Michael Schumacher - Do you love his style or hate it ?

[Ed]

After nearly three years in retirement, Michael Schumacher is set to race again in Formula 1 at the upcoming European Grand Prix in Valencia.

Many Formula 1 fans just love the 7-time World Champion but there are also many who just hate him. He certainly polarised opinions and a simple search on the forum here will show many topics where fans clashed over his actions.

Well after this absence, we would like to hear from our readers if you still love him, hate him or you are neutral about it ?

[F1greyhound]

Ed, I suppose love or hate has to be taken with a pinch of salt talking about a person none of us knows personally.

Principally to hate someone definitely is negative energy which will always fall back on the hating person.

I think to like him or not would have been a more fitting question, but there you go..

[Ed]

Ed, I suppose love or hate has to be taken with a pinch of salt talking about a person none of us knows personally.

Principally to hate someone definitely is negative energy which will always fall back on the hating person.

I think to like him or not would have been a more fitting question, but there you go..

That is fair comment! But of course we are only talking about Michael the racer and whether we love his style or hate it.

We actually thought of having 5 options up there but wanted to make it really simple. We will modify the wording of the poll to reflect his racing style.
Also lets see what others think, if needed we can add two more options (like him and not like him).

[Southernman]

My vote would be between neutral and love. I like his single minded termination to succeed and I do admire his success rate, but I don't like a handful of stunts he has done to help him.

[JayVee]

I would never respect a cheat! And Michael Schumacher is one who has demonsrated that on the track numerous times be it early in his career (crashing Villeneuve out) or later (stopping his car on the track in Monaco).

And now he wants to get an exception and test when there is a test ban Why ? Why didn't Alguersuari get an exemption ? He is more deserving of an exemption given his lack of experience.

And there is now talk that he actually used F1 slicks in his test and not GP2 slicks. See he has to bend the rules.

If you want a comeback, do it as everyone else does it otherwise just go away

[Julian Mayo]

I would never respect a cheat! And Michael Schumacher is one who has demonsrated that on the track numerous times be it early in his career (crashing Villeneuve out) or later (stopping his car on the track in Monaco).

And now he wants to get an exception and test when there is a test ban Why ? Why didn't Alguersuari get an exemption ? He is more deserving of an exemption given his lack of experience.

And there is now talk that he actually used F1 slicks in his test and not GP2 slicks. See he has to bend the rules.

If you want a comeback, do it as everyone else does it otherwise just go away

I concur

[RE30B#16]

There is a part of me that feels a certain amount of excitement at seeing a 40-something Michael Schumacher have a go at the new lions of the sport. No doubt he will do much better than most will expect. However, I can't help but feel it makes more sense to have either Marc Gene or Luca Badoer take the wheel since they have full knowledge of the car.

I can see some logic to allowing Schumacher test only if he has not done much driving, but we have read about him driving the current Ferrari numerous times this season with his times being comparable to Kimi Râikkônen and Felipe Massa, so I am inclined to agree that his being allowed to test when Jaime Alguersauri and Romain Grosjean cannot is unfair.

Ferrari must be paying Luca Badoer a heck of a lot of money. This makes the third time in my recollection he has been passed over to do what he has been retained to do all along.

[F1greyhound]

How can the test for MICHAEL be unfair?

He can only do it when ALL other teams agree. Anyone could say no and I suppose the teams should be in a better position to assess if such a test is fair or not.

Then you have an emergency situation at FERRARI. They HAVE TO substitute one of their drivers due to an accident. TORO ROSSO and RENAULT may not like the results of SEBASTIEN or NELSON but you couldnt call that an emergency situation, could you?

One day of testing wont bring MICHAEL nowhere near the knowledge of of his opponents of the 2009 model. For safety reasons alone a test makes sense. Actually TORO ROSSO should have applied for 1 day of testing without development work for JAIME and probably the teams would have given their ok too.

This is just something for those anti MICHAEL to jump at..

[Julian Mayo]

How can the test for MICHAEL be unfair?

He can only do it when ALL other teams agree. Anyone could say no and I suppose the teams should be in a better position to assess if such a test is fair or not.

Then you have an emergency situation at FERRARI. They HAVE TO substitute one of their drivers due to an accident. TORO ROSSO and RENAULT may not like the results of SEBASTIEN or NELSON but you couldnt call that an emergency situation, could you?

One day of testing wont bring MICHAEL nowhere near the knowledge of of his opponents of the 2009 model. For safety reasons alone a test makes sense. Actually TORO ROSSO should have applied for 1 day of testing without development work for JAIME and probably the teams would have given their ok too.

This is just something for those anti MICHAEL to jump at..

BOLLOCKS.

[JayVee]

I wonder why Ferrari have two test drivers yet when an emergency arises they go and get someone else! I can't beleive that some people try to make excuses and justify Michael's need to test on any ground.

It is all a marketing thing and Ferrari, Michael and maybe Bernie are all trying to capitalise on it. Ferrari aren't doing well in the championship and attendance to many events is down, now with Michael they want to get a boost.

[jacfan]

I would never respect a cheat! And Michael Schumacher is one who has demonsrated that on the track numerous times be it early in his career (crashing Villeneuve out) or later (stopping his car on the track in Monaco).

And now he wants to get an exception and test when there is a test ban Why ? Why didn't Alguersuari get an exemption ? He is more deserving of an exemption given his lack of experience.

And there is now talk that he actually used F1 slicks in his test and not GP2 slicks. See he has to bend the rules.

If you want a comeback, do it as everyone else does it otherwise just go away

I agree. Why is Michael being given the drive though. Surely they (Ferrari) have test drivers who would normally be given the job of stepping in if someone is injured!!! Does not make sense to me.
I suppose whatever Micheal wants .. Michael gets!!!

[jacfan]

I wonder why Ferrari have two test drivers yet when an emergency arises they go and get someone else! I can't beleive that some people try to make excuses and justify Michael's need to test on any ground.

It is all a marketing thing and Ferrari, Michael and maybe Bernie are all trying to capitalise on it. Ferrari aren't doing well in the championship and attendance to many events is down, now with Michael they want to get a boost.

Oops should have read down before posting.

[Snowy]

It will be good to see Michael racing again, his car should be competitive in Valencia and he will be up against a Mark Webber in a competitive car, a Sebastian Vettel in a competitive car, a Jenson Button in a competitive car, a Rubens Barrichello in a competitive car, a Lewis Hamilton in a competitive car and a Kimi Raikkonen in a competitive car. But thanks to those outstandingly inanely stupid FIA officials no Fernando Alonso!!!

It may well turn out to be the greatest race of all time! The track isn't up to the task but the cast list and the cars most definately are. We must all pray that Fernando is allowed to race and that Renault bring an upgraded car worthy of his talents and this occassion.

For the record: I love his racing style.
Caviat: My animosity toward Michael has softened over the years and if I were to meet him face to face I would kill him quickly, whereas once I would have subjected him to a very slow and painful death by a thousand cuts.

[RE30B#16]

How can the test for MICHAEL be unfair?

He can only do it when ALL other teams agree. Anyone could say no and I suppose the teams should be in a better position to assess if such a test is fair or not.

Then you have an emergency situation at FERRARI. They HAVE TO substitute one of their drivers due to an accident. TORO ROSSO and RENAULT may not like the results of SEBASTIEN or NELSON but you couldnt call that an emergency situation, could you?

One day of testing wont bring MICHAEL nowhere near the knowledge of of his opponents of the 2009 model. For safety reasons alone a test makes sense. Actually TORO ROSSO should have applied for 1 day of testing without development work for JAIME and probably the teams would have given their ok too.

This is just something for those anti MICHAEL to jump at..

BOLLOCKS.

Inclined to agree, Julian. Ferrari has two drivers it can use already in its employ that would need no testing. Having said that, it still seems ironic to allow a veteran like Michael test, but keep two rookie drivers looking at their first ever F1 start from testing. Makes no sense to me.

[Julian Mayo]

How can the test for MICHAEL be unfair?

He can only do it when ALL other teams agree. Anyone could say no and I suppose the teams should be in a better position to assess if such a test is fair or not.

Then you have an emergency situation at FERRARI. They HAVE TO substitute one of their drivers due to an accident. TORO ROSSO and RENAULT may not like the results of SEBASTIEN or NELSON but you couldnt call that an emergency situation, could you?

One day of testing wont bring MICHAEL nowhere near the knowledge of of his opponents of the 2009 model. For safety reasons alone a test makes sense. Actually TORO ROSSO should have applied for 1 day of testing without development work for JAIME and probably the teams would have given their ok too.

This is just something for those anti MICHAEL to jump at..

BOLLOCKS.

Inclined to agree, Julian. Ferrari has two drivers it can use already in its employ that would need no testing. Having said that, it still seems ironic to allow a veteran like Michael test, but keep two rookie drivers looking at their first ever F1 start from testing. Makes no sense to me.

Nope, and the potential danger is mind boggling.....and there I was thinking the FIA was all about safety.