thought he had been held up by Hamilton and tried to make his point. He nearly caused an unnecessary accident and demonstrated he is a man under immense pressure.

Spain 2012 - Schumacher's Weekend - Video Dailymotion

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Classic road rage! He needs to try the roundabout over the M25 at Swanley!

He should go find a little guy and take it out on him!!!

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Originally Posted by F1boat

Ridiculous. I never saw Fangio but it is well documented that he was top driver at the teams he drove, plus he always jumped ship to be in the top car, plus, while the racing was very dangerous, physically it was not as hard as today'....

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I'm not sure this statement is totally accurate. Two of his car changes were necessitated by his team folding, so he had to choose who to drive for. In 1954 obviously the best team was Mercedes and he made the right choice. Not very many drivers choose to disadvantage themselves with inferior equipment. In 1956 Lancia-Ferrari may have been the best car, but his teamates were very competitive.. For 1957 he left Ferrari more over personal conflicts with owner and team management, rather than to move to a supeior car, Vanwall may have offered more potential. In short Fangio was not always in the very best car, but made the most of his opportunities.

My point is that it is easy to discredit someone... I respect Juan Manuel tremendously... he was a true legend.

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Originally Posted by F1boat

Ridiculous. I never saw Fangio but it is well documented that he was top driver at the teams he drove, plus he always jumped ship to be in the top car, plus, while the racing was very dangerous, physically it was not as hard as today and the sport were less professional. In conclusion - Fangio undoubtedly is one of the best ever, even the best ever, maybe, but if you want, you can diminish every achievement, like you are doing with the case of Michael Schumacher. And sorry, but it was obvious that he is very fast and talented - both in his championship years and in the late 90s. Now, he is simply well past his prime.

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dude, i am saying that fangio was the best, he was the best and still is.
and the driving back then was hard, those drivers came out of a race exhausted, and they didn't have fancy drivers aids or water bottles.

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Originally Posted by lotus rules

dude, i am saying that fangio was the best, he was the best and still is.
and the driving back then was hard, those drivers came out of a race exhausted, and they didn't have fancy drivers aids or water bottles.

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Nor did they have fitness regimes, physios or even have to stop smoking to get fit. Most partied through the weekends when they weren't in the car and drank heavily. They looked exhausted because they weren't as fit as current drivers.

The g-forces they encountered in their cars were not much higher than you get now in a moderately priced sports car and are nothing compared to the forces modern drivers have to endure.

Different times, different conditions. Fangio and his colleagues had a completely different skillset from modern drivers and a different outlook on life. While Fangio was excellent and the best of his generation I do not think you can make an accurate direct comparison with a modern driver.

As for Schumi, he's in a fortunate position. His team will indulge his lack of points because of his marketing potential so he can pick and choose when to retire which is not a luxury other drivers have. I think he's driven very well this year except he's had appalling luck. As the season progresses I'm sure we'll see him get a few good results. I'm rooting for him as its good to see an old 'un stick it to the young'uns once in a while.

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Originally Posted by Malbec

Different times, different conditions. Fangio and his colleagues had a completely different skillset from modern drivers and a different outlook on life. While Fangio was excellent and the best of his generation I do not think you can make an accurate direct comparison with a modern driver.

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True, but a class act is a class act whatever the era.

Schumacher's record as far as I'm concerned is completely irrelevant to whether or not he should retire. From Mercedes-Benz' perspective, it should be about putting the best set of components to go racing with. To that end, the question needs to be asked is:

"Is Schumacher the best component currently available" - I think "No".

Realistically the best asnwer to that question is probably Gary Paffett who is under contract to HWA AG. Daimler AG could pull rank and put him into a Mercedes-Benz with very little effort.

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Originally Posted by lotus rules

dude, i am saying that fangio was the best, he was the best and still is.

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You can't go and state opinions like facts. Besides, is extremely difficult to make comparisons between drivers from different eras.

Fangio's winning per centage 24/ 51 starts still looks awfully impressive (47). So does Schumacher 91/292 (31). The trouble is that number declines the more races he enters, also true of some of his other statistics. I'm sure he is aware of this, and not much bothered by it.Probably we shouldn't be either.

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Originally Posted by D28

Fangio's winning per centage 24/ 51 starts still looks awfully impressive (47). So does Schumacher 91/292 (31). The trouble is that number declines the more races he enters, also true of some of his other statistics. I'm sure he is aware of this, and not much bothered by it.Probably we shouldn't be either.

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Of course... one shouldn't rely much on statistics. Hamilton used to have a rather large win percentage in his first seasons, but since then, it has been reduced considerably. Meanwhile, Vettel's win percentage increased noticeably in 2012, but still... do you know who's the active driver with the largest podium percentage (after Schumacher)? It's neither Hamilton nor Vettel - Alonso, then Räikkönen. You can always try to read into some pieces of data, but they don't always tell the bigger picture.