Michael Schumacher to retire...

[Daniel Lee]

Will Michael Schumacher annouce that he will hang up his helmet for good this coming Sunday at the Italian GP in front of all the tifosis?........:Not_Impressed:

 

[BlackSamurai]

my prediction >> YES.

it might be part of the mind game.

schumi, "Is this the last time i see my race machine at Monaza?"

 

[BlackSamurai]

will this partnership be history after Monza?

and this garage?

​

 

[BlackSamurai]

Schumacher to retire at end of season
10 September 2006

http://www.f1racing.net/en/news.php?newsID=129544

​

Michael Schumacher will officially retire at the end of this season, the announcement is breaking after the German took his 90th Grand Prix victory and closed to within two points of Fernando Alonso. More news to follow shortly.

 

[zan]

oh my....but schumi is doing the right thing. to retire at the peak of his career. he wud be F1's ever best driver. unbeaten track records - most win, most podium place, most pole position..bla! bla! bla!

and it was confirmed that Kimi Raikonen will take his place at Ferrari. I noticed Jean Todt and Schumi himself did look sad after the race yesterday.

 

[zephyr3d]

i'm kinda.. torn between love and hatred..

fan of kimi raikonnen...but dont really like ferrari.. so darn it...

 

[butthead]

oh my....but schumi is doing the right thing. to retire at the peak of his career. he wud be F1's ever best driver. unbeaten track records - most win, most podium place, most pole position..bla! bla! bla!

and it was confirmed that Kimi Raikonen will take his place at Ferrari. I noticed Jean Todt and Schumi himself did look sad after the race yesterday.

sure why wouldn't they... they are losing one of their best drivers ever...

 

[koolspyda]

in my years of watching F1, I never really been a Schumacher fan. always rooted everyone else except him.

BUT after the years, i have to acknowledge he IS a champions champion. while i still rated senna as the better driver, schumacher has become a real competitive champion driver.

its a fitting way to go as he knows, it within his reach, the drivers title for 2007. nothing taken from alonso. he's (alonso is a good driver but not in schummi & kimi class really yet)

I can see why ferrari rates kimi so well that they know (as everyone knows), kimi is worthy successor (amongst all current drivers) to schummi.

worth the spectacle to see standings so competitive in the tail end of season. my money is on schummi to nick it. for once i'm rooting for him to be a worty champion.

 

[butthead]

in my years of watching F1, I never really been a Schumacher fan. always rooted everyone else except him.

BUT after the years, i have to acknowledge he IS a champions champion. while i still rated senna as the better driver, schumacher has become a real competitive champion driver.

its a fitting way to go as he knows, it within his reach, the drivers title for 2007. nothing taken from alonso. he's (alonso is a good driver but not in schummi & kimi class really yet)

I can see why ferrari rates kimi so well that they know (as everyone knows), kimi is worthy successor (amongst all current drivers) to schummi.

worth the spectacle to see standings so competitive in the tail end of season. my money is on schummi to nick it. for once i'm rooting for him to be a worty champion.

can't really compare senna to MSC... not same era and Schumi was practically a newbie in F1 at that time... and not to mention the technology difference...but Senna is a talented and superb driver...

Kimi is surely a sucessor to MSC... he is as fast if not faster... he just lacks the luck and the reliability of a fast car... hope he gets his WDC next year...

 

[xavier_lert]

we always make joke for KIMI....."he push the "Rosak" button again ......" hope he can remove the "button" when joining ferrari.......

 

[BlackSamurai]

hmm, do you mean Pedro De La Rosa and Jenson Button?

 

[si|verfish]

Source: http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/13092006/23/todt-kimi-easy-choice.html

Todt: Kimi an 'easy choice' for us.
Wed 13 Sep, 12:03 PM

Ferrari team boss, Jean Todt has revealed that he has every confidence Kimi Raikkonen will be able to deliver for the Scuderia in 2007, when the Finn joins the Marnanello-based squad from McLaren-Mercedes as the successor to Michael Schumacher.

Speaking following Schumacher's announcement on Sunday at the Italian Grand Prix that he will retire at the end of this year and confirmation that Raikkonen will link-up with Felipe Massa next season, Todt added that all the speculation in the media over the last 12 months or so that Kimi had signed an option with them so that they had first refusal on his services post-2006, made him smile.

"What is important is that we never had any kind of pre-contract [with Kimi], we had a signed contract, that's all, so sometimes I was smiling a bit when I saw those speculations or private meetings to try to get Kimi," he confirmed. "The important thing though is that we feel Kimi is a very strong driver - a very talented driver. I like him as a person and he's committed for the few next years to Ferrari."

Todt meanwhile noted, that realistically, there were only ever three contenders for the number one spot with Ferrari: "In terms of selecting a driver, first, you must look at the market to see who is available and who you would like among the available people. Maybe it's a bit unfair because we have new young drivers arriving who are doing very well: Felipe, [Robert] Kubica today did a very strong race. You have some drivers coming from GP2 who are maybe very talented but let's say when we were in a position to make a choice, we looked at the three quickest drivers available," he explained. "One was already driving for us, one was our favourite and we have him, so honestly, it was an easy choice, and fortunately it was an easy discussion because he wanted to join Ferrari and we wanted him to join Ferrari so it was easy."

As for if Raikkonen will be able to emulate the same level of success as Schumacher has achieved with the Scuderia, Todt is aware that it would be difficult for any driver to do that: "The same level would be difficult, I would say," he continued, "but Kimi has been very competitive and it's up to us to try to deliver him the best support, the best car. Michael last year accepted a race, a gift. He did not win one single race so we need to deliver a good car, reliable, and I'm sure that Kimi will be able to use it well."

Cool, Todt knows rocket science.

Raikkonen + great, consistent package = WDC

 

[si|verfish]

Source: http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/11092006/23/kimi-best-moment-join-ferrari.html

Kimi: This was 'best moment' to join Ferrari...
Mon 11 Sep, 1:56 PM

Kimi Raikkonen has revealed that he has 'full confidence' in Ferrari and that they will give him a 'very good car' in 2007 to fight for the championship, when he joins the Maranello-based squad as the successor to Michael Schumacher.

Raikkonen's long rumoured deal with the Scuderia was confirmed on Sunday, after Schumacher announced he will retire from the sport at the end of this season. Although Kimi conceded he will miss many of the people at McLaren-Mercedes, he felt the time was right for him to move on and as such he has signed a three-year deal with Ferrari.

"I'm happy to join a team with a history and all the great things, but first of all I want to finish this year as well as I can and then see what happens next year," said the Finn. "There are many reasons [why I chose Ferrari]. 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.

"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."

As for what he expects to achieve as a Ferrari driver, Kimi said that while he hopes he can become world champion with them, it is much to early to say whether or not that will happen straight away or in 2008 or 2009: "I have been expecting it [to win the title] to happen already so you never know what will happen but for sure we try next year again and hopefully we can do it," he added, "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."

Kimi meanwhile refused to reveal when he took the decision to leave McLaren, although he did say that he isn't overly worred to be stepping into the shoes of Schumacher, even though the German is the most successful F1 driver of all time - with 90 grand prix wins to his name and seven world titles.

"I'm not really concerned about that. 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. When I went to McLaren I replaced Mika [Hakkinen], who was world champion twice and that wasn't easy then. It will not be easy this time but I will go there and do my best and hopefully it will be enough for everybody," he concluded.

Kimi knows best.

 

[si|verfish]

Source: http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/11092006/4/best-worst-michael-schumacher.html

THE BEST And WORST OF Michael Schumacher
Mon 11 Sep, 5:09 AM

Michael Schumacher, Formula One's most successful driver, today announced he will retire from driving at the end of the season. His 16 seasons at the top have seen him rewrite the record book and the rule book. Here PA Sport takes a look at the best and worst of Schumacher's career.

FIVE OF THE BEST

1991: Qualifies a stunning seventh for his grand prix debut with the unfancied Jordan team.

1994: Manages an heroic second place in Spain despite racing for 40 laps stuck in fifth gear.

1995: Reels in Jean Alesi in the closing stages at the Nurburgring, obliterating his 42-second lead in 27 laps before passing the Ferrari around the outside on the penultimate lap.

1996: Wins at a wet Barcelona by 45 seconds after annihilating his opposition despite dropping to sixth at the start.

1998: Produces a brilliant run of flying laps at Hungary to make an audacious three-stop strategy work.

2003: Responds to the death of his mother overnight by winning in Imola despite his grief.

FIVE OF THE WORST

1994: After hitting the Adelaide wall and terminally damaging his car, smashes into Damon Hill to secure his first world title.

1997: Cynically slams into Jacques Villeneuve in a failed bid to win the world championship. Is stripped of his second place in the championship by the FIA.

2002: Takes advantage of Ferrari team orders to pass team-mate Rubens Barrichello yards from the chequered flag in Austria for a victory greeted by boos from the crowd.

2002: Inexplicably attempted to engineer a dead heat at Indianapolis, only to lose out to Barrichello by 0.011 seconds.

2006: Parks his Ferrari across the track in Monaco in an attempt to disrupt qualifying and retain pole position. Sent to the back of the grid by stewards.

 

[butthead]

Source: http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/13092006/23/todt-kimi-easy-choice.html

Cool, Todt knows rocket science.

Raikkonen + great, consistent package = WDC

we hope so...