Let’s face it. Michael Schumacher is one of the most talented drivers that has ever lived. His list of records far exceeds anything anyone else has done, or likely will do. Is he one of the greatest? Not here in the eyes of The Garage. He may be one of the biggest jerks that the motor racing world has ever produced. Now that he has officially retired following the race at Monza, the sporting world is abuzz with the news.
Sitting here watching Dave Despain and Bob Varsha and callers discuss Michael, I can’t help but think that the sporting world will be better off without him. Michael’s arrogance is an annoyance at best, a disruptive force at worst. His blatant disregard for the rules and the feeling that he is above it all is disgusting. Perhaps even more disgusting is the fact that the clowns that govern F1 have allowed him to get this way. If any other driver had deliberately stalled their car on track during qualifying like Schumacher did at Monaco this year, they would have been heavily penalized. Michael? He just shrugged it off.
There is no denying his driving talents. In race, Michael is always the driver to beat and like many greats, his talent only gets more obvious when the track condition worsen. In testing, there aren’t many who have accomplished what he did by turning Ferrari into a winning team. It’s just a shame that through it all he had to be such a dickhead.
We wish you well Michael, may you learn some manners and humility in your retirement.
4 comments ↓
Well, against what I predicted here, Schumi has indded retired. Blew another one, Batman.
Been a huge Schumi fan all his career. His genuine exuberance when he wins is refreshing, esp. compared to some of the automatons that drive now.
That being said, he cartainly besmirched his rep a number of times, most notable, with the incidents with Hill, Villeneuve, and Monaco.
But remember Senna taking out Prost in Japan, and Senna’s regarded as a saint in the sport. I think that was the turning point; it made anything OK in pursuit of the World Championship. I think that had Senna or Schuni been really penalized for these infractions, it could have been nippe din the bud. As it is, there’s no rules anymore. “Just win, baby!”
Looking back, there’s no denying, however, that Schumacher has dominated the sport in a way that no one has ever done. He’s been the man to beat for more than a decade. He has 7 WC’s, closing in on 8. He holds virtually every record in the books. He’s quite simply the best there ever was. When I’m old and gray, I’ll still tell my grandkids that I saw Michael Schumacher win at Indy in the inaugural USGP at Indianapolis. Or maybe I’ll replay the tape of the 1996 Spanish GP, with Schumi coming through from 14th in a driving rain to obliterate the field. In my mind, the greatest single drive of his career.
Is he a dick? Yeah. But I’d argue that all great champions had egos to match their on-track exploits. It’s just that today it gets broadcast to billions and analyzed ad nauseum on the internet daily. For good or evil, F1 is not the clubby sport it once was. It’s now a multi-billion dollar business, and the pressures to win are enormous. Just ask Ford. Or Toyota.
It’ll be interesting to see how F1 changes without their biggest star. Somehow, I don’t see young racers everywhere buying Kimi Raikkonen replica helmets so they can be like their hero. Well, maybe in Finland…
well said!
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Michael Schumacher is the best driver that Formula 1 has ever seen. As for the arrogant part - I don’t know where you get that from. He is as friendly as they come. Always prepared to help other people. If somebody asks him for an autograph he smiles and signs for anyone that asks.
He will be missed in F1. I don’t think there will ever be someone that will be able to achieve what he has achieved.
Thank You Michael for everything that you have done for Formula One
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