Schumacher Retires

[iceburns288]

Announced in the post-race press conference.

[habsfan]

as expected really, now he won't have to be shown up by kimi next year

[ninjak84]

Well he had to have that stick surgically removed from his ass sometime....
After recovery time, I wouldn't expect him to race anymore.

Either that, or he's hopping over to NASCAR with JPM

just jokes, MS was good....

[JAYMEZ]

Lol damn , good driver , just past his time i guess.

[rage2]

Good driver, too bad he's a fucking cheater with the FIA backing him and Ferrari 100%. iceburns can try and defend this, but I've shown so many examples, and with this weekends decision to pull Alonso back to 10th on the grid for "unintentional blocking", I think it's pretty damn clear the FIA wants MS and Ferrari to win it.

I wanted to see him have a REAL fight with Kimi with the same equipment. Everyone knew that would NOT happen because MS knows he's not the best, just needs a mediocre 2nd driver to make him look that much better. I've predicted this before, and voila, Kimi confirmed, Schumacher out. He's just missing 1 record (most GP starts) and I'll bet he would've LOVED to take that one too, but coming out slower than Kimi to get that record wouldn't have been worth it.

His acheivements won't be remembered too much by me. I will remember him by all the bad shit he's done that has made me build a hatred for him over the years. MS really had no real competition in his whole domination era, which made him a lot better than what he really is. Not to mention him taking the cream of the crop from the dominating Benneton team and moving them all to Ferrari to ensure he (eventually) had the best equipment.

There are rumors of him not really retiring, links to McLaren Mercedes, lemme tell ya, I'm a huge McLaren fan, and it'll be a sad day for me if MS signs on with my team.

[snoop101]

here is the link.

http://www.formula1.com/race/news/4932/765.html

[iceburns288]

Originally posted by rage2
Good driver, too bad he's a fucking cheater with the FIA backing him and Ferrari 100%. iceburns can try and defend this, but I've shown so many examples, and with this weekends decision to pull Alonso back to 10th on the grid for "unintentional blocking", I think it's pretty damn clear the FIA wants MS and Ferrari to win it.

I got nothin to say about the blocking call this weekend- I agree 100%. The timing was bad, considering there's a championship race going on, but it's clear the FIA just wanted Schumi to have a clean race in his last time in a Ferrari at Monza. I don't blame them, he brought Ferrari back from the dead after 20 years and has had a great career over 13 seasons, they just wanted a happy ending for the Italians. Too bad it had to come in the middle of a championship this close, it would have been nice last year or something when it was clear Ferrari was getting their ass kicked anyways .

I think there are a lot of times that other people do dirty things that are quickly forgotten, but when Schumi does something dirty it's brought up time and time again .

[bmeier]

hate him or love him, no one can deny that he is and was one of the top 3 drivers of all time if not number 1. records speak for themselves.

although most people dont remember
Juan Manuel Fangio
Jim Clark
Alain Prost
Ayrton Senna
nigel mansel


there have been a lot of great drivers....

[iceburns288]

Originally posted by bmeier
although most people dont remember
Juan Manuel Fangio
Jim Clark
Alain Prost
Ayrton Senna
nigel mansel

Who could forget that crowd?

[iceburns288]

I'm also trying to get tickets to Brazil to see his last race

[rage2]

Originally posted by iceburns288
I got nothin to say about the blocking call this weekend- I agree 100%. The timing was bad, considering there's a championship race going on, but it's clear the FIA just wanted Schumi to have a clean race in his last time in a Ferrari at Monza. I don't blame them, he brought Ferrari back from the dead after 20 years and has had a great career over 13 seasons, they just wanted a happy ending for the Italians. Too bad it had to come in the middle of a championship this close, it would have been nice last year or something when it was clear Ferrari was getting their ass kicked anyways .

I think there are a lot of times that other people do dirty things that are quickly forgotten, but when Schumi does something dirty it's brought up time and time again .

haha man even Ferrari fans are crazy . Just because they want a good story, doesn't give the FIA the right to manipulate (or attempt to manipulate) the outcome of the race by targetting Alonso. That defeats the whole purpose of a sport... how does it make F1 different from, say, the WWE?

I'd like to know what driver was as dirty as schumacher and lies about it. I know a LOT of folks bring up Senna ramming other drivers, but he tells everyone he's gonna do it cuz he wants his revenge. MS just lies about every single incident and plays stupid.

Originally posted by bmeier
hate him or love him, no one can deny that he is and was one of the top 3 drivers of all time if not number 1. records speak for themselves.

Mediocre teammates, lack of competition coupled with dominating equipment will make ANY good driver seem as godlike as MS has in the last 12 years. Look at Senna and Prost. 2 of the greatest drivers out there, hell even teammates at McLaren. They prove to the world that they are world class talent by having very strong competition. Senna's amazing string of records (all broken by MS) were done with mediocre cars in some years, top level competition within and outside of his team, all with a lot less races under the belt than MS before he died at Imola in 94. Comparing MS to greats like Senna and Prost is an insult.

MS had it easy. And he's WAY overrated. I really wanted to see him race with Kimi at Ferrari, but he's too pussy to do it. This isn't speculation, even his manager has said Kimi going to Ferrari influenced MS to retire.

[rage2]

Source:

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=37316

Weber: Kimi was a factor
Sunday, 10, September, 2006, 16:58

Michael Schumacher’s decision to retire from Formula 1 may have been prompted by his inability to command the Ferrari team as the unequivocal number one driver for next year, according to his manager Willi Weber.

The 37-year-old seven-time champion was not in a position to commit to Ferrari for longer than another season, while the Italian team had a closing window of opportunity to sign rival Finnish ace Kimi Raikkonen.

And while Schumacher explained that by prolonging his racing career, he was hampering the development of Felipe Massa, Weber revealed that the Raikkonen factor also played its part.

“I think the main reason is also that he does not have the power any more to make his job 100% what he did until now,” Weber told ITV Sport’s Ted Kravitz, apparently referring to Schumacher’s ability to influence the team and its direction, as opposed to his driving ability.

Schumacher publicly maintained that the timing behind his decision was based on Massa’s future as well as his own.

He added that the decision had been an excrutiating one, which he made as long ago as July.

“It has naturally been difficult in a way but at the moment I simply knew that all the effort, all the energy and all the motivation you need in order to be competitive, and that is the only reason I want to be here, I cannot see I can have that for further years.

“It has been such a good time for all this time and there is no point to just hang in and may take away a future of a young talented driver like Felipe.

“Obviously my replacement I was aware of this for quite a long time and for Felipe it was around Indianapolis that his future had to be decided and I did not see a reason to just hang in and take away his opportunity.

“I think he is a talented and great person.”

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo confirmed to the Italian press after the race that the team’s drivers decisions had been taken as early as mid-summer.

“Kimi’s deal was done many months ago,” said the Italian.

“Schumacher’s decision was made a few week’s ago, and I mean a few.”

[habsfan]

rage i think you stole my brain. i can't summarize my thoughts any better than how you just did.

[rage2]

That's because I share the same viewpoints as many people out there. Well, basically anyone who isn't a hardcore Ferrari fan. That's the problem, a lot of analysts and fans out there have a soft spot for Ferrari and won't tell it like it is. Look at MS back in 94 when he began his cheating ways at Benetton. He got penalized hardcore, which gave Hill the chance to win the championship. He wasn't the favorite guy on the paddock even though he was showing very impressive speeds. Look at the first 3 races in 94, Senna vs Schumacher were neck and neck with Senna retiring all 3 races. Damon Hill nor anyone else on the field just wasn't competition for Schumacher after Senna died. The FIA had to find ways to penalize MS to make the season more positive after the Senna and Ratzenburger deaths in May 94.

Deep in his head, MS knew that his "must win" and "it ain't cheating unless you get caught" mentality would continue to harm him and the only way to avoid that was to join a team that's historically been favored by the FIA, Scuderia Ferrari. And it worked... look at all the decisions the FIA made to pave his way to such a fabled era.

The best sign of FIA Ferrari favoritism came in 1997. Coming into the last race of the year, it was deja vu from 1994... MS vs Villeneuve, whoever wins gets the title, or if both retire, MS wins. Even before the race everyone talked about how if MS pulls another Austrailia 94, he would get penalized severely. And what do you know, he pulls it again but FAILS. So the penalty served? Frickin' lose his standings in the World Championship but keep his wins on record. What the fuck kind of penalty is that? MS should have been banned for at least several races, if not a full season in 98.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

FIA loved MS like he was the only person carrying the sport. As an ambassador of F1 racing, he failed time and time again.

[l8braker]

Sad to see him go (as a tifosi), he's not what he once was, but still a great racer.

[Moonracer]

I like Ferrari but I'm glad to see MS go. I quit watching long ago, 75% because of him.

[civic_stylez]

everyone still loves to hate on him... as i sit here in my computer room which is an F1 shrine (hell, ive even stolen the shell V-POWER posters from shell) i dont care what anyone says, he is one of the the greatest drivers to ever get behind the wheel of an F1 car...once youre on top, everyone wants to see you fall... the guy is my all time favorite sports icon/hero. i take it rage2 isnt his biggest fan but look at him in his early days, he came up through the ranks like any other driver and sure he got preferential treatment from ferarri, but why wouldnt he?? you start your best goalie or quarterback in playoff games because you want to win..and he did.. you either love him or hate him but thats the way it is.. mikey kept the sport interesting and brought me to F1 as a fan so i view him as a great.....

[habsfan]

Originally posted by civic_stylez
the guy is my all time favorite sports icon/hero.

you have disturbingly low standards

[ninjak84]

Originally posted by habsfan
you have disturbingly low standards

Says someone with a Toyota F1 car in his signature