BMW_Dude

The name Schumacher has become synonymous with Formula 1 over the past 15 years, as the amazing German has rewritten the record books several times over.

And despite the controversy that often went with it, Michael's incredible feats have not been lost on his friends and rivals who were keen to give their own tributes to the legend following his decision to retire.


Luca di Montezemolo - Ferrari president
“I had always said that the decision to retire would be his alone, but now that decision has been taken, I feel a sense of sadness.

"We have lived through some unforgettable times together, some good some bad, achieving results that will be hard to equal. He is both sincere and passionate and has earned the affection of all of us and of our fans."


Jean Todt – Ferrari MD
“Michael has been the author of a unique chapter in the history of Formula 1 and of Ferrari in particular. It has yet to reach its conclusion and what he has achieved extends over and above the results obtained.”
“He is an exceptional man and will become a legend as a driver. For me personally, he is a great friend and together we have lived through unrepeatable experiences.”


Felipe Massa – Ferrari team-mate

"I think on the one hand it’s sad – he’s a fantastic driver, the most complete driver in Formula 1, a fantastic man and we have a great relationship. So I can say that I’m definitely going to miss him because he’s very special for me as well.
"On the other hand every driver would love to be in his position. Michael won the race, announced his retirement so I think that’s really a dream for every driver."



Ross Brawn – Ferrari technical director
"It’s obviously very sad but it’s good to see Michael leave in such a strong position. I would have hated to see him just fade off into the sunset and he’s leaving mounting a very strong challenge for the championship.

"It is the end of an era. He’s a very tough sportsman, we all know that, but he’s a lovely guy and we see the other side of Michael that maybe a lot of people don’t see and he’s a very popular guy."


Willi Weber - Schumacher's manager “Well it’s very mixed feeling. Fifty percent is happy and the 50 is a little bit sadness because it was wonderful years, with many, many success."


Ralf Schumacher - Brother

"I am sure he has thought long and hard about his decision and I respect it. I've enjoyed racing with him and I wish him all the best both for the championship and for the future."



Sir Jackie Stewart - Triple world champion

"I think it’s the right decision at the right time and I couldn’t be happier for him being able to announce it after winning a grand prix, in a Ferrari in Italy that he’s going to retire as a racing driver. And I think he has every chance of finishing the season as world champion."


Johnny Herbert - Benetton team-mate 1994/95

"He’s been a great champion because he’s achieved a hell off a lot, there are some dark things that have gone on in the past but at the end of the day he’s the most successful driver we’ve ever seen and now he’s got time to spend with his family."


Murray Walker - Former ITV Sport commentator
"I’m sad to see the end of an era because this is one of the truly greatest drivers of all time that we’re going to look back at, like I look back at Fangio, and talk about for a long time to come. And Schumacher’s had this wonderful ability to weld a team around him, he’s been an inspired leader, he’s never said a word against the team in public but he’s given them a lot of stick when he feels he has to if he has to if things haven’t gone well.
"The man is a genius, he continues to be a genius and I think he’s done exactly the right thing to go out on the very highest note."


Mark Blundell - ITV Sport

"For me Schumacher is the most complete racing driver. And when I say that I mean he does everything in the car, outside of it and gets everything done to do one thing and that’s win.

"He may not be the best racing driver in my opinion, but Friday, Saturday, Sunday afternoons he’s the most complete guy. For sure he’s the best champion. I don’t think in my lifetime we’re going to see anything else like it, for sure."


Jenson Button - Honda
"He’s the most experienced driver in the pit lane and he’s the most successful ever in Formula 1 history so it’s always nice to have someone with that experience and who’s won that much still involved in Formula 1 when you’re racing."


David Coulthard - Red Bull
"It was a fitting way for him to announce it with a victory. Irrespective of whether people are believers in Michael's race ethics or not, you have to recognise he's been a great champion and it's the end of an era."



Fernando Alonso – Renault

“I think it is always good to race with great champions and with people with a lot of wins, pole positions, fastest laps and all the records Michael had. So it is always good to beat him. It is better than the other ones.”


Giancarlo Fisichella – Renault

“Formula 1 will miss Michael. I don't think we will miss Michael in the football games because even if he retires, I think he will play with us. He loves playing football. He's a great driver, he's a nice guy and he is still fit, he's still quick.

“The only time when we can talk together is in the football match for charity. And he is a very nice guy and especially when I bring my family and my children he is nice guy he talks and he plays with the children so you can see he is a father like me, a normal guy”


Jarno Trulli – Toyota

“It's been a pleasure for me to race with him, and obviously he has achieved a lot. It's not up to me to say how much, but the numbers speak for themselves. We will miss him a little bit as a driver, we will miss him in the football matches, because that has been very nice this year but on the other hand, I think it's his own life and he has to get on with it.

“He's given a lot to Formula 1, he's given a lot to Ferrari and it's normal that a lot of people will miss him.”


Tonio Liuzzi – Toro Rosso

“Yeah, of course it would be a big shame if he retires because he's the greatest champion of the last ten years for sure and to race with him has always been pretty fair and he has given us some good lessons on TV. He's always been a great guy and a great driver to talk about racing and sports with but for sure, that's life.

“Sometime he thought maybe he had to continue a bit more with his family and I agree with his decision if he will retire. It's just a decision which arises once in your life, the time when you have to say it's over.”


Ron Dennis – McLaren boss

“I have had some great moments with him and they are probably off-circuit and I think you spoil it if you share it. And I don't offend you, but I immediately remembered a particular moment that was very good fun, but I don't think he'd particularly want me to share it with you."


Norbert Haug – Mercedes motorsport boss

“I think he has had a remarkable career. Everyone knows that. You only have to look at the statistics and he has contributed a lot to the sport. I remember very well where it all started and he was a German Formula Three driver and he came to junior team and that is just 15 years ago and its not too long since he started and so they are absolutely great memories.

“One thing I can tell you from my memories and I can tell you when I came to Mercedes-Benz and he was already a group C driver and he was getting out of the pits and he was quicker than Jochen Mass in his fastest race lap and I thought ‘that is something' and it was.”

Source = ITV-F1

Imhotep Evil

ROAD KILL

Is Schumacher the greatest?*

by Dr. Bud E. Bryan

Austin, Texas. The most Formula 1 victories in history (90). The most World Championships (seven, five consecutive). The most pole positions (68). The most wins in a single season (13 in '04). The most consecutive wins in a season (seven). The most fastest race laps (75). The records that Michael Schumacher has accumulated over his career since his debut at the Belgium Grand Prix in 1991 are simply staggering. And that's just a partial list. And with the retirement of the 37-year-old German F1 superstar upon us at the end of this season, the inevitable comparisons will be made with the greats before him - Juan Manuel Fangio, Jimmy Clark, Jackie Stewart, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna. And that would be futile too - because it is simply an impossible task.

First of all, I guess you have to ask yourself if you consider Formula 1 to be the pinnacle for rating racing drivers. Before you answer that, would you be willing to dismiss such heroic driving talents like Dan Gurney, A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti from the discussion just because they didn't spend their entire careers in F1? I wouldn't. After all, Jimmy Clark, whom many of a certain age consider to be the greatest to ever strap on a helmet, viewed Dan Gurney as his greatest rival of all the drivers he ever raced against. And for my money, Gurney, Foyt and Andretti should always be considered at the very top of any list.

But then again, the previous eras in motor racing were so dramatically different that to compare them - and the drivers who raced in them - is as difficult as comparing dominant figures in football or baseball from different eras. The Formula 1 of Jimmy Clark and Dan Gurney's time had absolutely nothing in common with the F1 of today. The furious march of technology over the years has been simply mind-boggling. The developments in tire technology alone have changed F1 so radically in just the last five years that you can't even compare Schumacher's era to that of Ayrton Senna's. Factor in developments in engine technology, electronics, aerodynamics and suspension design - and it truly does become impossible. The romantic and exceedingly dangerous F1 era of the '60s has given way to a largely technology-driven series where the "package" is the key to winning - and it's clear that Michael Schumacher had the best equipment at his disposal for the majority of his career, with Ferrari simply being in a class by itself during Michael's years of dominance.

Should Michael be considered in any discussion of F1 drivers as one of the all-time greats? There's no question that he should be - and he will be.

Is he one of my personal all-time greats?

No, exactly because he has had the most dominant technological package at his disposal. He was in the right place, at the right time and with the right team at the absolute peak of its dominance. He also happens to have been the dominant driver in an era of Formula 1 that has managed to completely turn me off to the so called "pinnacle" of the sport in general. The races have been turned into technological demonstration runs instead of real racing. If you don't have the right "package" then you're running for third place (or lower). Yes, sure there have been individual memorable races over the Schumacher era, but modern day F1 leaves me cold - just like Schumacher does.

Formula 1, what with its Bernie Ecclestone-orchestrated greed-fest/political agenda always taking precedence over the actual racing, is not something that holds my attention or even interests me much anymore. I'll tune in if they're running at a track I want to see - but even that has become sporadic as F1 continues to replace classic venues with antiseptic, glorified go-kart tracks.

In the end, for me F1 has been neutralized and homogenized to the point that is devoid of emotion, spirit - and life itself.

And I know I'm not alone in finding that F1 leaves a lot to be desired these days, either. Even an acknowledged expert like the reigning F1 World Champion himself, Fernando Alonso, finds the sport has changed to the point where he is even openly questioning it. Last weekend at Monza, in the biggest display of hometown favoritism and Bush League Bullshit I have ever witnessed in big-time motor racing - race stewards took away Alonso's three fastest qualifying laps for allegedly "blocking" Felipa Massa's Ferrari in qualifying. Besides being the most blatant bad call I've ever seen, the penalty dropped Alonso from his fifth-place grid position to tenth - hurting his chances in the race and conveniently helping Michael Schumacher, his chief rival for the championship.

Alonso had this to say afterwards: "I did my lap without blocking anyone intentionally. I love the sport, I love the fans coming here, a lot of them from Spain, but I don't consider F1 anymore a sport."

What does this have to do with a discussion of Michael Schumacher?

Schumacher succeeded in an era when Formula 1 became a politically-charged cesspool of runaway egos and technology for technology's sake. He may have been the greatest of "his" era, but because of what the "sport" of F1 has become during his tenure, he'll always have an asterisk next to his name as far as I'm concerned.

Adios until the next time.

siko

I personally think he's the best ever driver, but also the biggest a$$**** in the F1 history!

So this is my tribute him:
1st -->
2nd -->

Imhotep Evil

Well I don't think you could compare him to the old drivers.

In the old days F1 was a blood bath. In just a few years Ferrari lost about 4 drivers. The odds of both winning so many races and surveing would have been slim to non existent.

Even Fangio couldn't take it any more.

siko

My comments were referring to the modern era.

Osnabrueck

I understand Bud Bryan's point of view.

There's no denying that Schumi is a great driver, but it's also clear that his era was one where Ferrari technically dominated - so much so that F1 was practically one-sided.

So while Schumi will leave behind a legacy of astounding records, he also leaves behind a wake of completely forgettable F1 seasons where, most of the time, races were pretty much set after the 3rd lap.

I do think however, that Schumi couldn't be exiting at a better time, in a better season. He's lost the DC to Alonso and is fighting tooth and nail to recapture the title in what's got to be the tightest late-season F1 has seen since 1999 or so.

Perhaps Schumi's biggest crime is that he made it look too damn easy.

go0gle

MS played a very big role in the development of the Ferrari F1 cars from 1997 on. I think his contributions to the Scuderia led to that dominance over the past 6 years. I think it was 1998 when he broke the record for most testing kilometers done by any f1 driver. The guy worked very hard before he had those “easy” wins.

A quote from Ferrari's chief race engineer Luca Baldisserri:

Ferrari's chief race engineer Luca Baldisserri wants Michael Schumacher to stay involved in testing the Italian squad's cars once he retires at the end of the season.

Schumacher announced at Monza he will stop racing in Formula One after 14 years when this season finishes in Brazil.

Ferrari said Schumacher, who will be replaced by Kimi Raikkonen, would remain involved with them, and that his new role will be announced at the end of the year.

Baldisserri said Schumacher will be missed for several reasons.

"Schumacher has been with us for 11 years and I can say he's brought everything we have now: he's given us precious suggestions on work methods and he's been a role model not only at the wheel, but also in his professional approach," Baldisserri told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"It will be a big problem to carry on at the same level without him.

"I don't know Raikkonen well: we only have information from the engineers who worked with him at Sauber. Well, when he gets inside the car he gets his job done very well, he's very quick, but Schumacher knew how to do other things too and created an incredible relationship with the team.

"He contributed to produce winning cars, while now it will be up to us to give the driver a car capable of winning.

"I've already asked (Jean) Todt and (Stefano) Domenicali to convince him to test our cars. After all, driving is the thing he loves most."

Race and test technical manager Nigel Stepney also predicted it will be difficult to cope without Schumacher.

"It will be a difficult winter," he said. "We are losing what has been for us the focal point all these years, that's why I'm saying pre-season testing will be difficult for us, because we'll have to build with Kimi the same level of confidence."

In fact some Formula 1 teams are testing this week and despite his announcement Michael is testing! Here is the official Ferrari press release form today:

Day 1 of testing - Paul Ricard - 13th September

Circuit: Paul Ricard HTTT. Version 2A-SC: 3.530 km
Driver: Michael Schumacher
Car: 248 F1
Weather: air temperature 21/26 °C, track temperature 26/45 °C. Clear skies, then variable; windy.

Second day of testing this week for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, working today at the Le Castellet circuit, in the South of France.

Today, Michael Schumacher ran on the 2A-SC version of the French track, concentrating on an intensive Bridgestone tyre development programme in preparation for the final three races of the season. Michael covered a total of 215 laps, the quickest in a time of 1'00"158.

The Scuderia continues testing tomorrow: Michael Schumacher continues on track at Le Castellet while Felipe Massa will be working at Fiorano.

He did almost 760 kilometers today… that is a lot in terms of F1 testing for one day! And he continues tomorrow…

I think he deserves all his achievements.


Schumi

450SEL6.9

Can you fault him for being good? It's no accident that Ferrari had the best car for so many years. Schu organized the team around him and motivated everyone to do their part for the team. There probably hasn't been a driver in the history of F1 who could revolutionalize a team like Schu. Drivers usually do just that - they drive! Schu rebuilt Ferrari and he is arguably the only man who could have done that for them!

The Emperor

My thoughts exactly, siko! There's nothing to add.

RikfromBelgium

[quote=BMW_Dude]


Fernando Alonso – Renault

“I think it is always good to race with great champions and with people with a lot of wins, pole positions, fastest laps and all the records Michael had. So it is always good to beat him. It is better than the other ones.”


That's exatcly the sort of "tribute" one would expect from that arrogant spanjard, total lack of respect.