Future of Schumacher

[Raptor22]

I think careful consideration needs to be levelled at comparison of how long it took Schumacher to adapt to F1 and younger drivers.
The younger guys did not take 3 yrs off. Rosberg particularly was racing every season and in fairly competitive machinery. Unreliable at times but mostly competitive for points.
Look at Raikkonnen. I took him the better part of nearly half a season to get back on form in qualifying and the race.
Schumacher always had trouble in qualifying since his comeback but his race pace has always been there. The relative time to adapt is more indicative of how much sharpness a driver loose when they are away from the wheel. With limited testing it pretty hard for a driver to simply hop in and adapt quickly. I'm not saying that age does not play a role , I'm sure it does, however there are bigger forces at play.
For Schumacher the tyres were a point of adaptation.
The fixed weight distribution was another challenge to overcome
The lower levels of downforce probably did not mean too much but the above two points combined provides a very different car to comes to terms with.

Anyway, I'm still wondering if Schumacher is going to go to Ferrari for a year. Sauber is much mor likely but lets wait and see. I'm sure he will make an announcement by Tuesday.

[clipsy1H]

any news??? the more time passes the more im sure he will retire. Still dream about ferrari but they will keep masa for another year. must accept that Michael doesn't have many options.... just Sauber and thats pretty awful.

But maybe Ferrari wants Rosberg next year or maybe Rosberg will have an accident and be will forced to make a break for 1 year (hope not!!! but all is possible in this sport)

edit: an interview with Ross

about Schumi

We never got to that stage in the sense Michael was always uncertain what he wanted to do
As things moved along [with Hamilton] and these things started happening in parallel, Michael's uncertainty and growing interest from Lewis in what the team had to offer, one effectively overtook the other.
"Michael was always aware of all the discussions we were having. He is delighted the team has managed to secure such a strong option for the future."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/19765967

guys i think is pretty clear now! if Michael didn't want to continue with Merc why he would go to Sauber? (only possible reason is that he get a ferrari contract)

[marcush.]

I hear DAI is trying with incentives to keep Schumacher as ambassador -mind you he had this already unconnected to his driving contract .
So in fact a princely sum is still arriving on his bank account + 2 cars whereever he is dropping out of a plane in this world !
So he has to weigh up if he wants more money and connections or he wants to drive f1 .
Ecclestone wants him to continue preferaably teaming up with Kimi in a Lotus dreamteam ...that`d be a cracker.. =D>

[spadeflush]

Clipsy, if he wanted to retire, he would have announced it before Mercedes announced they have signed Hamilton. His statement does not mention a single word about retirement. Please stop posting "I know it all" posts. Like it has been mentioned all across this forum in response to your comments, which are getting annoying now, ONLY Schumacher knows his plans. Unless of course, you are Schumacher, which according to your "Rosberg can have an accident, anything can happen" theory is quite probable.

Since Michael had knowledge about the Hamilton-Mercedes negotiations, its completely understandable that he must have been in talks with one or two teams. Sauber is a better car than the Mercedes this year and with very few regulation changes I dnt see why they wont have a good car next year. Then there's the link with Peter Sauber. If Michael does not retire, Sauber is his most probable destination. A Ferrari move would be fantastically sensational, but it sounds too good to be true. I would like to see him in red nevertheless

Has Lotus confirmed both their drivers? I know they confirmed Raikkonen, but havent heard the same abt Grosjean (links with Eric Boullier, so can we assume he ll stay put?)

[spadeflush]

Ecclestone wants him to continue preferaably teaming up with Kimi in a Lotus dreamteam ...that`d be a cracker.. =D>

Got a link to that? Would love to know. You are located in Germany right? how are ppl reacting there?

[clipsy1H]

I hear DAI is trying with incentives to keep Schumacher as ambassador -mind you he had this already unconnected to his driving contract .
So in fact a princely sum is still arriving on his bank account + 2 cars whereever he is dropping out of a plane in this world !
So he has to weigh up if he wants more money and connections or he wants to drive f1 .
Ecclestone wants him to continue preferaably teaming up with Kimi in a Lotus dreamteam ...that`d be a cracker.. =D>

dude you are so funny !! why talk about money in this situation?? do you think a man like him with over 800 millions in bank need 2-5 more?or maybe he's tired and wants to leave this pervert world. (I still have the image in my mind after Singapore Race with Damon Hill making fun of Mike, but what he doesn't want to understand that no matter what he do can't compare even with Schumacher's shoes)

edit: Lotus didn't confirm Grosjean but Schumi with Reanult afte all this years (we saw Schumi in Blue , Red , Silver and now in Black?:)) )

[mep]

Ambassador for Mercedes for 2 cars and a few dollars??
He can shoot that offer in the wind. Schumacher has probably more than 100 Million. Why should he care about 2 boring Mercedes PKW’s? He could be ambassador for Ferrari but not for Mercedes.
BTW. Why does Mercedes pay Hamilton 15 Million a year when they paid Schumacher only 8? Without any doubt has Schumacher much higher value than the unknown Hamilton.

Ah and Schumacher probably already knows that next years Mercedes will be a flop again and therefore decided that it is a waste of time to stay with that team.

[clipsy1H]

according with Andrew Benson twitter Mass will stay and only choice to replace him is Hulk. ( https://twitter.com/andrewbensonf1 )

@mep Schumi get last year over 30 millions and his fortune is estimated at 800 million according with Forbes.

[Shrieker]

So mine is an educated guess. If you claim Schumacher has gotten faster then it's a guess too, just like mine.

it´s ok to have sympathy or anti -but do yourself a favour and don´t try to sell your personal views as facts.Mankind is only has just 30% perception of reality ...so you are not alone when admitting you have a blurred view.

Which part didn't you get ? Also, you've completely dodged my questions about 27 y/o Michael vs. 43 y/o one. I'm sure you're more than aware that there are scientific studies related to reaction times vs. age, and about performance of athletes vs. age. Schumacher might've fared better than most of his peers of similar age, but he is no exception; age increases, performace falls.

Schumacher always had trouble in qualifying since his comeback but his race pace has always been there.

I always thought this is simply because he is old. With the pirelli tyres they never give it %100 in races. Even Schumacher himself said it felt like driving behind the safety car. He doesn't have to push %100 during the races so it might've actually allowed him to make good use of his vast experience. But when it comes to qualy he has lacked pure pace, with this season being somehwhat of an exception thanks to Rosberg.

then why when both cars finish the race is rosberg on average 3 finishing positions behind?
rosberg is just fortunate that schumacher had a n unreliable car when it was capable of big points hauls

This has some truth to it. I agree he was unlucky sometimes this season. But as I stated above, he can somewhat make up for lack of pace with experience since he doesn't have to give %100 in race trim. Still, when it came to crunch time (fighting for a win) he couldn't have defeated Rosberg in China even if the car hadn't failed. You also have to take into acount the two times he literally banged other drivers from behind in races. Signs of age me thinks.

Also, from last november:

Schumacher -theoretically- could've been Rosberg's father. You're telling me him being 43 has no adverse effect ? Oh come on... If he's the same driver (which I don't think he is) what made him so successful pre-retirement ? Was it special tyres ? We all know there were times he was clearly driving an inferior car beating others who had better equipment. As much as I dislike the guy, he was a BEAST back in the day. Not so much anymore, while he still has the ability to compete in F1, not nearly as cutting edge as he used to be. He has changed, that's all. Will happen to all of us who are lucky enough to reach that age. When a Ferrari comeback was on the cards, even he himself admitted he didn't have the mental sharpness required at this level. I was a bit puzzled to see him sign with Mercedes after that comment tbh.

[fiohaa]

'he himself admitted'.

well when was this quote taken from?

because all i heard was that after the ferrari test, he was surprised at how quick he still was, and i remember him saying 'it was all there'. which was one of the reasons why he came back.

im sure theres plenty of sources you can find on the net with my quote but wheres yours?

[marcush.]

according with Andrew Benson twitter Mass will stay and only choice to replace him is Hulk. ( https://twitter.com/andrewbensonf1 )

@mep Schumi get last year over 30 millions and his fortune is estimated at 800 million according with Forbes.

that is 7 from Mercedes and the rest from personal sponsorship deals.Judging from the stckers placedon the car at least some are related to Schumachers presence.

btw the obove inventive and lotus rumblings come straight from "Spiegel -online" not always the best source for information in germany but definetely not a tabloid..

http://www.spiegel.de/sport/formel1/for ... 58678.html




guys ,sorry it´s only in german .


But a lot of important points in there: Schumacher feeling to be let down by MGP /Brawn he had the perception they owe him to wait for his decision and he did not really think of them looking elsewhere (as they had promised!) .

So they left Michael fuming and signed Hamilton. the background maybe :They told the board it was the drivers who were just not up to it ..with Hamilton everything would improve +lauda as the saviors-or final piece in the puzzle...

You can find the lotus+ ecclestone connection mentioned + the ambassador /cars /money incentive story inside there as well...so at least there is some truth in this.

[Shrieker]

fiohaa,

I remember reading it very well. Otherwise wouldn't have written that.

[fiohaa]

fiohaa,

I remember reading it very well. Otherwise wouldn't have written that.

lol sorry that isnt good enough for me.
if the world operated on anecdote, nothing would progress.

[zyphro]

Ah and Schumacher probably already knows that next years Mercedes will be a flop again and therefore decided that it is a waste of time to stay with that team.

This is my feeling too.

[Leon]

Ah and Schumacher probably already knows that next years Mercedes will be a flop again and therefore decided that it is a waste of time to stay with that team.

BAR, Honda, Brawn(only shines half season with DD), Mercedes...failed initially