Schumacher 20 years on

[Mr Alcatraz]

I can't believe what a changed person Michael is. He may not be on the top of his form, but he is far more bearable as a person.

He's indeed changed a lot, but I'm 99,98% sure he won't be as bearable when he's fighting for the title again He won't accept blame for any incident as quickly as he does now, I guess that's in the nature of things

Great post, very insightful. I was a huge MS Honk when he was at Ferrari, and still have many races recorded that I like to view. I always thought that the criticism of his aggressive driving was overblown, but it wasn't. He did everything it took to win within the rules, and without. When he came back I was really indifferent to him, but always thought that not only is he talented enough to compete, I never thought there was anything he could do to diminish his legacy and I still don't. You can't take away the seven. Those who say he has ruined his rep.(buy comming back) are just bashers clutching at straws.

[mnmracer]

I can't believe what a changed person Michael is. He may not be on the top of his form, but he is far more bearable as a person.

He's indeed changed a lot, but I'm 99,98% sure he won't be as bearable when he's fighting for the title again He won't accept blame for any incident as quickly as he does now, I guess that's in the nature of things

Great post, very insightful. I was a huge MS Honk when he was at Ferrari, and still have many races recorded that I like to view. I always thought that the criticism of his aggressive driving was overblown, but it wasn't. He did everything it took to win within the rules, and without. When he came back I was really indifferent to him, but always thought that not only is he talented enough to compete, I never thought there was anything he could do to diminish his legacy and I still don't. You can't take away the seven. Those who say he has ruined his rep.(buy comming back) are just bashers clutching at straws.

I believe it's overblown, in that only Schumacher is (so heavily) critized for it. If anything, Ayrton Senna paved the way for driving on and sometimes over the edge, yet when there's a discussion who is the greater of the two, people sometimes use that 'agressive driving' as the reason Senna is top dog.

It's part of what makes the best: never wanting to lose, having that drive to do whatever necessary to win. I think how you see Schumacher now is somewhat similair to 2005; he has -albeit reluctantly- accepted that he's in no position to fight for the win, so he takes a somewhat more relaxed attitude and just tries to enjoy racing, which he most certainly does. I think in a situation like in Monza, it got the fire burning inside him again. He smelled 'victory', he wanted it again and he was going for it.

[strad]

I didn't see a problem at Monza...In the past I was certainly a critic, and yes he learned it from Senna, but at Monza he blocked and then moved back to the racing line and that is within the rules, and nowhere as bad as driving your brother to the wall at 180mph and no one had a problem with that.

[Mr Alcatraz]

I can't believe what a changed person Michael is. He may not be on the top of his form, but he is far more bearable as a person.

He's indeed changed a lot, but I'm 99,98% sure he won't be as bearable when he's fighting for the title again He won't accept blame for any incident as quickly as he does now, I guess that's in the nature of things

Great post, very insightful. I was a huge MS Honk when he was at Ferrari, and still have many races recorded that I like to view. I always thought that the criticism of his aggressive driving was overblown, but it wasn't. He did everything it took to win within the rules, and without. When he came back I was really indifferent to him, but always thought that not only is he talented enough to compete, I never thought there was anything he could do to diminish his legacy and I still don't. You can't take away the seven. Those who say he has ruined his rep.(buy comming back) are just bashers clutching at straws.

Ibelieve it's overblown, in that only Schumacher is (so heavily) critized for it. If anything, Ayrton Senna paved the way for driving on and sometimes over the edge, yet when there's a discussion who is the greater of the two, people sometimes use that 'agressive driving' as the reason Senna is top dog.

It's part of what makes the best: never wanting to lose, having that drive to do whatever necessary to win. I think how you see Schumacher now is somewhat similair to 2005; he has -albeit reluctantly- accepted that he's in no position to fight for the win, so he takes a somewhat more relaxed attitude and just tries to enjoy racing, which he most certainly does. I think in a situation like in Monza, it got the fire burning inside him again. He smelled 'victory', he wanted it again and he was going for it.

What I called over-blown meant that he was just another guy that happened to be one of the top three, throughout his career. Best pilot best (when the Ferrari was really hooked-up) car, never completely broke the rules, He was faster than the car and that did make it seem like he had some kind of unfair advantage, which he did a time or so; he wasn't ever disqualified unfairly (That comes to mind) and he still kicked Kimi and Montoya in the attacments.. give me a sec.

[mnmracer]

I didn't see a problem at Monza...In the past I was certainly a critic, and yes he learned it from Senna, but at Monza he blocked and then moved back to the racing line and that is within the rules, and nowhere as bad as driving your brother to the wall at 180mph and no one had a problem with that.

Agree, Monza was perfectly within (well, on) the rules in my opinion.
And the second part, might have had to do with said brother

[Mr Alcatraz]

I didn't see a problem at Monza...In the past I was certainly a critic, and yes he learned it from Senna, but at Monza he blocked and then moved back to the racing line and that is within the rules, and nowhere as bad as driving your brother to the wall at 180mph and no one had a problem with that.

Agree, Monza was perfectly within (well, on) the rules in my opinion.
And the second part, might have had to do with said brother

U mean The Autistic one......half

[nipo]

Quite amazed too see such faith for Schumi

I admit I might have given up on him too early. Fact is fact and now he's got 52 points to Rosberg's 56, so in that perspective I cannot say it is too bad. It's just that last season was really too painful to watch. You know how it feels when your hero goes down without much of a fight. Maybe I should learn to appreciate the "new" Schumi a bit more.

Still, I don't believe WDC is within reach. A win, maybe, but to me, a podium is a more realistic target. After all, I don't think he's gonna stay beyond 2012, which means there's little time left for both himself and his team to improve.

He'll need some luck to show up on the podium before the end of this season. Maybe we should wish him that.

[CMSMJ1]

Schumi is doing alright. I've been watching since before he arrived - but there are a lot of dedicated fans of his from "his" era who have not yet seen the rise and fall of a great driver.

It must be hard to see your hero struggling. Usually the drivers quit while they are ahead though some struggle on and ruin their career legacy - Villeneuve for example.