[chethan.ram]

I have been following F1 since 1996, it was Schumi's first season with Ferrari. He has been my all time favorite driver. Thanks Pavan for refreshing our memories.

[aditya101]

While Schumacher achieved greatness, it was not good for the sport since he dominated it for too many years.

Compare it to the current season where there are at least 3-4 drivers in contention to be the champion.

[RemingtonSteele]

Originally Posted by aditya101

While Schumacher achieved greatness, it was not good for the sport since he dominated it for too many years.

Compare it to the current season where there are at least 3-4 drivers in contention to be the champion.

Yep, I remember those days when the media was crying out for Formula-1 getting bored and was too predictable; such was the greatness of this man. But come on you can't blame him for his clean sweep domination infact it was other teams & drivers who should be blamed for it.

[hillram]

Great Write up Pavan.But one should also not forget the negative side of Michael,which is that,he will do anything to win.
1994 - Adelaide Race when he crashed his Benetton into Damon Hill's Williams virtually when there was no room to overtake and both the drivers retired.Michael won the championship with 1 point ahead of Damon.This move of Michael has been critisized for long time.

1997 - Jerez: Michael again repeated the same 1994 stunt with Jacques Villeneuve in Williams and he had to crash out.Villeneuve went on to take the WDC that year.Michael's Ferrari tyre marks were so prominent on the Williams car that stewards condemned Michael and stripped his entire points for the season.He is the only F-1 driver to be stripped of his points in the entire history for Formula one from 1950.

1998 - Spa Francorchamps scuffle with David Coulthard and back in pits,Michael almost had an unarmed combat with DC.

2002 - Catalunya.Ralf took out his brother and both of them had a horrible fight after the race,that their father intervened and took away Ralf out of the circuit in an Helicopter !!!!
I could go on into many more incidents.
But rivalry is common in F1.Senna-Prost were classic examples.
But Michael took the rivalry to personal levels sometimes.
In a nutshell i never supported Michael Schumacher.

[chethan.ram]

This thread is for all Schumacher fans. I have been following Formula1 for close to 15 years and my first season being 1996. Ever since I am a big fan of Schumi.

Which do you think is your favourite Schumacher victory?

Let me start with mine.

Hungarian Grand Prix - 1998 : Schumacher was trailing behind Hakkinen, when Brawn switched him to 3 stop strategy. He drove each lap as if he is on a qualifying session. It was a Class Act from Schumi.

[vamsi.kona]

I am not that good with memory. But as said before I enjoyed the duels between Hakkinen and Schumi.

[im_srini]

Originally Posted by chethan.ram

Which do you think is your favourite Schumacher victory?
Let me start with mine.
Hungarian Grand Prix - 1998 : Schumacher was trailing behind Hakkinen, when Brawn switched him to 3 stop strategy. He drove each lap as if he is on a qualifying session. It was a Class Act from Schumi.

One of my favorites too - classic Schumi

I'll add:

The 1997-Moncao-GP to this list, where over a single lap he was 6 seconds faster than the next fastest driver, need I say that it was a wet race !

The 1998-Belgian-GP, once more, a wet race, Schumi was giving the rest of the pack driving lessons - more than a second quicker than the next best (Hill I think). A dominant display of driving prowess - undone by Coulthard who decided to slow down on the racing line (at the start, Coulthard had also caused a massive pile-up of 11 or 12 cars).

1996 to 2000 were in my opinion, Schumi's best seasons, dragging Ferrari back from a 21-year doldrum

[chethan.ram]

Originally Posted by im_srini

The 1998-Belgian-GP, once more, a wet race, Schumi was giving the rest of the pack driving lessons - more than a second quicker than the next best (Hill I think). A dominant display of driving prowess - undone by Coulthard who decided to slow down on the racing line (at the start, Coulthard had also caused a massive pile-up of 11 or 12 cars).

By far this is one of the best performances by Schumi, he cut down the lead Hill had within no time and over took him near the bus stop chicane. Those pictures are still in front of my eyes. Only sad part is he couldn't finish the race.

[myavu]

I am watching F1 since 1998 and from day one I am a die-hard Schumi fan. For me in every race there was something special in Schumi - Like Four Pistops, looking after worn brakes, broken exhaust, less fuel, fire on the back while refueling, slow safety car, etc.

But still I believe his best is yet to come. Let him built a car around him at Merc and let us wait and watch!

Cheers!

Vinu

[lordofgondor]

Just read this thread and boy, am I nostalgic or what! I'm back to the days when all that F1 was about (for me): Schumi, Scuderia and the Tifossi.

Started following FIA F1 racing in 1999 and instantly became a huge fan of the car in Red, being driven by the MAN. I used to call him "The Devil in Red".

Sorry if I may be bumping this thread but can't control my flow of emotions.

[Newpunter]

My favourite race from Schumi is 1995 Spa. The conditions were wet and Damon Hill had switched to inters and had caught up Schumi who was still on dry tyres. For the next 20 or so laps, Schumi kept Damon Hill behind him while still driving in treacherous conditions on dry tyres. One of the greatest exhibition of defensive driving ever seen in F1.
Another of my favourite Schumi race is his first win for Ferrari at Barcelona 1996.
Another race ( I don't remember which ) I remember was the one where Schumi was leading the race and his car caught fire during a pitstop. Schumi sat calmly in the car while his team fetched an extinguisher and put out the fire. He went out after the fire was put out and calmly won the race.
Thanks for the memories Michael. You will always be one of the greatest drivers in F1, regardless of how your comeback pans out.

[ksanjee]

I started following F1 in late 80s although coverage was limited to Sports Star or Sports week - Prost, Senna, Piquet and Mansell mainly as Lauda had retired..

I started off as a Ferrari fan in early 90s [absolutely loved Alesi and the glorious sounding V12] and subsequently became a MS fan. But I would not rate MS as the all time greatest. I used to be a vociferous admirer and defender of MS on forums in late 90s [atlasf1 etc.] - used to wake up at 4-30AM to watch qualifying. Taped every race for years - had over 350 video casettes. Watched a few races live - first Indy race where he won when MH car broke, Monza in 2000 - recall the first lap tussle with JPM going into 2nd variante. Montreal 1996 where both Ferraris broke.

As expounded in this thread, his dedication, ability to keep the team together and work ethics [from fitness regimen to making the car competitive] are second to none. JT and RB also played a key role.

His lack of judgement driven by his desire to win at all costs weigh against him. His insistence on #1 role and expectation of team mates to play second fiddle also is a turn-off. He hardly had competitive team mates and there was no reason to have team orders that also made the sport of F1 boring. His competition apart from MH, was poor.

1994's TC controversy was not his fault and I still feel he deserved the championship despite coming together with DH in a rather unsportsmanly manouvre. Benetton's defense was a joke and MS paid a price for it. Even the warm-up lap fiasco when the team refused to bring him in for a Stop and Go was a faux pas

My favorite is Rain in Spain - was it 96? and his dominance in Spa/Monaco and his first win in Spa..

His accident at sliverstone may have cost him a championship given EI almost won it!

Krishna

[slicvic]

What about the race when he was given a drive through penalty, and he chose to do it at the end of the last lap. The British GP, forgotten which year 97 maybe. He won it by driving through the pitlane.
Sheer Genius!

[PuntoMania]

Originally Posted by slicvic

What about the race when he was given a drive through penalty, and he chose to do it at the end of the last lap. The British GP, forgotten which year 97 maybe. He won it by driving through the pitlane.
Sheer Genius!

Silverstone 1998. Mind you, there was very little involvement from Schumacher there. The penalty that he received was in itself ridiculous. He was penalized with a stop go penalty for overtaking under yellow flags. There was near zero visibility in that race and it was impossible to know that the marshalls were waving yellows (which incidentally was for an accident that happened just a few seconds before Schumi entered). The penalty was given to him with less than 3 laps to spare. According to the rulebook you're supposed to take the penalty within 3 laps of getting the penalty and that is when Ross Brawn's strategic genius came into play. Schumacher came in to serve his penalty after the end of the last lap, and the Ferrari pitlane was positioned after the chequered flag. So MS takes the win, serves the penalty and then proceeds to go about it as though nothing happened

It was a superb way to make an *** out of the stewards there, who by giving that penalty were making a highly controversial decision.

[PAVAN KADAM]

Originally Posted by PuntoMania

Silverstone 1998. Mind you, there was very little involvement from Schumacher there. The penalty that he received was in itself ridiculous. He was penalized with a stop go penalty for overtaking under yellow flags. There was near zero visibility in that race and it was impossible to know that the marshalls were waving yellows (which incidentally was for an accident that happened just a few seconds before Schumi entered). The penalty was given to him with less than 3 laps to spare. According to the rulebook you're supposed to take the penalty within 3 laps of getting the penalty and that is when Ross Brawn's strategic genius came into play. Schumacher came in to serve his penalty after the end of the last lap, and the Ferrari pitlane was positioned after the chequered flag. So MS takes the win, serves the penalty and then proceeds to go about it as though nothing happened

It was a superb way to make an *** out of the stewards there, who by giving that penalty were making a highly controversial decision.

That was pure racing

Sometimes todays F1 can never match up with the olden times.

BTW, i could not get the video for the closing laps... Anyone....?

YouTube - ‪Schumacher vs Hakkinen Silverstone 1998‬‏