Post here all non technical related topics about Formula One. This includes race results, discussions, testing analysis etc. TV coverage and other personal questions should be in Off topic chat.
I don't think that you should start this kind of poll anyway. It's totally not usefull to compare two drivers and all of their results if they weren't racing in the same time. Schumacher started racing in F1 years and years ago, with competition and cars that you can't compare to now! And now is Alonso's time.
I also think that a lot depends on the car and the driver. Alonso is a driver that is very smart. He doesn't care if he wins 1 race a season or 10...as long as he wins the Championship, he has done his work and did what he wanted too. Schumacher, in my point of view, always had to win or he didn't feel happy about himself.
About the car: Schumacher and Ferrari...the golden years of Ferrari! Ferrari had the best car, the fastest one and the most reliable one, with a winner at the wheel.
Last season and this season as well (that's what I think) Renault has the best car, the most reliable one and the best driver in F1 at this moment! But you can also see that Renault, as team with the best car, has a lot more competition than Ferrari did when they were the team with the best car. The teams are improving and getting closer together and now, we can enjoy F1 again, without knowing before the race who was going to win!
Alonso and Schumacher are two different people and different racers....you can't compare them and it has little use in my point of view.
Principessa is rite. shumacher is already a legend and even though he has won 7 titles and 85 wins, he is regarded as a great just like alain prost and aryton senna. he raked up so many wins and poles when ferrari was a class above the rest. i doubt alonso will ever get a race winning car for most of his career just like shumacher did..
Noy a fair question. For the last ten years, Michael Schumacher has had the full resources of Ferrari behind him 100%. He has always been the number one driver, the other driver has it in his contract to support Michael. During those ten years, the car, engine, and tires have been designed and tuned for just one man, Michael. I don't think in the entire history of motorsport has one man had an entire car and team designed and built around him exclusively. Even Bridgestone made their racing tires just for Michael.
Fangio just drove whatever he was told to drive, he changed teams many times. Prost and Senna shared the same car, it was a great car, but it was generalized for the drivers, no one driver had the car designed purely for him.
When Michael first went to Ferrari, it wasn't a winner out of the box. It took the engineers and factory over two years to redesign and manufacture a car that was tuned for Michael. For example, he came from karting, and liked the front end to turn in quickly, like a go kart. So they had to redesign the suspension geometry, weight distribution, wheelbase, and much more just to suit his preferences.
Also, for those ten years Ferrari outspent everyone, they had the largest budget by far. These days, things are changing. The big factories are involved, Toyota and Honda are spending huge amounts of money. And like it or not, the money spent does have a proportional relationship to success.
Alonso keeps amazing me, he displays signs of being a true great in racing. But he will never enjoy the kind of support or budget Michael had, and their careers cannot be fairly compared.
but it will be great and a true judge of his talents when he goes to mclaren with kimi still there.. i doubt he will be as quick as kimi the first season but itll be nice to see him in the same car with kimi ..
I really really wonder why everybody is making such a fuss about Schumacher again all of a sudden. He won 1 race and everybody is acting like he won another championship.
I don't know why everybody wants to compare Alonso and Schumacher, Senna and Schumacher,..... That's like comparing lemons with apples!
Not because I don't believe Alonso is good........he's very very good.
Just the chances of the whole set of circumstances that let MS stay on top for so long happening again are beyond slim.
I think Michael can retire and be proud of what he has achieved; but (as said many many times) to compare his stats against past/future drivers is not a measure of a drivers greatness.
Principessa wrote:I really really wonder why everybody is making such a fuss about Schumacher again all of a sudden. He won 1 race and everybody is acting like he won another championship.
I don't know why everybody wants to compare Alonso and Schumacher, Senna and Schumacher,..... That's like comparing lemons with apples!
I agree Schuey's fans hope seems disproportionnate after a win that is mostly due to the imola track lacking overtaking opportunities. But I understand they are hungry of succes after ferrari's fantomatic 2005 campain. I'm a Renault fan like you, and I would be frustrated if they were down to the same level for a whole year. Race wins of the team one supports is an addictive thing. when you lose it, you feel frustrated, it's normal.
I'm gonna for sure. Alonso is the best racer at the moment and I'll keep on supporting him (altough I don't like McLaren). But I'm convinced that Kovalainen will be in Alonso's race seat and that he's a future F1 champion.
Renault is a nice team. I like the atmosphere and they built good, solid cars!
I think that it is too soon to say that Fisi will lead the way and even that Renault will be in F1 for sure. Everything depends on outcome of GPMA vs FIA war and things aren't rosy at the moment. If Renault decides to stay and if Fisi continues to have problems all the time I think he won't be in Renault in 2007.
If Alonso goes I'll be cheering for Renault and respect Alosno as former Renault driver that brought first WDC and WCC title.
