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#323221
So of course the Lewis / Mercedes / Perez / McLaren issue is dominating the headlines, but in amongst it Michael Schuamcher has only had the odd mention.

The question is - is this it? Is this the final and definite end of his F1 story? Many thought that after he 'retired' from Ferrari that he was finished, but I know that I, and a few others always had their suspicions that he might come back at some point. At 43 going on 44, if he does retire, this time it will be for good.

Personally I don't buy the 'he's too old for F1' or 'his reactions are going' nonsense. You don't set the pole time at Monaco with anything other than the best reactions, and that was only 4/5 months ago. You don't match and on many occasions this season be ahead of your mid-20's team mate if you're 'too old'.

The Singapore issue, we still haven't had complete clarity on, it may have been completely driver error, there may have been an issue with cold brakes, but either way, plenty of drivers have misjudged braking in F1 whether young or old, and at every circuit. Schumi was unlucky that there were two drivers right in front of him when he did it, many others have overshot corners and chicanes and gotten away with it because they were on their own on the way in. Such is life in motor racing.

We can't forget that Schumacher had horrendous luck for literally the first 7 or 8 races this season, and should likely have around double the points haul he currently does. I can't help but feel Mercedes for these past three years have badly let him down, with them being the ones to allow this question mark to hang over whether he was right to come back or not, not Michael himself (beyond the first 2010 season which obviously took a bit of readjustment).

So what do you want him to do / think he will do? Retire? Move to another team such as Sauber?
#323224
I maintained from the beginning of 2010 that the most graceful thing he could do was to move into a Mercedes team management/principal type role when it came time for him to exit the driver's seat.

Unless he goes to a TOP team, why keep soiling his legacy? Red Bull is not an option, McLaren is obviously out of the picture... the only other option I can see is Ferrari for a year which may spur a lot of nostalgia interest but who knows.
#323225
Crikey, I didn't even think of the possibility of him going back to Ferrari! That would be really interesting actually - Schumacher and Alonso at the same team? Could either ego allow that? Could Ferrari manage that pairing effectively?

Doubt it'll happen, but would be incredibly interesting!
#323318
Whatever it is, I hope he doesn't hang around Mercedes GP in 2013. He seemed more disruptive doing that at Ferrari when Kimi was racing for them, and for some reason Kimi won most his races during the weekends when old man Schum wasn't around.

Ciao Schumi, it was nice seeing you around a bit more, time to go watch your kids grow up! Ok, seriously byebye. :wavey: *gentle push, closes door*
#323321
I don't know whether it was Mercedes or Michael that decided Michael is out. If it was Michael then knowing he has no ride yet might have retired already. Or if it was Mercedes that canned him, I would think some good teams would want him? I doubt he would want to go to a backmarker team, and he wouldn't be cheap so they're out anyway. Anyway even the good teams who have their driver liineup finalized could scramble to change that now that they see Michael is suddenly available. I personally wouldn't if I were a top team but I can see how some might. If I were a backmarker team I can dream can't I LOL?
#323327
My gut feel is that Schumacher will retire and move into team management. Merc. will pull the plug at the end of 2013 if they remain in the mid-field and 2014 will see another Brawn GP with Ross Brawn and Schumacher in charge.

You read it here first! :D
Last edited by andrew on 28 Sep 12, 16:19, edited 1 time in total.
#323329
There's a lot of things I've read first which you've posted and then never again, since we're not living in Clownland but reality. Only in Clownland will a team sign up one of the most expensive drivers on the grid and then pull the plug a year or two later.
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