Michael Schumacher announces his retirement - Team Juicy Racing's Racing School and Race Series Forums

dalyduo · #1 09-10-2006

Love him or hate him Michael Schumacher's legacy is secure as he announced this as his final F1 season. He did it appropriately after his 90th win in his last competitive visit to Monza driving a Ferrari.

Apparently the decision was made several weeks ago to make room for his successor.

He has defined the leading edge of Formula 1 racing for so long that it is hard to imagine him no longer competing after this year.

Seldom do athlete's time their exits wisely but, even if Ferrari was leaning on him to choose, this is as wise, exciting and graceful an exit as he could possibly hope for. after Alonzo's engine failure there are only two points separating them in championship points with 3 races remaining.

You could not have written a more dramatic scenario for the end of the season and few will bet against Michael. Even David Hobbs usually weary droll experienced voice sounded genuinely excited and thirty years younger calling all the action during Monza. Passing, changes of leads, a side by side podium battle out of the pits, blown engines... imagine that... an exciting F1 race!

Now Jack Rousch can announce Michael as his replacement driver for Mark Martin next year.

cdh · #2 09-10-2006

Here is video of his announcement - 4:14

and here is my very short tribute - 1:33

.

arig · #3 09-10-2006

you continue to amaze me doug. nice work on the tribute video.

on another note, it's interesting that schumacher announces his retirement with kimi and kubica on either side of him on the podium. kimi who is replacing him at ferrari next year and kubica who is an up and coming star and is performing very similar to how michael performed when he 1st came on to the f1 scene in 91 with jordan.

dlippert · #4 09-10-2006

Very nicely done!

999 · #5 09-10-2006

Nice job Doug, really... it's funny though, I never realized he drove a Miata!

ML Peter Ludwig · #6 09-10-2006

Love him or hate him? How can you hate a man this talented? I love him, not because he is German rather because he is greatness. It will prove difficult for anyone to reproduce the results and accomplishments he has acheived in his career. UNBELIEVABLE

=

dalyduo · #7 09-10-2006

Nicely done Doug!

Peter, No disrespect intended... Michael pissed off a lot of people for a variety of reasons but none of that diminishes what he's accomplished. He has been the measuring stick of F1 for most of his career. You're right that there has never been a single man so dominant in the sport for so long a period and there may never be again. Probably not in our life time. He dominated F1 the way Michael Jordan did the NBA. You don't realize how special they are until they stop and no one comes close to filling the void left behind.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ML Peter Ludwig

Love him or hate him? How can you hate a man this talented? I love him, not because he is German rather because he is greatness. It will prove difficult for anyone to reproduce the results and accomplishments he has acheived in his career. UNBELIEVABLE

=

LimeRockRacer · #8 09-10-2006

He was very eloquent in his moment of facing retirement. Whether you love him or hate him. He accomplished an amazing amount in F-1 and did more for the sport than many. And Kimi....can someone please inject a little adrenaline and emotion into his lips! He is the future face of F-1..Wow!

Integra21 · #9 09-11-2006

As much as I love the great schumi and as much as i would like to see him continue to race, there couldnt have been a more pituresque (sp?) time to announce his retirement. Win at Ferraris home grand prix... Ferrari over taking Renault in constructors points... getting within 2pts for the championship point lead... and out racing his "replacement" at ferrari in 2007 (kimi)

Schumacher IS and will always be MR. Ferrari

Im surely looking forward to the next grand prix, 3 weeks away, where schumacher will hopefully be one step closer to truely going out on top...another World Championship

rgreist · #10 09-11-2006

This is very clever! Announcing retirement before the end of the season means that you get two retirement celebrations! I'm going to try this with my birthday next year. Stay tuned.

Joking aside, watching these videos I realized I've grown so accustomed to Schumacher's presence and excellence that it will be a shock to go without him. Can you imagine it's been 11 seasons at Ferrari alone?

It's one of life's great pleasures to watch someone truly exceptional perform in any discipline. MJ got me to watch the NBA, and I liked cycling a lot more because of Lance, but as racing drivers, we all have some sense of the commitment necessary to succeed the way Schumacher did in F1. Bravo.

macdod · #11 09-11-2006

For any of us who have been fortunate enough to have driven a racecar, I thought Marc Surer's comment in the New York Times article today was the most telling in terms of the true measure of Michael's talent. When comparing Schmacher to Alonso as F1 Champions, Surer said, "What is important for me is that Michael is sometimes a lot better then the car."

I think that's what makes him the best ever.

Sz28r · #12 09-11-2006

Well said - - Michael can sqeeze more out of a race car than most current F1 drivers IMO, Kimi might make things interesting next
season but it just won't be the same - -

I hope Michael can win an 8th, should be fun to watch the last three races.

Safe to say that the Flying Randall's are Schumi fans

ML Peter Ludwig · #13 09-11-2006

Kimi needs to take some public speaking classes and learn how to open his mouth more. It seems like he has something in there that he is afraid will fall out and be lost forever....