The worst part of this news is not knowing whats going to happen with Michael. For the talk about how capable Nico is Michael has got the measure of him lately. Ferrari should ship massa of to Sauber and get Schumi for the year. Give them practice if they really are going to have Vettel and Alonso together
Absolutely. I'm pretty shaken up.
Schumacher needs to retire. Permanently. He's had his time. He's won SEVEN World Championships. He's in his Fourties. Yes, he can still drive, but he's no longer at his best and never will be. Time for him to move aside and let the future generation have a chance.
"Not at his best" is still miles better than most of the field. Of course, it can be some sort of loose comparison now that Hammy goes to Mercedes next year. We'll see how he fairs against Rosberg. And Schumacher has been consistently better than Rosberg lately. He leads the qualy-battle, all times they've raced, he's been in an equal or better position than Rosberg. Only exception to that was last weekend, but we weren't able to see that fully play out. Could've been another India 2011, where Schumacher looked to be beat by Rosberg, but Schumacher did what Schumacher does best, and pulled something exceptional out of the hat for the last part of the race.
I've seen so many times showing how fucking bad-ass but fair Schumacher is. All his battles are so firm. He just overtakes you. He doesn't do what Hamilton did up to 2012, just throw his car on the inside and say "this is my space" and hope it didn't end badly, which it did. Well, he even did that in Valencia. No, Schumacher comes at you with a force, and when he does a passing maneuver, it's usually exceptionally "firmly" executed. All his defensive maneuvers are of the same character. You can't just pass him. And then, when he realizes he's unable to keep them behind, like if his tyres are shot, he doesn't resist.
Even if Hamilton is leagues better, or leagues worse, or leagues the same as Rosberg next year, we still can't decide Schumacher's comparative pace. I know that Schumacher is in essence the same that he was in his reign. But the game isn't the same anymore. Did anyone else see the GPUpdate 2000 Suzuka Quali battle video? Did anyone notice the way Schumacher just hustles that car around the esses? It's just amazing the way he drove that car. It fit his style. Decisive. The game these years are driving on a delta time, taking care of tyres. Biding your time. It's not like Schumacher isn't a good strategist like that. He is. He so often beat Hakkinnen on pit-stop strategy - biding his time, saving his tyres, then blasting through when Hakkinnen pitted. He does the same now. I watch all his in out laps on live timing.
And everyone wants Schumacher to win. We saw the massive support everyone gave him at Monaco. Everyone was just straight up respectful of his pole. Everyone acknowledged his fantastic performance. He's up there. He just needs the car.
So no, he doesn't need to retire permanently. He's a fucking fantastic contribution to the sport. And that regardless of his comparative capabilities. Which it always should be. Stop focusing on comparing people to their pasts. He's doing an exceptional job. He's one of the better drivers in the most prestigious motor racing league on the planet.
Aye. He should never have come back, I said that three years ago. His comeback was simply rubbish and has dented his legendary status severely.
The fact that this is about status voids your opinion to me. Schumacher showed me that status is nothing if you're not happy. He's been happy with his life for the last three years, and you can say he's done that at the expense of his status. But it hasn't dented it severely by any means. It has shown everyone a different side of Schumacher. And it has been invaluable to me, to see my hero showing me that fuck everyone else. You can do what you want. Sitting back and floating on your legendary status is for lazy people and whimps. Schumacher gave it his all, and that's admirable. I don't give a shit about his status or what people think of him now compared to if he hadn't come back. The fact that he showed me that he didn't become a legend because he wanted to become a legend, through the fact that he doesn't mind if this dents it or not, puts him higher in my mind. That's what I admire him for.
