bonsoir peeps I was never a fan of the loaded deck way Ferrari went racing during the Todt/Brawn/ Schumacher era , but i never held that against Micheal as I believe any racing driver worth a damn would have jumped at being in the same fortunate position as Michael was with that regime , I always had time for Micheal , i admired his intelligence in and out of the car , I admired the way he maximised his position at Ferrari , but most of all I admired his ruthless will to win at all costs and the fact he never gave a stuff what other people thought of him , I never regarded Micheal as the best driver i ever saw , to my grave I will always believe senna had a talent that was not of this planet and this world will never see his like ever again , but never the less Schumacher's talent was from the top drawer , Basically i believe had Michael continued racing with Ferrari in 07 and 08 he would have walked the WDC those yrs , lets be honest kimi raikk was a big disappointment both those yrs and certainly think Micheal would have used his influence and knowing what we now know about kimi raik would have done far more with the competitive aldo Costa chassis"s than kimi ever did had they been team mates for those two yrs , which leaves Ferrari's only competitors for those two yrs , as we all know McLaren shot themselves in the foot during 07 with there deception and internal handbags , not to mention lewis and Alonso both took vital WDC points from each other , as for 08 , i honestly believe Micheal would have had too much in his locker for Hamilton at that time , lewis only just won the title by the skin of his teeth from a driver ( Massa) that we now know is not of the extreme highest calibre , it does not take a rocket scientist to fathom out what Schumacher in his pomp would have done to Hamilton in a competitive Ferrari chassis -- basically I think Micheal retired a little to soon and would have cleaned up had he competed during 07 and 08 --------- would welcome anybodys thoughts -
You and Manny are going to get on just fine! I think the fact he returned to racing indicates he still thinks he has something to give, and probably would have done in the years mentioned. I think you're a little unfair writing Massa off so soon though. Ok, so he's nowhere near his best right now, but before the arrival of Alonso, and his accident, Massa was in hot form. On the other hand, Hamilton in his title winning season never had the consistency of Schumacher, so maybe he would have stood a chance.
i was not really writing massa off canary , got nothing against him , i just believe schumacher in his prime was the better driver and would have done more with the 08 chassis than felipe did - as we both know the 08 ferrari was severly allergic to damp , wet , changing conditions and massa did struggle during those kind of races that year , knowing what we know about micheal i believe he would of performed better than massa in those conditions with the 08 car , and hence would of had the neccersary points at the end of the season to have pipped lewis ---
A whole load of if's and but's here... In 2007 as it panned out I can imagine Schumi beating Massa or Raikonnen and winning the title, but: Schumi was a driving force in Ferrari and good friends with Stepney, it's conceivable therefore that Spygate would never have had happened if Schumi was still at the team. Given that we then probably wouldn't have had the FIA meddling in intra team politics at Hungary, and consequently the whole McLaren explosion might never have happened and Alonso may not have left. In that situation, I could make an equal argument for either Schumi or Alonso winning 2007 and I can't see past the fact that Alonso in the 2008 McLaren would have been too consistent and fast not to have beaten anyone in the Ferrari. Such was the dominance of Ferrari that it's hard to judge Schumi's level of performance during his 5 straight titles, but I tend to believe that by 2005/6 when competition came back he was no longer at the same level he was in the 90's. I could believe that 1990's Schumi could have had a chance at beating Alonso in a 2008 McLaren - but not a big one... If you're looking for one that got away - I think it's probably the year he broke his leg - 1999 I think...
here what you are saying about mclaren , i can only really judge on what did actually happen there , the fact that lewis and alonso were taking points off each other during 07 mainly because in my humble opinion alonso was never comfortable with the change from michelin to bridgestone for some of the season would have played into schumachers hands , again for 08 i can only really judge on the drivers that were at mclaren and ferrari that year to influence my thoughts as to how micheal would have performed against them --
Schumacher left because he knew that unless he had a car far better than everyone else and FIA were willing to continue to bend or change rules to help him and Ferrari he wouldn't win another title again, he's number one in his team, having a car built to his specifications and is being beaten by a driver I've always been surprised is still in the sport. I think the Mercedes is capable of winning races with a decent driver
To keep this simple, Martist; I've quoted you below and as you've requested, offered my opinion by adding my remarks [in green]. I hope it is easy to read.
It is interesting to think how things could be different if one person had made a slightly different decision. You obviously can never prove anything (in this case Schumacher winning in 07 and/or 08) but it doesn't stop us wondering what if. The knock on effects would have probably left the sport in a much changed position from how it currently is now, or for all we know nothing much would have changed.
The smallest of decisions can make a massive difference, you are right Brighty. Consistency in 2006 had taken a big hit as well as 2005, Ferrari had been toppled by Renault and Alonso reigned supreme. Michael was at this time exhausted, he did not quit because of the other two idiots excuses above you Brighty, but because he was stretched mentally and physically. He needed a break from the sport and time with his family. Therefore I believe that 2007 and 2008 can only be "ifs" as well as 96-(New team) 97-(Silly move on Villneuve) -98(Coulthard crash) -99(Broken leg)..... But we look to the future....and with his fitness levels (at 42 ) just as finessed as the drivers half his age today... who knows what may happen in 2012.
Schumacher is a great driver but I believe he was past his peak in 2006, and Alonso outdrove him in the weaker car - that alone tells me that 2007 and 2008 wouldn't have been easy titles for Schumacher. Having said that, I think he would have (just) won it in both years, because while Kimi might have been unbeatable on his day, there were many (legal) things Schumacher would have used to his advantage to remain the dominant Ferrari driver over the season. I also think he was unlucky to have missed out in 1999.
Well, I always think he retired as he foresaw an Alonso dominance (which didnt happen) and if he had similar cars to him, that he knew he would lose. Although in 2007, imo Alonso's weakest year, I think Schumacher would have taken it, and the same with 2008 as both the top drivers were majorly inconsistant, getting just over 50% of all points available.
Hard to say. The 94 Williams took a long time to sort out and whilst the 95 Williams was a very quick car, it was also unreliable for a front running car. Hill and Coulthard lost a lot of points through car failures, though everyone only ever remembers the driver errors.
your intense dislike of schumacher as allways shines out like a belisha beacon , i tend to look at the wider picture and judge him on the entirety of his first career with benettone and ferrari and not just on a couple of races where he tangled with hill or J villenueve or whatever -- no matter its no good keep replying nonsense and nothing else to most of my points , to sound credible you need a reasoned answer as to why you think it is nonsense , as i said my logic behind my question is that had schumacher not retired he would have been teamed up with either KR or massa during 07 and as we saw he had to much in his locker for massa during 06 so logically would of had little trouble with KR as well , we all know the shennagins that took place at mclaren during 07 , we also know hamilton and alonso took vital wdc points from each other that season which i firmly believe all this would have made micheals job much easier in the competitive ferrari , as for 08 -- in simple terms massa was a good match for hamilton and was a little unlucky not to win the WDC that year , knowing what we know about micheal , he was a better driver than massa so logically he would have done a better job than massa during 08 especially in the damp , wet races which would have been enough to amass the 1 or 2 points that massa failed by ---
