As this weekend marks a very special milestone in the career of the most successful driver to have ever lived, I would like to use this post to represent it on this forum. Making his debut in Jordan and showing his strengths gaining 2 WDC's in a Benetton and then gaining 5 consecutive WDC's in Ferrari before retiring, he has shown that dedication and passion within a team can produce brilliant results out of nothing, beating mostly every statistic and smashing pole position times and lap records to pieces. Michael has given his all to Formula 1 in terms of safety improvements for drivers as well as new concepts and ideas within teams (mostly in Ferrari). Schumacher has had his bad moments also... we can list these, but I don't think it is the relevant time to do this. His comeback has been mediocre and and we judge this in contrast with his previous career, but there have been flickers and glimmers of hope, that he may be able to jump onto the podium once again. The 2010 season was an eye-opener for Michael, much had changed and seemed out of his depth in the earlier part of the season, being out raced and out qualified by his younger countryman Nico Rosberg. The latter half seemed promising, Schumacher was making opportunistic moves and had the upper hand on Nico getting a grasp of the MGP-W01, but it was too little too late, his season ended abruptly with a horrific crash in Abu-Dhabi. Nico beat Michael in the WDC of 2010. There was news of retirement and negativity from the critics, but this was shrugged off immediately by Michael and the team, news over testing seemed uplifting as the MGP-W02 was generally the fastest car out in the testing sessions. The season started with a downer both cars retired in Australia and brought home nil points, Michael then delivered for Mercedes bringing home 2 points to kick-start their season.. Nico quickly took the reigns of being the qualifying ace in Mercedes and gained higher grid slots than Michael in most sessions, but the racing this season seems more competitive between both drivers, Michael has put in some stunning performances in Monaco, Montreal and the Nurburgring -->fighting his way back up the field from a low starting position, Michael has brought home the highest result for Mercedes so far, but more is needed to be seen from him yet, the Mercedes is not competitive enough for race wins and can barely manage to eye a genuine podium place. With his experience and team building skills there is still hope, that one day a 42< year old Michael can reach the podium at least one more time in the Mercedes. This weekend is special for Michael, and there is no doubt he will want to produce a result to match it. [video=youtube;8xgYFWp5YHY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xgYFWp5YHY[/video] 3:31 Oh yeah [video=youtube;_NvGVN4Y0f8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NvGVN4Y0f8[/video] ^^ sorry for the crap song in the background, I did not produce the video.
Great post Manny. As much as I want him to do well, I think the car is poor and they are not going to get anywhere until they get more downforce on it. Best drive since his comeback? Well certainly Canada was up in P2 and lapping 1 second faster than Vettel at times. For this weekend I think he will pick up a solid 5th. But who knows the Spa weather might help him... (not 1998)
Good post Manny. There's a very interesting article on the F1 site as well: http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2011/8/12426.html
The Schumacher of now can't seem to piece together a full great weekend together. We'll often see a poor result in qualifying yet a very good performance in the race. If he gets where he wants in quali he often doesn't get what he wants in the race. That said for a 42 year old he isn't doing too bad a job. He isn't as fast as he was nor does he have that sublime consistency but there is still a very good driver in there. But 20 years? That's incredible. So many great memories to choose from. China 2006 always stands tall in the memory for me. His last win but probably the sweetest I experienced along with Japan 2000. He had no right to compete with the Michelin runners in that wet race but somehow he did. Bit of help he got with the Renault/Alonso tyre decision botch up but to take advantage of mistakes like that, you've still got to be in that position to take full advantage and somehow Schumacher did! The finest Grand Prix driver I have ever witnessed. Great thread Manny.
I'll settle for just having him in F1 one last time. nothing lasts forever Manny, but having him there is a plus in my eyes. It don't hurt, and he adds to my enjoyment being there. One last role of the dice and wherever it falls, I'm happy. A legend, love the guy. Nice article dude. 
