[PAVAN KADAM]

Nice interview

Lets see what the current F1 drivers said about Michael Schumacher.

Originally Posted by Formula1.com 21-July-2011

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR


Q: (Frédéric Ferret - L’Equipe) Michael and Sebastian, you are two World Champions, can you rate one another’s seasons and both of you, do you think that Sebastian could become the next Michael Schumacher?

SV: I can rate many seasons by Michael, he did a lot of seasons and he obviously won the Championship seven times. Obviously he’s sitting next to me, so whatever I say, he can hear as well but I don’t think we have to go through all this again. You have been there for most of the time as well so I think you remember. He had very good seasons, but he also had seasons where he was in a bit of trouble and came out of it, made huge progress with the team and himself, even though he didn’t win the championship.
And on the second question - yeah, I’m not his brother, he has one already. Surely, for all of us, except Michael, we will always be compared to him and left with his big footsteps or footprints, but it will be very, very difficult to catch up. Everything he achieved is quite phenomenal, so the question is not only if there will ever be a German achieving that again, the question is if there will ever again be a driver in Formula One achieving what he has done.

MS: Well, as he talked about footsteps, I think we both have similar sized shoes so it should be good.



Q: (Livio Oricchio - O Estado de Sao Paulo) To all drivers, six drivers means 25 per cent of the grid; why do you have so many German drivers in Formula One?

MS: Why? At the moment, I think the general reason is that we have a huge German industry for cars that is interested in Formula One and that in the past - not only Mercedes but other manufacturers - have invested in Formula One and have invested in young driver programmes and still do. So motor sport in general is of a much higher importance than it used to be and there are lots of schools and talent scouts to find the drivers of the future. Luckily, because of this possibility there is a big mass of drivers anyway who do go-karts, do many, many kinds of categories, so we were lucky to establish the final six ones that you see at the moment here. This is part of the reason that finances and support have been given to us and the opportunities have been given. But then, why did we have, at certain moments, so many Brazilian drivers, so many Italian drivers? I think it’s a sort of phase of life that you go through. Why were there more than 10 Italian drivers - I think even 12 or 14 Italian drivers when I started Formula One? Why we have almost none at the moment, apart from Jarno (and Vitantonio Liuzzi)? I don’t know, whether it’s just because of the financial side or whether there are other reasons or it’s just coincidence.
SV: I agree with what Michael says. In a way, it’s also as he said, sometimes you have more Italian drivers, there are a lot of French drivers. At the moment we have one Italian (two), no French drivers. I think it changes naturally, but surely, I think for the future, it will be even more important, very difficult. I still believe we have great categories in Germany, giving chances to young drivers, but overall, I think motorsport becomes very expensive from an early age, so you need strong people behind you to support you so unfortunately it’s no longer as open as maybe it used to be, just because you need so much money right from the start to go karting. I hope that in the future, there will be manufacturers like Michael said, or individual companies supporting young kids and giving them the chance to, one, have fun, and secondly, maybe live their dream and end up in Formula One or DTM or whatever.

NR: Surely, Michael himself is also responsible for there being so many good Germans in racing, because he’s the one who gave the sport such a boom in Germany, and then there’s a knock-on effect from there, that more kids want to start racing, there’s more money to support them and everything.

[myavu]

Michael Schumacher - The Best of 20 Years

Michael Schumacher - The Best of 20 Years - YouTube

Source:

Michael Schumacher - The Best of 20 Years - YouTube

Cheers!

Vinu

[souravc]

I got so hopeful that Schumi would get a podium at the Canadian GP - wish the Merc would perform better under dry conditions , its seems allergic to the tyres !!

[PAVAN KADAM]

So the LEGEND completes 20 years in F1, What an unparalleled achievement.

Many current drivers on the grid could only dream on reaching half of what he's achieved till date, and we are sure, we will see more from him once he gets going with a car that does justice to his driving style.

BBC F1 2011 - Michael Schumacher 20th anniversary - YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fFBSAeKeo0&NR=1

His race at Spa was one of his best that came after his return.

[myavu]

BBC F1 2011 - Michael Schumacher Mercedes Benz factory tour - YouTube

Critics call MS a poor 43 year old vintage chap and what he really looks like?

Cheers!

[myavu]

Michael Schumacher pledges 500,000 Euros to flood fund

Michael Schumacher has pledged 500,000 euros to victims of the recent flooding which caused havoc in southern Germany.

Schumacher auctioned a signed race suit and when it reached 50,000 euros, he vowed to increase the donation ten-fold.

In 2002 he donated one million euros to the victims of similar floods and gave 7.5 million euros for the victims of the devastating Asian tsunami in 2004.

Source: http://sports.ndtv.com/formula-1/new...-to-flood-fund

Cheers!

Vinu