The 2019 Season - Your Verdict

[Nitrodaze]

And let's face facts. During the Ferrari years, nobody was allowed to race him while on the same team. He rightfully earned his way into the team and helped mold it, but the dominance from that point on was assisted by the team. As for the comparison to Hamilton, Hamilton easily wins in the "race hard but clean" category IMHO.

While in the heat of battle he was a great driver, his competitive side would just as often force him into bad decisions that weren't at all sporting. Parking a car at Rascasse comes to mind, and since Mika has entered the thread, why don't we ask him about being put onto the grass at 180 MPH? Both great drivers in their day, but also both vastly aided in their success by the cars they were driving. And human, subject to flaws all of us have.

There is no doubt about it, Schaumacher was a controvercial multiple world champion. Yes he would do whatever it takes to win, including crashing into opponents and any dirty tricks he can get away with. This is the reason why Hill is not a multiple world champion. He was super fast but lacked Schumachers killer instinct. These are traits that you see in the very best on the grid. They hate losing, winning is everything.

We saw it when Prost crashed into Senna to win the championship and when Senna returned the favour to himself win the championship. There isn't one multiple world champion without some form of chequered past, if you look closely enough. Be it Alonso or Vettel or Hamilton 2016 as Rosberg squirmed through the Abu Dhabi race that sealed his only drivers world championship.

Winning world championships is not an easy affair. And not all drivers on the grid have the particular skill to do it. Those that do are few and far between and are usually very special. They usually are unapologetically singleminded about winning.

I think it is a load of crap to say any driver on the grid could have won the same titles given the same chances. If that were the case, Massa would have been world Champion. He was good enough to be world champion but it eluded him. So was Irvine, Webber, Coultard to name a few. All of these guys were super fast and had access to championship winning cars but could not convert the opportunity into a single driver's title. Also, Nico Rosberg would have had more than one title to his name.

I have to say, it is plain stupid to say the multiple world champion were lucky as well. Luck had a small part to do with it, but a majority of the time, making their own luck had lots to do with their incredible achievements. Making luck is the difference between the champions and those that never win championships.

Inspite of his flaws, Schumacher's achievement is unquestionably the highest ever attained in the history of the formula. Just as Hamilton's achievement is unquestably the most impressive in the current era of F1 racing. They are not just another racer to be raced, they are the guy any racer must beat to attain any semblance of respect. The question is always going to be; "Who did you beat". Hakkinen and Alonso can always say l beat Schumacher which gave them instant credibility. Vettel would say l beat Alonso, Hamilton, Raikonenn and Button. And Hamilton can say, I beat Alonso, Vettel, Raikonenn, Button and Rosberg. Each of these guys world champions.

So we should not make an incredibly hard achievement into a ridicle or trivia. Even if the champion is not to your particular liking.