Michael Schumacher retiring at the end of this season! (old thread)

[Thuggishh_E]

Schumacher right to quit at the top, Germans say



Germans applauded Michael Schumacher's decision to quit motor racing at the top of the sport while wondering if his cool professionalism might deny him a place in posterity at the forefront of their affections.

Schumacher, the most successful Formula One driver of all time, said on Sunday he would retire at the end of the season after his victory at the Italian Grand Prix, a record 90th win.

"It's the right time to retire, at the height of his career," said Berlin student Sebastian Bloching, 22.

Christiane Speckmann, a 51-year-old human resources worker agreed, saying others could learn by his example.

"It's a clever decision to quit at the top," she said. "I think more people -- politicians, actors -- should do the same."

Schumacher's win in Italy took him to within two points of championship leader Fernando Alonso and he said after the race he was determined to end his final season on top.

A generation of Germans has grown up watching Schumacher's glittering Formula One career, which began in 1991, a year after reunification ended the country's painful post-war partition.

But though his record of seven championships has helped make him one of the most famous Germans on the planet, some believe the control he exercised on and off the track has prevented him becoming as popular as less successful sports stars.

"He's like a German car -- the epitome of reliability," said Matthias Hein, 31, a philosophy PhD student from Bonn. "But I'm not sure he'll be as well remembered in Germany in 20 years as say a Boris Becker or a Franz Beckenbauer."

"He seems to lack any rough edges," he added.

Tennis star Becker and former soccer World Cup winner Beckenbauer have embraced their role as celebrities and attracted great media interest in their private lives, whereas Schumacher has tended to guard his wherever possible.

"I think he has an image of not being very charismatic. He always comes across as being very deliberate in what he does," said Jan Pueplichhuisen, a 30-year-old IT worker from Cologne.

Bayern Munich president Beckenbauer hailed Schumacher as the greatest driver of all time in a message on the club's website.

"It's always a pity when such a big personality retires. Not just for German sport, for the whole of motor sport," he said.

Yet although Schumacher's decision to quit had been widely anticipated -- some television channels began showing highlights from his career just minutes after the announcement -- the government was not standing by to remember his achievements.

Germany's Interior Ministry, which is responsible for sport, did not want to comment on his retirement, a spokeswoman said.

[Thuggishh_E]

Originally Posted by maven

dont spread lies people.
ferrari didnt want schumi...
becoz its illogical...after schumi decides to retire it takes one hour to kimi to join ferrari officialy

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpa...s_art_id=29274

khayye maven about ur amazing theory that Ferrari didnt want Schumi well here is the Press Conference Part II (not shown on tv)

Q: (Dan Knutson - National Speed Sport News) Michael, when exactly did you decide to retire?


MS: In Indianapolis.


Q: (Juha Paatalo – Financial Times Deutschland) Michael, how emotional is this moment for you?


MS: It was obviously pretty emotional to take the lap back after the race. I was talking to my team and informed everybody of my decision and probably this was the most emotional moment along with being on the podium to celebrate and at that moment knowing it’s the last opportunity I would have to finish so well with such a crowd with so much they gave to me in terms of their feeling and it just overwhelmed me.


Q: (Juha Paatalo – Financial Times Deutschland) Kimi, can you describe the reasons why you chose Ferrari as your future team?


KR: There are many reasons. I have had five years at McLaren and they are a great team and nice people to work with, but in the end I wanted something else and there were only two choices – to stay with McLaren or to go to Ferrari and for me personally I wanted to go there one day and this was the best moment and I think it is a great team to join and there will be people I will miss in McLaren, but that’s how it goes. Sometimes you want something in your life.


Q: (Matthias Brunner – Motorsport Aktuell) Michael, you said you decided at Indy. Does that mean you informed the team at Indy?


MS: Immediately after Indy, yes. I informed the team as well then.


Q: How much did you involve the team. Was there any discussion or was it your decision alone?


MS: The team left me every opportunity and every door open. Obviously I have a lot of friends there and naturally we discussed the up and the down sides and so on, but in the end of the day it was Corinna and myself.


Q: Mr Schumacher I have a question: may I get you for a one-to-one interview?


MS: Nice try. Promised it already.


Q: (Marco Evangilisti - Corrriere dello Sport) Kimi, are you somehow concerned at taking the place of the most winning driver of all time?


KR: Not really. It’s a nice place to go and of course the team will expect a lot but in the end I also expect a lot from myself and I want to win and this is different again to McLaren where there was Mika world champion twice and wasn’t easy then and it will not be easy this time and I will go there and do my best and hopefully it will be enough for everybody.


Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Michael, do you have an idea what you are going to do with your life?


MS: I said before, no,.part of it will be to keep a relationship with Ferrari and we will talk about that before the end of the year but now the focus is on the last three races so now will look after that.


Q: (Matthias Brunner – Motorsport Aktuell) Michael, there was one part of the unilateral that I didn’t quite understand when you said you first waited for the decision about Felipe before then making up your mind. What did you mean exactly?


MS: Maybe it was misunderstood. I said that he had a point of decision around that time that he had to go and he needed to know from my side what my decision was going to be -- at that moment my future was to retire so there was a chance for him to negotiate.


Q: Michael you said for months and for years that you will decide to stop when it was no pleasure anymore or you are not so competitive anymore? Is that the case? One of these two things?


MS: No, there is another reason that developed and I explained that before.


Q: (Bob McKenzie - The Daily Express) Michael, you look competitive at the moment with no sign or any deterioration in your driving. Was there any thought of going on for another year against Kimi and to see how it went?


MS: Well you can see what I am able to do now. It was not really a thought. You need all the energy and motivation and strength and getting older does not make it easier. And to keep that for a whole year and go on. I just could not see that I had this. I had no need to worry for anybody, I guess, and I thought it would be nicer at this point than when you are at the other end.


Q: (Bob McKenzie - The Daily Express) How much discussion did you have with Corinna and did she support your decision?


MS: It is natural with the relationship I have with Corinna that we discuss every little thing and the good thing as I mentioned before is that without the support of my family and in particular Corinna all these years I don’t think I could have done it so naturally she supported me in my decision as well. She gave me her point of view and we discussed it, but there was no time when she went in another direction. She simply helped me take my decision.


Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Michael you said it became harder to find the motivation and the energy to be at the top level…


MS: That is not true… I can see it becoming harder. I don’t see I am going to have that in future.


Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Well what is it that takes the most energy out of you? Is it the traveling? Is it the pressure? The expectations of the people? What is the toughest to take?


MS: I don’t know and I don’t really want to think about it too much. If you forgive me, it is not really a good time for me to enter into every little detailed area of my decision and answer these questions because – and I hope you can understand me – I really want to focus on the championship. I think I gave you basically what I am pretty sure of and I tried to express myself as well as I could. But I don’t think I really want to, from now on, go any deeper into it.


Q: (Heikke Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, three years contract with Ferrari… How quickly do you expect to become a world champion?


KR: I have been expecting it to happen already so you never know what will happen but for sure we try next year again and hopefully we can do it, but there are so many things that can go wrong or right so we just need to work as hard as we can and I have full confidence that the team will give me a very good car so we will see what happens next year.


Q: (Takeharu Kusuda – Lapita Magazine) Mr Kubica, can you tell us about the key to your success in getting a third position in your first year?


RK: What key? I have a good car, a competitive car, we didn’t make any mistakes choosing the tyres as we have done in Istanbul. We had good ones for qualifying, but not for the race and this time I concentrated with the team to choose the right tyres for the race and the key I think was qualifying. I could qualify better, but unfortunately I made some small mistakes at Lesmo, and for us anyway third row was really good with the tyres that we had and we knew we had a lot of fuel compared to the others and with the good start that we always had in Hungary and in Turkey I hoped to win some positions. We won more positions at the start than we expected and then it was just to keep the pace and the pace was good. Maybe the second and third stint could have been quicker but you know when you are third and there are still some laps to go and you are third in the third Grand Prix of your life you are not pushing really, you just want to stay on the track and to bring the car home to the finish line and I think it was a really good race for me and for all the team and we were not expecting it. Some of my team told me they wanted to see me on the podium before the car went to the grid. I took it like a joke, but it happened so we are really proud of it.


Q: (Carole Capitaine – L’Equipe) Michael do you think Ferrari will continue to be so strong without you?


MS: Ferrari existed before and Ferrari will exist after and I think Ferrari has taken a very good decision with their driver line-up to make sure that the success can continue.


Q: (Juha Paatalo – Financial Times Deutschland) Michael, can you imagine your life without Formula One?


MS: I don’t need to do that right now. We shall see afterwards. It is difficult to answer that now.


Q: (Dan Knutson – National Speed Sport News) When did you decide that Ferrari was the better of your two options?


KR: It doesn’t matter when I took my decision. It is just that decision that I took in the end.


Q: (Anthony Rowlinson - Autosport) Is there one rival who stands out as your toughest competitor over the last 15 seasons?


MS: I think the nicest battles I had were with Mika in the end -- always at a very high level without any animosities, pure racing.


Q: (James Deakin - F1 Racing) Michael, seven times world champion, every conceivable significant statistic you’ve got, any regrets? Anything you wish you could change?


MS: Yes, sure I have them. But I am not in the mood to go through them now.


Q: (Stephane Barbe – L’Equipe) Michael how much do you think you will be distracted in the final three races by this decision?


MS: I don’t think the pressure is going to be high, as I told you, I explained and expressed myself and if you understood me then you know that what is most important is the championship. I will keep every focus to that and everything that has to be done to do that I will do. I am not getting into this subject any more. I will express myself once here this weekend and then I am not talking about it anymore I am just going to be focused.


Q: (Niki Takeda - Formula PA) Michael, what went through your mind when you crossed the finishing line?


MS: Many things, many things. Particular about the team all the great friends there and I was talking the whole lap to them.


Q: (James Roberts – Motorsport News) What is the greatest thing you will miss?


MS: Excuse me…(sighs)


Q: (Mattias Brunner – Motorsport Aktuell) How much did last year’s difficult season influence your decision?


MS: Not really, because I did not see that that would happen again because we learned our lesson and I am very sure that next year they will have a car that is going to be highly-competitive.

[JoeFPM]

I never liked Schumakher and will never do...his arrogance annoys me...
i do aknowledge the fact that he s one of the best drivers ever along with Prost, Lawda and Fangio, however it am convinced by the fact that he would never accomplish all these stuff and brolke these record if Ayrton Senna was still alive.....For me Senna is the greatest driver ever
cheers

[Coldplayer]

Originally Posted by JoeFPM

I never liked Schumakher and will never do...his arrogance annoys me...
i do aknowledge the fact that he s one of the best drivers ever along with Prost, Lawda and Fangio, however it am convinced by the fact that he would never accomplish all these stuff and brolke these record if Ayrton Senna was still alive.....For me Senna is the greatest driver ever
cheers

Totally agree with you, if Ayrton Senna was still alive we would probably not hear about Schumi

[METALLICA]

We all tend to sympathize with the dead. It's really hard to make a mistake when you're dead.

Ayrton Senna was a great driver sure, but he was arrogant himself.

Michael Schumacher, to me at least, is the greatest driver in F1 history. The numbers speak for themselves. He's got the attitude of a champion, and he's had it ever since he started.

It's not arrogance, it's confidence.
He's good and he doesn't pretend he doesn't know it.

Anyhoo..
Thanks for all the great years of unbelieveable driving skills..
Fans or not, we should at least be thankful for the excitement he brought to the sport. Who else were you going to hate if Schumi was not there.. vroum vroum vrouuuum .. Schumacher.. my favorite alien



Told ya :p

whooa Schumi! they said you're not the best! haha

[Chief]

I am from the ones who continuously critisize M. Shumacher BUT:

There is no doubt that Shumakher is a legend in the F1 world.
He is a real champ regarding all the records he broke. I see it as a wise decision; this way he will be ending his career when at peak, thus getting out high, very high.

[Lebanese_dream]

Originally Posted by Chief

I am from the ones who continuously critisize M. Shumacher BUT:

There is no doubt that Shumakher is a legend in the F1 world.
He is a real champ regarding all the records he broke. I see it as a wise decision; this way he will be ending his career when at peak, thus getting out high, very high.

Same here! I always criticize him but there is fact we can't deny!

[Thuggishh_E]

nchalla ykoun like MJ23 he'll be back in a couple of years!
ya rab! (dis time with BMW)

[Order]

Originally Posted by jerkin berkin

nchalla ykoun like MJ23 he'll be back in a couple of years!
ya rab! (dis time with BMW)

this will make it 100% Germany and what would you say about him and his brother on BMW this would be just perfect

[GeaGea SkyWalkeR]

Maven,

LMFAO,

Your one funny guy, I have never seen somone go so crazy over F1.

Brigestone are the best tyres, no need for competition,

Michael Schumacher
Is a legend, The best of the best.

Ferrari are the fastest cars in F1.


GSW