Michael Schumacher hints at retirement

[Julian Mayo]

i'm not a Michael fan but he's just probably following orders from the pits. If Rubens or Felipe will move aside i'm sure it's Ross Brawn or Jean Todt. Ferrari believe Michael is the better driver and they'll do "crazy" things to shove Michael up in the podiums whether asking their team mate to move aside or drive back to the the pits. I know it's unfair to the drivers but ultimately that's part of the salary. If they don't like it that way they can pack their bags and goto another team.

Exactly, however Barrichello was content to cop all that until Schuey's ego nearly killed him, and possibly both of them, at Monaco last year,.... Suddenly the "Barracuda" aint there no more. ( and god help Schuey if he tries to punt Rhubino this season...imho.

[JayVee]

Dont tell me JayVee u actually think Massa would be better in giving feedback how the new car feels as compared to Michael especially when Massa is driving in his first year of Ferrari???
If thats what u feel,i'm sorry to say JayVee,i really rated you very high in the analysis department.

Even Rubens,who is very good in giving feedback on the new car insisted Michael try the new car first cos he also rated his feedback higher.

N i've never denied that Michael gets PT at Ferrari,but for obvious reasons,not b'cos he's the son of Sultan of Brunie.

But Massa was a test driver at Ferrari for a year, has spent a few years at Sauber so he isn't a rookie. Hey even rookies at other teams get similar treatment to their "more experienced" team-mates. Nico Rosberg the rookie is getting similar time in the car to the experienced Webber. Klien is getting similar time in the car to the very experienced Coulthard, etc ....

By your theory, it's not only me who lacks in the analysis department but all the teams who give their drivers equal treatment.
No Kapel, a driver needs time in a car to get the confidence up and to give his own feedback. I doubt very very much that a driver would "ask" another driver to test the car exclusively because they give better feedback
I say this because Michael pretty much tests exclusively and not just to "try" the car out.
Not just that but the whole team culture changes when team-mates get similar time. It shows that the team treats their drivers equally. But not at Ferrari, no, they demotivate the other driver enough that they resign to the fact that they have to "help" the more experienced driver.

N Massa will have 2 months, approx 25 testing days to get accustomed to the new Ferrari.

BTW,In 2004 & 2005,Ferrari had 2 spare cars,one for each driver.

2 months Bahrain is a month away Kapel and if my maths is right, the guy only tested the new Ferrari for 1 day

Ferrari may have had 2 spare cars in 04 and 05 but certainly for several seasons Michael had the spare car except at Brazil and you know that.

[Julian Mayo]

At last the readers of this forum will realize that it is indeed not me that JV is married to

[Kapel]

Hmm..where to start...
Ok..

You're rgt JayVee,rookies need time to adjust to new cars so they get time in the car.As you rightly said Massa has tested for Ferrari earlier,driven Sauber for 2 seasons,so,imho, he doesnt need much time in the car which is tweaked in perfectly to just drive it Grandprix.Apparently,acc. to Gene,Michael & Massa'a driving style are quite similar unlike Rubens.
Plus,put urself in Ferrari shoes & think,if they have to get back to respectable position in championship in terms of speed,they would want your best driver to do more testing to shape up the car for the season,n in this case its Michael.
N i would beg to disagree that Massa doesnt get to test the car.Initially when only one car is ready its obvious it will be switched between the two,which u shall see soon.Anyway,Massa have been doing testing for Ferrari since december for tyres & simulated V8 analysis.

I never mentioned that one driver asks the other to test the new car exclusively? Its first hand feedback JayVee,c'mon.

Spare cars are set up for your no.1 driver in every team,if they dont have 2 spare cars.Before 04 where most of the teams had only 1 spare car,it was set up for a designated driver.Remember Spa 98,when some of the teams damaged both their cars at the start,beyond repairs,only 1 choosen driver got the spare.What would you call that?(i'm sure they flick the coin)

I've also realised that no matter how much Ferrari & Michael try to change the tainted image of theirs,try to rectify whatever accusation from ppl had come in earlier,they are always new places ppl research to attack them.Some just LOVE to HATE them.

[Julian Mayo]

Kappy, you fight the good fight, and you fight it well.
My personal problem with schuey is, as I have said before, why would such a bloody good driver, and he is that, be so bloody dirty. Even the turn in on Mark last season was designed to stop someone scoring points, and enhance his faint chances.

[mack_30]

michael committed errors on some drivers before but he got away easily! i think it was in 2004 when he hit FISI at the back. he had collided as well with webber. and so on. but i didn't see or hear any penalty or even a drive-through penalty. there was a time when he SPUN, it was in monza i guess, and the marshalls helped him. but when ALONSO spun he was trying to get the help but the marshalls ignored him. it's obvious F1 is biased on michael.

[Kapel]

Kappy, you fight the good fight, and you fight it well.
My personal problem with schuey is, as I have said before, why would such a bloody good driver, and he is that, be so bloody dirty. Even the turn in on Mark last season was designed to stop someone scoring points, and enhance his faint chances.

Thanks Mate.
Yes that was Michael fault,he underestimated the move & was too slow on the turn.Also he didnt expect Webber to unlap himself.

[Julian Mayo]

Kappy, you fight the good fight, and you fight it well.
My personal problem with schuey is, as I have said before, why would such a bloody good driver, and he is that, be so bloody dirty. Even the turn in on Mark last season was designed to stop someone scoring points, and enhance his faint chances.

Thanks Mate.
Yes that was Michael fault,he underestimated the move & was too slow on the turn.Also he didnt expect Webber to unlap himself.

To be a top pilot you have to expect from everybody.......... Schuey said of Mark in Marks first year..." he is good enough & tough enough to make it"...so Schuey goes blank when Mark is stuffing the thing down the inside on the limit of braking adhesion..... I think not. It was a move calculated to rob points off a bloke who was on or about his points tally,.... to enhance his own chances.... he fully expected to be able to continue.... he didn't realise that when the Aussie cops try to shoulder you, we turn into them..... then accelerate

[JayVee]

Hmm..where to start...
Ok..

You're rgt JayVee,rookies need time to adjust to new cars so they get time in the car.As you rightly said Massa has tested for Ferrari earlier,driven Sauber for 2 seasons,so,imho, he doesnt need much time in the car which is tweaked in perfectly to just drive it Grandprix.Apparently,acc. to Gene,Michael & Massa'a driving style are quite similar unlike Rubens.

You are funny, you can't use both arguments, it weakens your theory. Just face it and accept the fact that Michael gets more time in the car than his team-mate giving him a significant advantage that the second driver will never be able to catch up.

You earlier said 2 months of testing for Massa, where are those two months, don't just make up statements like that.

Plus,put urself in Ferrari shoes & think,if they have to get back to respectable position in championship in terms of speed,they would want your best driver to do more testing to shape up the car for the season,n in this case its Michael.

I would rather put myself in any of the other teams shoes, without exception they all give each of their drivers equal time in the new car. Sorry but I don't see Renault/McLaren/Honda/Toyota/Williams doing that and they all want to move forward and improve and not only Ferrari (but it seems that you only beleive in what Ferrari does!!)

N i would beg to disagree that Massa doesnt get to test the car.Initially when only one car is ready its obvious it will be switched between the two,which u shall see soon.Anyway,Massa have been doing testing for Ferrari since december for tyres & simulated V8 analysis.

You said it right there, between the two, and unless I am reading news from last year, Michael was testing the new car at Mugello, Barcelona and Valencia. Massa - soon to be extremely demotivated - was given a try for 1 day and you call that between.

By comparison, the new McLaren was driven by Raikkonen and Montoya equally and the same for Renault and Williams.
For Honda it seems they are trying their best to erase Barrichello's "helper" mentality. They had 2 new cars out at the same time. See what a team that cares about both drivers would do.

I never mentioned that one driver asks the other to test the new car exclusively? Its first hand feedback JayVee,c'mon.

Fine I misunderstood but first hand feedback doesn't last 3 test sessions.

Kapel, let me ask you, what would you say if Button tested the new car for 5 or 6 days before Barrichello had a go ? Don't just look at things with Michael glasses on. Massa must be very frustated testing the old car. It is the new car that will race in Bahrain. The old car is used for engine reliability and tyre testing.

Spare cars are set up for your no.1 driver in every team,if they dont have 2 spare cars.Before 04 where most of the teams had only 1 spare car,it was set up for a designated driver.Remember Spa 98,when some of the teams damaged both their cars at the start,beyond repairs,only 1 choosen driver got the spare.What would you call that?(i'm sure they flick the coin)

Absolutely not, only at Ferrari that is the case. The other teams have an allocation system where each driver gets a turn.
I really hope that you are not intentionally trying to spread this misinformation for the sake of your favourite team. Face the facts as they are.

Also can someone please confirm that all the teams now use 2 spare cars. I don't think that is the case.

I've also realised that no matter how much Ferrari & Michael try to change the tainted image of theirs,try to rectify whatever accusation from ppl had come in earlier,they are always new places ppl research to attack them.Some just LOVE to HATE them.

Oh Poor Ferrari, they are trying so hard. Really!!!!!!!!

Can you tell me one thing that Ferrari/Michael are doing to change their image ?
Just by reading the other responses you can see that Michael is still doing those dirty tricks (even you admitted that)

Ferrari ignored the testing ban last year and this year they started testing earlier than the others ignoring yet another agreement even though Birdgestone have 4 teams.

Michael is testing the new car while Massa tests the old car

What are they doing Kapel ?

[JayVee]

The only reason I don't like Michael is because of his dirty tactics no matter how well he performs. It is a matter of principle and I stick to it.
People in his place are role models to others and by playing dirty he sends the wrong message to others.

Guess ppl who are caught are theives.

As for the helper, if Michael doesn't need one then why does Michael pick and choose who his team-mates are ? Why does he insist on a number one status ?

If he has choosen his teammate this year,as helper,its only to keep Sato away.

The Hakkinen/Coulthard agreement was wrong but McLaren proved that it was a one off as Coulthard won in front of Hakkinen at Belgium a year later even though Hakkinen was the one fighting for the title.

A murder is still an offence. And I said it was wrong but unlike that other team they are not repeat offenders

Michael is a repeat offender so don't compare him to Senna who was paying back Prost for what happened a year earlier. Neither Hill nor Villenueve did any nasties to Michael either before or after his dirty playing.

Vow,Payback time is OK for you.Then y not critise Prost,i', sure Senna didnt do any nasties to Prost in the frist place. See below, I said I don't condone what happened between Prost and Senna but their case can't be used as an excuse for Michael's dirty tactics

BTW: I am not condoning the Prost/Senna incidents but you are clutching at straws to show that others did the same. Well no driver did the number of dirty tactics that Michael did, no driver tried to protect his place in his team like Michael did and no driver got PT in a team like Michael did. He is on his own.

I'm just trying bring to your attention,that for things that u single out Michael for are not invented by him but a normal/tried practise in F1 and for its glory.
Its a way one looks at it.In ur eyes,its dirty tactics cos Michael did it.For me,i hold him in high esteem cos he rejuvenated the entire Ferrari team,the team i always loved , pre-Michael and will always love ,post-Michael.
I repeat Michael is alone in the number of repeat offences he has done. Don't think anyone will beleive you when you say what Michael does is "normal" cause it isn't and if all the drivers were as dirty as Michael on the track we won't have F1.
Yes Michael did succeed in turning Ferrari around but at what expense ?
Niether him nor his team played on terms used by the other teams so they were at an advantage.
Because of that Michael Schumacher will never be loved by the majority of fans because he isn't a fair person on the track.

[Kapel]

Sorry JayVee,wont reply today as its a Saturday...N on Saturday i just drink..let me start with the Redbull-Vodka you ordered for me at the Bar...too much red in your reply too...have u switched ur drink too?

[Julian Mayo]

Sorry JayVee,wont reply today as its a Saturday...N on Saturday i just drink..let me start with the Redbull-Vodka you ordered for me at the Bar...too much red in your reply too...have u switched ur drink too?

have a good day

[rah]

Hi JV, I know that Ferrari ignored the test ban last year and probably this year as well, but the amount of km's they did last year in testing was not that much more than other teams.

[JayVee]

Sorry JayVee,wont reply today as its a Saturday...N on Saturday i just drink..let me start with the Redbull-Vodka you ordered for me at the Bar...too much red in your reply too...have u switched ur drink too?

Alonso will be driving a Vodafone McLaren in 2007 ..... just preparing myself to get used to red

[JayVee]

Hi JV, I know that Ferrari ignored the test ban last year and probably this year as well, but the amount of km's they did last year in testing was not that much more than other teams.

While I am sure testing as often as you want is more favourable to testing like crazy only on a few days, whatever Ferrari did with their testing days doesn't justify their stand on the testing ban nor does it justify breaking earlier testing agreements.

Point is Ferrari are not doing anything to improve their image contrary to what Kapel was trying to imply.